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MEETINGS
Keep Those Workers Happy: the Importance
of Strong Cultural and Social Communication
Former IABC Fort Worth president Robin McCasland will present an intriguing program March 23 on external and internal
communications tactics and processes that keep employees motivated, focused
and, most important, eager to stay with a firm that has a positive public
image. She also will discuss the best uses of social media to reinforce a great
culture internally and create a positive reputation externally.
A director in Buck Consultants, McCasland previously spent nearly 10 years in a
variety of roles with Texas Instruments and the Semiconductor Industry
Association. She has nearly 25 years experience in employee communication,
marketing, media relations and event planning, specializing in creative
approaches to employer branding, talent management and strategic communication
planning.
She was IABC Dallas’ 2000 Communicator of the Year and has served as chapter president. She has won
IABC Gold and Silver Bronze Quill awards and received the 2007 and 2008
Communicator Award for her work on client benefit communication projects.
Time & date: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday, March 23
Place: City Club, 301 Commerce St.
Cost: members $25, nonmembers $30, students $20 (online add $1)
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Tight Budget? Don’t Let It Stop That Powerful Video Project
Organizations of all sizes are creating viral video campaigns, which have become
an excellent tool to engage an audience and track results. Jamie Brown, owner of Jamie Brown Public Relations, will provide examples of successful
campaigns at the March meeting and show participants how to create their own
campaigns. She will include tips on getting buy-in, saving money and
distributing videos for maximum impact.
The luncheon will be the last at the Petroleum Club. The chapter’s longtime meeting place is temporarily closing for renovations, and Greater
Fort Worth PRSA is moving to Colonial Country Club. The
second-Wednesday-of-the-month schedule will be retained except for the April
meeting — Pro-Am Day — which will be Friday, April 9.
The chapter will not cover parking for attendees at the March meeting but has
negotiated a $2.50 rate in the parking garage. Parking is free at Colonial.
Time & date: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday, March 10
Place: Petroleum Club, Jacobs/Carter-Burgess Plaza, 777 Main St.
Cost: $25 members, $35 nonmembers, students $20
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Sunshine and the senator
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn will speak Monday, March 15, on openness in government and public records at a
breakfast meeting at the downtown Tarrant County College Trinity River Campus.
Cornyn sponsored two major open-government initiatives in recent years and has
co-sponsored legislation to improve access to information on how federal money
is spent.
His visit, sponsored by Fort Worth SPJ and Tarrant County College Student
Publications, complements Sunshine Week, an initiative begun in 2005 by the
American Society of Newspaper Editors to underscore the importance of a free
flow of information. Funded primarily by a grant from the John S. and James L.
Knight Foundation in Miami, the week now involves civic groups, libraries and
schools as well as journalists.
Cornyn, R-Texas, introduced the bipartisan Open Government Act of 2007, which
became law that year and contained the most significant reforms to federal
freedom of information law in more than a decade. The following year he
co-sponsored the Open FOIA Act of 2008, to require Congress to come clean on
exemptions to the Freedom of Information Act that are frequently included in
legislative proposals.
Date & time: Monday, March 15; full breakfast buffet begins at 8 a.m., remarks at 8:30
Parking: free wth parking pass on garage levels three and four; use the Belknap Street entrance at Cherry
Street
Cost: $10 (cash or check), payable at the door
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STRAIGHT STUFF
TCU artist-in-residence and professor of piano José Feghali will discuss “Internet 2: the Teaching Tool of Today” at the monthly TCU Guild happening Thursday, March 18. The luncheon, on the Ed
Landreth Auditorium stage, begins at 11 a.m., then it’s troop around the corner to the PepsiCo Recital Hall for the program at 12:15.
Cost is $15. To RSVP contact Lois Powers, 817-249-7409 or tcuguild@gmail.com. The Guild funds eight scholarships in the TCU Colleges of Fine Arts and
Communication. ...
Postmark deadline is March 31 for undergraduate general interest columnists in
print or online college papers to enter the National Society of Newspaper
Columnists scholarship contest. Specialized columnists, such as movie reviewers
and sports commentators, are not eligible. The winner will receive $1,000 and
be the NSNC’s guest at its 2010 convention in Bloomington, Ind., July 8-11. Second place
garners $500, third place $250. Direct questions to Russell Frank at 814-863-6415 or rfrank@psu.edu. Details here. ...
