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best lesson learned in PR Proofread everything you write to the point of obsession. The pen truly is
mightier than the sword when it comes to tearing apart your professional
reputation.
advice to a new PR pro Listen to others and seek ways to educate yourself about the field and current
trends, but from there it is most important to simply trust in yourself. You
landed where you are for a reason, and if you make the most of it and always
conduct yourself professionally, one day others will look to you as a mentor.
secrets to success Business and social circles are tight. Treat everyone you meet as someone who
will be crucial to your future because he or she very well may be. And watch
what you say, whether you are at a restaurant with your best friend or in the
break room at work. I believe the saying is “loose lips sink ships,” but they can also do quite a bit of damage to careers and reputations.
hobbies I must suffer from spotlight withdrawal because I often need a “stage fix.” Karaoke is my drug of choice.
this much I know I know for certain that I will never know everything there is about PR because
no two jobs are the same. In many ways, PR is an amorphous profession with a
few significant, well-defined rules and even more tricks of the trade.
To be featured in the PRSA Member Spotlight, e-mail your responses and a photo
to lauravanhoosier@msn.com.
GET A JOB
Hahnfeld Hoffer Stanford, a Fort Worth-based architectural and interior design
firm with 44 years experience in public- and private-sector projects throughout
North Texas, seeks a marketing coordinator. Requirements include a college
degree and in-depth knowledge of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher and
Photoshop. Details from HHS business development director Leslie Brennan at lbrennan@hahnfeld.com. ...
Study Island, a leading provider of web-based state assessment preparation and
standards-based learning programs, seeks a PR expert to entice national, state
and local media. Contact Elissa Nadel at elissa.nadel@studyisland.com or 800-419-3191, ext. 7303. ...
Concise Marketing Solutions is looking for an entry-level junior account
executive to work primarily with Carlson travel industry accounts. Requirements
include a bachelor’s degree in business, marketing or information systems and proficiency in
Microsoft Office applications. Extra credit: experience with database
marketing, direct mail and the imaging and lettershop industry, and knowledge
of FoxPro, Adobe Acrobat, Photoshop, InDesign, QuarkXPress, MapInfo or
VertaBase. Contact Arlen Miller, amiller@concisemarketing.com or 214-827-8888, ext. 204.
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NEW MEMBERS
SPJ ... Alicia Allen Smith, Dillard’s Department Store Internet Group ... Robert Francis, Fort Worth Business Press ... Crystal Forester, Fort Worth Business Press
PRSA ... Maggie Clark, Alcon Laboratories ... Retha Fielding, APR, a transfer from the Yankee Chapter in New York where she was a member for
15 years, a past chapter president and past national delegate ... Melissa Marie Mota, Alcon Laboratories ... Jessica Brandrup Smith, Kimbell Art Museum
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PRESIDENT’S COLUMN
Laura Van Hoosier, APR, Greater Fort Worth PRSA
Just as the Christmas decorations were put away, it was time to bring out the
red hearts and “love” items. With three little girls, we always have a holiday décor theme going on at home!
This is one of my favorite times of year, as it is reminds me of all that’s important. Besides faith and family, our profession is one of those things I’m passionate about.
When I was 14 I already knew I would be in communications in some fashion. How
the field has changed since Dr. Maggie Thomas was my PR professor when we were both at Texas A&M a few years ago.
This evolution in PR is one reason I’m so excited about our speaker this month: Geoff Livingston, author of “Now Is Gone: A Primer on New Media for Executives and Entrepreneurs.” We’re in for a treat as we hear how we can be an active part of the new media that’s all around us. Special thanks to the ad/PR division of the TCU Schieffer
School of Journalism, Dr. Julie O’Neil and Dr. Tommy Thomason for co-sponsoring this event with PRSA.
On a sad note, I wish to extend the chapter’s deepest sympathies to the family of Jim Blackmore, a longtime PRSA member and a much-admired man. He contributed greatly to the
profession. At the chapter’s next board meeting, we will select a special cause to support in Jim’s memory. We’ll share the details with you in the next newsletter.
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PRESIDENT’S COLUMN
Betsy Deck, IABC Fort Worth
Remember that Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game? It held that any actor can be
connected to Kevin Bacon through their film roles. IABC is the same. I can either connect myself to a
member or through a member via IABC Fort Worth.
In 1997 I interviewed with IABC member Paul Sturiale for an internship at a local PR agency. I recently ran across a copy of my
cover letter to him. I went to high school and played in the band with IABC web
designer Colby Horton. We still gossip about our classmates.
At last year’s IABC Leadership Institute I ran into an old college roommate now living in San
Diego. We intend to room together again this year in San Antonio. The chapter’s January speaker, Dr. Paul Paulus, is dean of the College of Science at UTA, where eChaser editor John Dycus went to school and taught (and is still teaching). Dycus connects us to PRSA
member Carol Murray, whom I played softball with. Now she passes me regularly in Fort Worth 5Ks.
It really is a small world, and we’re all connected in some way. Why not make it Six Degrees of IABC? You could
start with a little speed networking with IABC Fort Worth board members and
others March 6 at the Ginger Man Pub in Fort Worth. Board members will mingle
with as many folks as possible, and we hope you do the same. Grab this chance
to meet other communications professionals or just get to know some familiar
faces a little better.
This is Worldwide Membership Month. In addition to waiving the application fee,
the Fort Worth chapter will offer new members their choice of a free luncheon
or a $25 Target gift card. Our next luncheon is Feb. 26 at the Petroleum Club.
Please join us and make your own connections!
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OVER & OUT
John Dycus, Fort Worth SPJ
Just because there’s no February meeting doesn’t mean you’re off the hook. Your presence, your expertise — that gleam in your eye — is requested at our high school/college/young professionals workshop at TCU. Be
the additional voice of reason. Be a mentor. Tell an apocryphal story. Read
about the workshop again on p. 1, then set your alarm. Who wins the most if you
show up? You do. ...
Blue Marble Media (which is to say, Lori De La Cruz, ABC) has launched Eco-Tips Tuesday, a weekly advisory on ways to coexist
responsibly with the planet. You should sign up, and you can do that here. ...
If his own people won’t lie for him, what’s the poor president to do? And the Navy’s own journal, the Navy Times, now says that threats believed to be from Iranian
speedboats in the Strait of Hormuz on Jan. 6 likely came from a ham-radio
goofball who calls himself the Filipino Monkey. The Pentagon did its part to support the dear leader by editing film of the
speedboats and the ominous audio together, even though it had no link between
the two. ...
SPJ’s new Mentor Match-up has eager journalists looking for someone with career experience to start
mutually beneficial relationships. Give a little time and make a difference.
...
SPJ will send a delegation of 10 working journalists to Taiwan, arriving Feb. 26
and returning to the U.S. on March 3. Participants will be reimbursed up to
$500 for airfare and receive lodging, other transportation and some meals from
the Asia Foundation, a nonprofit nongovernmental organization in Taiwan. Want
to go? Reach SPJ executive director Terry Harper at tharper@spj.org.
Closing words: “You can have power over people as long as you don’t take everything away from them. But when you’ve robbed a man of everything, he’s no longer in your power.” — Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn ... “The American male doesn’t mature until he has exhausted all other possibilities.” — author Wilfrid Sheed ... “I opened the door for a lot of people, and they just ran through and left me
holding the knob.” — musician and songwriter Bo Diddley
