MEETINGS
30 Ideas in 30 Minutes
Time & date: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 24
Place: Petroleum Club, Carter-Burgess Plaza, 777 Main St., 39th floor
Parking: $2.50 in parking garage at Seventh and Commerce streets
Cost: $20 members, $25 nonmembers
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Focus on Visuals
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then any Tarrant County organization needs pictures in the Star-Telegram. At this month's PRSA meeting, Star-Telegram photo director Max Faulkner and photographers Jill Johnson and Ron Jenkins will walk members and guests through the elements of a good photo and offer tips on working with field photographers and ways to enliven boring "talking head" press conferences.
No photography panel would be complete without pictures, so the session will conclude with a slide show.
Time & date: 11:45 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 11
Place: Petroleum Club, Carter-Burgess Plaza, 777 Main St., 39th floor
Parking: free valet in parking garage at Seventh and Commerce streets
Cost: $25 members, $30 nonmembers, $20 students
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As Timely as Today's Headlines ...
What makes a high school student a mass murderer? Why do workers sometimes attack their colleagues? What drives suicide bombers to strap explosives on their body and blow up innocent people?
Dan Korem has some answers, as well as advice on how to prevent these random acts of violence. Fort Worth SPJ will present Korem, an internationally known author and expert on behavioral profiling, in an important presentation Thursday, Jan. 19, on "The Art of Profiling the Random Actor."
Note the location, Shady Oak Barbeque & Grill on Copeland Road in Arlington. Great food, great I-30 access. Friends and colleagues -- law enforcement personnel, educators, counselors -- they're invited, too.
Korem has trained more than 15,000 educators and law enforcement professionals to identify without stereotyping a random-actor student, and he has developed an intervention program to defuse the rage that spurs random acts of violence. As a result of his training, authorities have been able to recognize troubled students and prevent many such tragedies.
Korem is an independent investigative journalist, president of Korem & Associates and the author of "Rage of the Random Actor"; "The Art of Profiling: Reading People Right the First Time"; "Suburban Gangs: The Affluent Rebels"; and "Streetwise Parents, Foolproof Kids." (He also published "JFK: Breaking the News," Hugh Aynesworth's eyewitness account of the president's assassination.) In 1981, three years after the Jonestown massacre, Korem produced "Psychic Confession," a documentary on a suicidal cult-like leader.
Time & date: mingling 5:30 p.m., eats around 6, then the program Thursday, Jan. 19
Place: Shady Oak Barbeque & Grill, 1600 E. Copeland Road, Arlington (south side of I-30 at the Nolan Ryan Expressway exit)
Cost: $15 members, $20 nonmembers, $5 students
Menu: brisket, sausage, chicken, plenty of sides, iced tea and corporate parent Spring Creek Barbeque's signature bread; cash bar
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STRAIGHT STUFF
Applications are due Jan. 25 for the spring 2006 Jefferson Fellowships for Journalists, which will be honored April 30-May 28. This year's theme is "Powering the Future: Energy Sources and Alternatives." Twelve fellows will go to Honolulu; Houston; Sacramento, Calif.; Seoul, South Korea; and Beijing to study energy issues. Candidates with at least five years of experience are preferred. Covered costs include airfare, lodging, per diem and other program expenses. Details at eastwestcenter.org/Jefferson, or call (808) 944-7384. ...
The Manship School of Mass Communication at LSU will host the Scripps Howard Academic Leadership Academy June 4-8 for up-and-coming mass communication professionals and academics interested in taking on leadership roles. An advisory committee will select up to 15 participants based on leadership potential and interest. See manship.lsu.edu/news/leadership_academy2.htm. ...
The Education Writers Association and the Western Knight Center for Specialized Journalism are offering an expenses-paid boot camp for education reporters to learn more about research and statistics. Applications are due Jan. 9. Contact Lori Crouch, (202) 452-9837 or lcrouch@ewa.org.
PRSA local update: Deadline is 5 p.m. Jan. 26 to enter the 2006 Silver Spur/Best of Texas Awards competition. Greater Fort Worth PRSA members may enter at the member rate, and the chapter will receive a share of the proceeds. For the first time, those who enter can pay for their entries by credit card, or request an invoice, in advance. Also new for 2006 are categories for Corporate Identity and Investor Relations and a Best of Texas for webcast/webinar. The Texas Public Relations Association is recruiting communications pros to help judge Saturday, Jan. 28, at the Austin headquarters of National Instruments, starting at 8:30 a.m. Volunteer at awards@tpra.com, or contact contest coordinator Julie B. Fix, APR, at (281) 494-6097. "Although we ask our judges to give up all or part of a Saturday, we believe each receives valuable insight into the quality of public relations work being done in the state," Fix said. "And we do give them a free breakfast and lunch for their efforts." The Silver Spur/Best of Texas Awards competition is the only statewide contest for Texas PR practitioners and recognizes excellence in programs, projects and tactics. See tpra.com/compawards.
PRSA local update II: If you joined or rejoined PRSA in 2005, then the new member luncheon at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 19, at Joe T. Garcia's Mexican Restaurant is for you. The luncheon had to be rescheduled from December, when it was iced out. Expect fajitas and the opportunity to meet other new and reinstated members and some current directors. An eVite should arrive soon.
PRSA local update III: The Dallas and Fort Worth PRSA chapters will host approximately 250 communications pros at the Southwest District Conference in Fort Worth on March 2 and 3. Although communicators from Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana and New Mexico are expected, most attendees will be from companies and nonprofit groups in Texas; the region has 2,000 members. Various sponsorship levels are available. More from Tracy Sturrock at tsturrock@fortworthzoo.org.
PRSA local update IV: Organizers thank Gestures Marketing Communications for sponsoring the December PRSA luncheon. GMC's generosity made possible a PRSA donation to the Chisholm Trail chapter of the American Red Cross. ... A blueprint for the year's activities will take shape at the Independent Consultants SIG meeting Friday, Jan. 20, from 11:15 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. at Central Market, I-30 and Hulen Street. RSVP to Sandra Brodnicki, sandra@brodnickipr.com, or Nancy Farrar, nancyh829@aol.com.
