A PRSA stalwart and friend to many ...
JIM BLACKMORE, 1946-2007
Jim Blackmore made things happen and he wore many hats, and he did so with the efficiency and
good humor one might expect of a Rotarian, church deacon and teacher. He died
Jan. 22, peacefully, at home with his family.
Throughout his life, Mr. Blackmore held numerous positions, among them executive
director of the Austin USO, the hillside coordinator at Zilker Park in Austin,
and as a guard for President Lyndon Johnson while in the Air Force.
Mr. Blackmore was ordained a deacon in the Roman Catholic Church in 2004,
serving the Fort Worth Diocese at Most Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in
Arlington. He was a past president of the Grand Prairie Rotary Club and of
Dallas PRSA, and was a member of TPRA and a board member of the Grand Prairie
ISD Foundation and Grand Prairie Chamber of Commerce. He taught communication
at UTA and SMU for 13 years and was the public information officer for the
Grand Prairie Police Department for five years.
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MEETINGS
Tapping Into the Largest Untapped Market: Communicating
Effectively with People Living and Working with Disabilities
One in five households in America is home to a person living with a disability.
If you or your staff encounter a customer, co-worker or applicant with a
disability, do you know how to communicate in a respectful manner?
Ever broached this topic with your staff? Maybe it’s time.
Participants at the February IABC meeting will learn ways to help customers and
co-workers with disabilities feel welcome and well-served. Though potentially a
heavy topic, corporate trainer Steve Booher promises a lighthearted, informative presentation with excellent take-away
materials.
Booher has worked for four Fortune 500 corporations as well as one of the top
municipal governments in the area. He is a member of the Dallas chapter of the
American Society of Training and Development and the Irving Citizens Committee
on Disabilities, and a past member of the Dallas Mayor’s Council for the Employment of People with Disabilities (representing Texas
Instruments and Raytheon). He is the founding chairman of the board of the
Caring Friends Center, which benefits men, women and children with HIV/AIDS and
women with breast cancer.
Time & date: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 26
Place: Petroleum Club, Carter-Burgess Plaza, 777 Main St., 39th floor
Parking: $2.50 in parking garage at Seventh and Commerce streets
Cost: members $25, nonmembers $30, students $20 (online add $1)
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Now Is Now
Geoff Livingston, one of the country’s top PR bloggers and author of “Now Is Gone: A Primer on New Media for Executives and Entrepreneurs,” will headline Social Media/New Media Professional Development Day, a morning
workshop followed by the monthly Petroleum Club luncheon Thursday, Feb. 21 (the
third-Wednesday schedule will resume in March).
Sponsored by Greater Fort Worth PRSA and the ad/PR division of the TCU Schieffer
School of Journalism, the workshop will cover a range of topics, from “What’s so different about social media and why should we care?” to “How does a PR/communications professional build a new media effort?” Success stories will be presented, and attendees will leave with a plan
template to take back to their companies.
Dubbed a “local blogging guru” by The Washington Post, Livingston’s Buzz Bin is the top-ranked independent PR blog in and around Washington, D.C.
He successfully launched FortiusOne’s GeoCommons with an aggressive social media strategy and marketed Godsmack lead
singer Sully Erna’s bio using a MySpace and blogosphere campaign. His clients include the Duke
Ellington Jazz Festival, former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Bartleby Books, ManTech, the Washington Nationals and Verizon Wireless.
Everyone who pays online for the workshop by Feb. 18 will receive an autographed
copy of ”Now Is Gone.” For more info and to register go here.
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There’s no February meeting. Instead ...
Local communication luminaries Karen Borta, Kent Chapline, Kelly Woodard and Josh Brown of CBS 11; Chris Hawes, WFAA/Channel 8; Judy Alter, TCU Press; Eric Celeste, D Magazine; Scott Kirk, Concussion Advertising/Public Relations; Gayle Reaves-King, Fort Worth Weekly; Bob Buckel, Azle News; Broc Sears, TCU Schieffer School of Journalism; Karen Raskopf, Blockbuster Video; and Laurie Ward and Bud Kennedy, Star-Telegram — and more yet to be named! — will share their expertise with high school and college students at a
comprehensive workshop on the future of journalism Saturday morning, Feb. 16, in the TCU Moudy
Communication Center. Young professionals seeking a career upgrade also are
invited.
Parking is available east of the Moudy building. Light refreshments will be
served at 8 a.m. The opening session is at 9, with question-and-answer sessions
beginning at 10. The workshop is free, but reservations by Feb. 13 are
required; e- Paul LaRocque at prrock@mac.com.
Chapter members are encouraged to drop by, to field the question that no one
else can answer.
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STRAIGHT STUFF
Postmark deadline is Feb. 15 to enter Fort Worth SPJ’s 5th annual First Amendment Awards. Details here. That’s the same deadline for the American Society of Business Publication Editors’ Azbee Awards. ...
Last call for the DFW Writers Conference, Feb. 22-24 at the Grapevine Convention
Center. Candace Havens, author of the “Charmed” series (“Charmed & Dangerous,” “Charmed & Ready”) and entertainment critic for the Dorsey Gang on 96.3 KSCS, will keynote and be
complemented by a packed lineup, including authors (and SPJ members) Paula LaRocque, Paul LaRocque, Dave Lieber and Carmen Goldthwaite, plus authors Rosemary Clement-Moore, A. Lee Martinez, Britta Coleman, William Manchee, Kara Lennox, Shanna Swendson, Sarah Mensinga and Mitchel Whitington and literary agents Doris Booth, Paul Levine, Jim Donovan and Elaine Spencer. More at dfwwritersconference.org. ...
Entry deadline is March 1 for the $1,000 Mensa Press Award, the high-IQ
organization’s annual recognition of excellence in writing about intelligence and giftedness.
The winner need not be a Mensa member, but the article must have appeared in a
newspaper or magazine within two years prior to the deadline. Send the article
and a cover letter to Mensa Press Award, Mensa Foundation, 1229 Corporate Drive
W., Arlington, TX 76006-6103. ...
Good seats remain for Paula LaRocque’s spring writing seminar at SMU, Saturday, March 1, 9 a.m.- 4 p.m. The morning
session will present guidelines that simplify the writer’s task, increase speed and confidence, and lay the groundwork for making any
writing accurate, clear, brief and interesting. The afternoon will focus on
feature writing, story-telling and narrative in both nonfiction and fiction.
Register here. ...
The Knight Fellowship for Multimedia Training is taking applications for its
technology training workshop for editors March 25-28 and for reporters workshop
April 15-18, both at the Knight Digital Media Center at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. Applications deadline for
both: Feb. 8. Space is limited to 20 fellowships per workshop. ...
1997 New York Times Notable Book of the Year author Deborah Crombie lives in Texas, yet creates these meticulous British settings for her police
procedurals. Curious how she reconciles the two? You can ask her at the next Writers’ Guild of Texas meeting, 7-8:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 18, at the Richardson Public
Library, 900 Civic Center Drive. She will present chapter and verse, complete with techniques for immersing her
readers in all things English. Early-bird: March 6 (tentative), a half-day
workshop with Maya Reynolds. More from organizer Carol Woods. ...
