Three Fort Worth ad agencies, Algo+Rhythm, the Balcom Agency and Concussion, and
the video company Red Productions all won Gold Addys at the American
Advertising Federation’s District 10 competition and advance to Arlington, Va., this summer for the
chance to take one of advertising’s most prestigious awards: a national Addy. Concussion won the most district
awards, 13, followed by Algo+Rhythm with 12 and Balcom with six. ...
TCU Student Publications business manager Bitsy Faulk has been elected to a two-year term as president of College Newspaper Business
and Advertising Managers, which represents 150 member universities in the U.S.
At the CNBAM convention March 25-29 in Charlotte, N.C., the Daily Skiff ad
staff won two first-place awards and two second places. ...
Balcom Agency production director Lynne Swihart recently received the Silver Medal Award from the American Advertising
Federation of Fort Worth, and you can say something nice about her or that at honorlynne.com. ...
Brenda Cavanaugh has joined the Fort Worth-based Hondo Group as assistant account executive in
the Darlington, Wis., office, while interns Jennifer Poyner (graphic design) and Kristen Malone (marketing and copywriting) will assist in the home office. Cavanaugh, a
graduate of the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, will handle marketing/PR
for StollerUSA and new business initiatives in the agriculture and dairy
industries. Poyner is a senior graphic design major at Texas Woman’s University, and Malone is a senior ad/PR major at TCU.
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NEW MEMBERS
SPJ ... Jerry Grotta, TCU Schieffer School of Journalism
PRSA ... Erin White, JODesign ... Susan Michelle Flyzik, Paige Hendricks Public Relations ... Alice Gomez Sykes, Fort Worth Housing Authority ... Kelly Drawdy (reinstated), Arlington Parks and Recreation Department ... Michelle Elizabeth Wagner (reinstated), Communities in Schools
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PRESIDENT’S COLUMN
Andra Bennett House, APR, Greater Fort Worth PRSA
The recession has forced us all to look at our lives and ask: This is nice, but
is it necessary? A 170-member organization such as your PRSA chapter represents
significant bank charges, administrative and web hosting costs, software,
professional fees, taxes, scholarships, etc. Do we cut? Where?
Treasurer Allyson Cross has trimmed every penny so we can continue to provide benefits and still balance
the budget. Here’s a way you can help: RSVP online, then pay at the door the old-fashioned way,
with cash or check. This will save hundreds of dollars a year in online
transaction fees. Sorry, but we will invoice no-shows. And walk-ups will pay $5
extra, so avoid that by RSVP’ing.
We barely break even on our luncheons — validated valet parking, good learning environment, excellent buffet and
service — yet have decided not to raise fees for our members and students in this
difficult economy. We’re counting on sponsorships, job bank postings, award entry and judging fees and
other sources of revenue to strengthen the bottom line.
Be sure to check out our May 13 event, a social media blockbuster, here. The chapter will make a few dollars, and you’ll get a wealth of information for yourself and your organization. It’s a win-win.
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PRESIDENT’S COLUMN
Betsy Deck, IABC Fort Worth
Don’t forget to submit your Bronze Quill entries by May 8. The process is paperless and thus quite green, and a win would be a
great way to prove your worth. Take some hardware back to the office and show
the boss how hard you work! Special thanks to student chapter co-president Laurence Sheehan with Aesthetics Design for crafting the BQ publications this year. What talent!
If you recently have been laid off, you need IABC more than ever. If you join or
renew your membership, we will rebate your local fee in the form of two
luncheons. IABC is your communications resource in this economy. Indeed, the
recent half-day seminar offered attendees vital information on starting their
own business, marketing themselves and expanding their network.
Pigs flying, microbursts imploding buildings — how would you handle it? Our May speaker, John Kent, does media relations for F-35 Communications at Lockheed Martin. John has
experience dealing with the government and the media on the largest aeronautics
contract ever awarded. Before joining the Lockheed team, he was an on-air reporter for several
television stations across Texas. Join us May 26 for this great topic.
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OVER & OUT
John Dycus, Fort Worth SPJ
Honors were bestowed and scholarships distributed. Friendship, fellowship,
recognition, assistance — it doesn’t get much better than our scholarship and awards banquet last month. As I write
this, I read that The Boston Globe might close. The Boston Globe! At no point
in the nation’s history have the people in our business more needed to draw strength from each
other, and we did that April 17 at Cacharel in Arlington. Good work,
coordinators Rebecca Guzman Bosquez, First Amendment Awards, and Linda Campbell, scholarships. Thanks, Linda, too, for the write-up and video of keynote speaker Patrice McDermott, director of openthegovernment.org. Right about here is where I usually strive for a snappy ending, but I’m not feeling snappy. The Boston Globe. ...
The day after celebrating 100 years of improving and protecting journalism
(complete with cake), the SPJ board voted to give laid-off members a six-month
dues extension. Quill will be sent digitally to members who apply for this
option, and SPJ asks for five hours of volunteer service in exchange. Current
members requesting the benefit must fill out and submit this form. ...
Texas A&M history chair and fifth-generation Texan Walter Buenger on the secessionist talk of Rick Perry, Texas governor and former Aggie yell leader: “You can put this in the paper: To even bring it up shows a profound lack of
patriotism.” When you’re so big a fool that an Aggie can see it ...
Applications deadline is May 13 for the 2009 Broadcast Reporters Institute, a
crash course in the characteristics of outstanding broadcast journalism for 36
young professionals, July 19-22 at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg,
Fla. Attendees or their employer will be responsible for the $300 registration
fee and travel expenses; SPJ will provide lodging and most meals. Info here. Contact Heather Porter at 317-927-8000 ext. 204 or hporter@spj.org with questions. ...
SPJ national has partnered with Helium.com, the world’s largest writing community. The idea is for Helium’s citizen journalists to learn from SPJ members about how to ethically cover
their local communities and for SPJ members to have access to Helium’s premium content and services, normally reserved for established site writers.
SPJ members also may enter Helium’s Fundamentals of Journalism Writing Contest. Details here. ...
Closing words: “Being in politics is like being a football coach. You have to be smart enough to
understand the game and dumb enough to think it’s important.” — Eugene McCarthy ... “All the world’s a stage, and most of us are desperately unrehearsed.” — Sean O’Casey ... “Life seems to me like a Japanese picture which our imagination does not allow to
end with the margin. We aim at the infinite, and when our arrow falls to earth
it is in flames. ... You have given me the companionship of dear friends who
have helped to keep alive the fire in my heart. If I could think that I had
sent a spark to those who come after, I should be ready to say goodbye.” — Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., in retirement
Closing words II, crime novelist Raymond Chandler edition: “She smelled the way the Taj Mahal looked by moonlight. ... She gave me a smile I
could feel in my hip pocket.”
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