MEETINGS
Program to be announced.
Time & date: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 23
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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Professional Development Day:
Safeguarding and Recovering Reputation
The last decade has seen many of the world’s most admired companies descend from their lofty posts and part with their
crowns. Dr. Leslie Gaines-Ross will describe at the seminar and meeting this month how to safeguard reputation
and restore a damaged reputation.
Participants will learn what triggers reputation failure; a four-stage model
leading to reputational health; and the role of the internet in helping
companies restore reputation.
Dr. Gaines-Ross is the chief reputation strategist for Weber Shandwick and
author of “12 Steps to Safeguarding and Recovering Reputation,” which the first 40 registrants will receive free.
Time & date: seminar 8:30-11:45 a.m., lunch noon-1 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 10
Place: Petroleum Club, Carter-Burgess Plaza, 777 Main St., 39th floor
Parking: free valet in parking garage at Seventh and Commerce streets
Cost: seminar and lunch, members $70, nonmembers $80, students $50; seminar only,
members $50, nonmembers $60, students $35; lunch only, members $25, nonmembers
$30, students $20
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Rolling on the River
You’ve heard of the Trinity River vision, now see the movie. Randle Harwood, director of the Trinity River Vision Authority, will PowerPoint his way
through the capitalistic inlets and estuaries of the ambitious plan at SPJ’s September season opener at Joe T. Garcia’s.
Time & date: mingling 6 p.m., eats around 6:30, then the program Thursday, Sept. 18
Place: La Puertita, Joe T.’s converted-church banquet room south of the main building at 2201 N. Commerce
St.
Cost: $15 members, $20 nonmembers, $10 students
Menu: Joe T.’s famous family-style enchilada dinner
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STRAIGHT STUFF
Latino writer Junot Diaz, a 2008 Pulitzer Prize winner, will give an interview and reading in front of a
live audience (co-hosted by Yolette Garcia and Randy Gordon) at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 14, at the Dallas Museum of Art. More from Michael Vega at mvega@uta.edu.
Earl Staggs, Derringer Award-winning author of “Memory of a Murder,” will discuss “Backstory: The Good, the Bad and the Boring” — the fine line between giving enough past events so the tale makes sense but not
so many that the reader lapses into a coma — at the Writers’ Guild of Texas third-Monday meeting at 7 p.m. Sept. 15 at the Richardson Public
Library, 900 Civic Center Drive. Staggs is a former president of the Short
Mystery Fiction Society. Same crowd, same spot, five days later, author and
former ABC syndicated morning radio show host
Kat Smith will explore “Navigating Through Interviews,” a three-hour workshop on nailing media interviews. Five participants will
record themselves in a mock five-minute interview and be critiqued (bring a
hand-held recorder). WGT early-birds: Oct. 20, Dan Case, “The Best Things You Can Do to Get Published and Paid”; Nov. 17, Rachel Caine on giving up your day job and becoming a novelist. More from organizer Carol Woods.
IABC local update: Carol Kinsey Goman, author of “The Nonverbal Advantage: Secrets and Science of Body Language at Work,” will headline the Dallas IABC Quill Awards luncheon Tuesday, Sept. 9. Register here.
PRSA local update: The chapter will vote on seven individuals at October’s annual meeting to fill positions on the 2009 Board of Directors: Tom Burke, APR, president-elect; Carol Murray, APR, programs VP; Linda Jacobson, treasurer-elect; Lyndsay Hoover, secretary; Laura Van Hoosier, APR, assembly delegate (term expires 2011); Joan Hunter, director (term expires 2011); Lauren Kwedar, director (term expires 2009). Kwedar is completing a term begun by Lisa Gail Barnes, who resigned her position last month due to work-related issues. The remainder
of the board members, previously approved, are Andra Bennett, APR, president; Allyson Cross, treasurer; Dan Keeney, APR, assembly delegate (term expires 2009); and Richie Escovedo, director (term expires 2010).
PRSA local update II: The PRSA Masters SIG is planning an after-hours gathering Wednesday, Oct. 29,
with a visiting Belgian journalist. Contact Joan Hunter at jhunter@the-t.com or 817-215-8973. ... The Independent Practitioners SIG will meet Wednesday,
Sept. 17, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.; location will be announced in the Constant Contact
notice. The group meets the third Wednesday of each month. Cost is free. For
information or to make the e- distribution list, contact Nancy Farrar at nancyh829@aol.com or 817-937-1557.
PRSA local update III: Finalists have been named for the PR People Awards, presented by PR News, with
the winners to be announced Nov. 6 at the National Press Club in Washington,
D.C. Among the finalists are three PR practitioners with Fort Worth ties: Leslie Gaines Ross, Weber Shandwick (GFW PRSA’s September speaker); Emily Callahan, Susan G. Komen for the Cure (January speaker); and Ken Capps, D/FW International Airport (GFW PRSA member).
PRSA local update IV: A few volunteer spots remain for the third- and fourth-quarter community service
events. Third quarter: Tarrant Area Food Bank Backpack for Kids, 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 24.
Volunteers will stuff backpacks with food items, in some cases the only food
the children will have to eat between Friday afternoon and Monday morning at
school. Twenty-five volunteers make a team. Fourth quarter: Cowtown Brushup, Saturday, Oct. 4. Volunteers will paint a house owned by a
low-income family, an elderly person or a person with a disability in a central
city neighborhood. Fourteen volunteers make a team. RSVP to both opportunities
by Sept. 19 to Lauren Kwedar at lkwedar@phprinc.com or respond to the Cvent invitation to join the team.
PRSA local update V: The GFW PRSA Diversity Committee is up and running, with Glenda Thompson in charge. It hosted its first program at the August luncheon meeting and
received positive feedback; a professional development session is envisioned
next year. Members include Ken Reeves, Dora Tovar, Mitch Hill, Leah King and Ellen Ray; (newlywed) Amiso George Okafer, APR; and Tom Burke, APR. Contact glenda@gesturesmarketing.com or call 817-907-5934 for details on upcoming meetings.
