best lesson learned in PR As basic as this seems, always work in the best interest of the public. Use this
principle as a guide in decision making. Be honest and loyal.
advice to a new PR pro Challenge yourself and volunteer to help. Seek work you otherwise might not get
as an entry-level employee. Abstain from office gossip.
trade secrets Not to be repetitive, but consider the public interest. Be loyal to and honest
with your publics and your employer. Never stop learning. Stay on top of
trends. Research and evaluation can be a PR practitioner’s best friend.
things I’m passionate about Children’s Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation, social networking and new media, anything
related to Jane Austen, Broadway musicals, TCU
favorite book “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen
movie I’d recommend “Atonement”
hobbies flower arranging, singing in a quartet, yoga (when I have time)
To be featured in the PRSA Member Spotlight, e-mail your responses and a photo
to lauravanhoosier@msn.com. You can choose not to answer any question or add in some.
GET A JOB
A public relations teaching position is open in the UTA Communication Department
for the fall. Requirements include a master’s degree and 18 graduate hours in the field, with professional experience
preferred. Submit an application letter, vita and three professional references
to Dr. Charla Markham Shaw, P.O. Box 19107, Arlington, TX 76019, or e- markham@uta.edu. ...
Fielder Road Baptist Church in Arlington seeks a part-time graphic designer to
create print and web media to assist in communicating the church’s mission. Proficiency in Adobe InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator are a must,
as are a degree in graphic communications, graphic design or related field and
experience in working with printers, managing multiple projects on deadline and
producing different styles. E-mail résumé to jgilliland@fielder.org. ...
UT Southwestern needs short-term writing support for a number of projects,
including a short employee newsletter. Send qualifications and a CV to dorothea.bonds@utsouthwestern.edu or call 214-648-7500. ...
Alsbridge, a Dallas-based marketing consulting firm specializing in offshore
sourcing, is in the market for a PR freelancer, approximately 10 hours a week.
The job consists of writing one press release per week and 1-3 articles for two
e-newsletters, plus considerable phone time arranging and placing interviews in
the business press. B2B experience ideal, but not mandatory. More important
that the individual be a go-getter and proactive. Compensation $35 per hour,
paid weekly. Contact Kristen Cannon, kcannon@aquent.com or 972-789-4028.
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NEW MEMBERS
PRSA ... Sara Balough, Big Brothers Big Sisters ... Chastity Beene, Fort Worth Sister Cities International ... Keri Cyr, marketing consultant ... Courtney Hall, Buxton
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PRESIDENT’S COLUMN
Laura Van Hoosier, APR, Greater Fort Worth PRSA
“They’re going to the dark side.” You hear that a lot when reporters take a public relations job. But many of us
in PR went to journalism school and earned a degree there. Whether a journalism
major is in the newsroom or the boardroom, he has an obligation to tell the
truth, share the facts and do the best job he can for those he advocates for — the company, the customer, the reader, the viewer. Far from “dark,” I find the field challenging, educational and a wonderful place to be.
Working in health care, I get to help tell others’ stories, like the Fort Worth man living on $300 a month who was attacked by
dogs on his morning walk. He lost part of his arm, and his eyeglasses were
destroyed. A viewer saw the story on the evening news and mailed a check for
several hundred dollars to replace the glasses. Or the low-income patient who
lost everything — his home, his truck — in a tornado. But instead of complain, he just wanted to thank those who saved
his life. He shared his story from his hospital room, and within a couple of
days someone showed up with a new truck, keys to a furnished apartment and the
offer of a new life and a second chance. The Good Samaritan told me: “David’s story touched me. I’m here for him, and I’ll be here for him as long as he needs me.”
This is an exciting time as companies and practitioners try new forms of social
media and innovative technologies to reach targeted audiences. The web TV
tactic that one local energy company is using is but one example. Let’s watch this venture and hope for the best.
And let’s all revisit the PRSA Code of Ethics from time to time. Those who keep their stakeholders, customers and the needs of
their fellow man (woman and child) paramount — those who advocate for truth, honesty and fairness — will sleep soundly at night and always have a place in this ever-changing world
of communications and public relations.
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PRESIDENT’S COLUMN
Betsy Deck, IABC Fort Worth
I can’t believe it’s already the end of July. Where did the summer go? At least in Texas it will
feel like summer for months to come. Fortunately, IABC takes July off to
regroup and analyze.
As communicators we are constantly asked to educate, create, coordinate and
mediate. With all that, we need support! IABC has a goal of making your
membership worthwhile. We appreciate practical programming that our membership
can take back to the office and use. We encourage our presenters to share what
didn’t work or what they would do differently next time. It’s great to learn from others’ experience.
The board retreats in August to plan the new year. We have lots of great deals
in the works for more events that will allow us to exchange ideas with other
organizations and utilize this terrific network of communicators that is at our
fingertips.
On behalf of the IABC Fort Worth Board of Directors, I thank you for your
support and hope you will continue with your membership and take advantage of
the many opportunities that are just a calendar page flip away.
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OVER & OUT
John Dycus, Fort Worth SPJ
SPJ joined OpenTheGovernment.org and other organizations to submit a letter of
support for HR 5811, the Electronic Communications Preservation Act, which
would require the U.S. Archivist to establish standards for the capture,
management and preservation of White House e-mails, and to issue regulations
requiring federal agencies to preserve e-mails in electronic form. The House of
Representatives passed the act 286 to 137, scoring a victory for openness in
federal agency e-mails. More on SPJ’s <
/span>FOI page. ...
I find this amusing and this encouraging somehow and this (with more here) disgusting. When the collapse of the United States is chronicled, the AP’s head guy and people like Karl Rove buttering each other’s scones deserves a whole chapter within the chapter on media abdication. ...
Across the world, the public supports freedom of the press, according to a poll from WorldPublicOpinion.org. Of 20 polled countries that collectively represent
more than half the world’s population, 50 percent of people believe media in their country should have
more freedom. Eighty-two percent say it is important for “media to be free to publish news and ideas without government control,” although 45 percent believe the government should have the right to “prevent the media from publishing information that it thinks will be politically
destabilizing.” ...
Closing words: “If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun.” — Katharine Hepburn ... “Old age is like everything else. To make a success of it, you’ve got to start young.” — Fred Astaire ... “One must think like a hero to behave like a merely decent human being.” — novelist May Sarton ... “No house should ever be on a hill or on anything. It should be of the hill.
Belonging to it. Hill and house should live together, each the happier for the
other.” — architect Frank Lloyd Wright ... “If you wrote from experience, you’d get maybe one book, maybe three poems. Writers write from empathy.” — poet Nikki Giovanni ... “It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.” — Herman Melville
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