MEETINGS
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Content Creation Through Common Ground
PR pros, do you play well with others? Has working with others been a challenge
when the goal is an integrated approach? The lunch program this month focuses
on creating content and programs for different media, channels and audiences. Alison McMillon and Alyssa Gardina with Weber Shandwick in Dallas will share best practices and case studies for
finding common ground between digital and social public relations.
McMillon, a senior vice president in the Dallas office, oversees Weber Shandwick’s work with Marine Well Containment, a Houston-based big-player company
(founders ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Shell, BP, Apache, Anadarko, BHP
Billiton, Statoil and Hess) that provides equipment and technology for the
deepwater U.S. Gulf of Mexico. While at Weber Shandwick, she also has executed
PR programs for American Airlines, Bank of America, Kinko’s and Verizon Wireless.
Gardina curently is providing digital strategy guidance on social media for the
U.S. Army and RadioShack. Outside Weber Shandwick, she is the branding vice
president of the national organization Social Media Club of Dallas. She has
presented at the South by Southwest Interactive Festival and at the Dallas and
Oklahoma City PRSA chapters.
Time, date: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 12
Place: Colonial Country Club, 3735 Country Club Circle, Fort Worth
Cost: chapter members $25, national members $30, nonmembers $35, students $20;
walk-ups add $5
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The program’s in the planning stages, but the enchiladas are secured.
Time, date: mingle 6 p.m., eat 6:30, then the program Wednesday,
Sept. 26
Sept. 26
Place: Joe T. Garcia’s Mexican Restaurant, 2201 N. Commerce St.,
Fort Worth
Fort Worth
Cost: members $17, nonmembers $25, students $10, cash or check, free if you join right
then and there
Menu: Joe T.’s renowned family-style enchilada dinner; cash bar
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STRAIGHT STUFF
The Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas’ daylong traveling symposium on the changing landscape of open government lands
in Fort Worth on Friday, Sept. 28, at the Tarrant County College Trinity River
East Campus, Jones and Belknap streets, room 1050 in the TRHA Building.
Co-sponsored with the Attorney General’s Office and Fort Worth SPJ, the program is directed toward the public,
government employees, elected officials and reporters. Sessions, each led by
experienced attorneys and others knowledgeable in this area of law, will
address hot topics in public information and open meetings and will include a
legislative update. More information and registration are
here. ...
Star-Telegram consumer rights columnist Dave Lieber will talk stories and storytelling and all things Watchdog Nation at the
Writers’ Guild of Texas meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 17, at the Richardson Public
Library. Lieber’s book “Dave Lieber’s Watchdog Nation” won two national book awards for social change in 2009 and was named one of the
top 10 consumer books of the year. A member of the National Speakers
Association, he won the Will Rogers Humanitarian Award from the National
Society of Newspaper Columnists in 2002 for his service to the community. The
Press Club of Dallas named him Best Columnist in the American Southwest.
• Third-Monday early-birds: Oct. 15, Joe Milazzo, getting the most from the sound of your writing; Nov. 19, small business owner
Nicci O’Boyle on e-mail marketing and social media.
IABC local update: Nancy Voith, managing director of CRA’s talent practice, will explore “Your Career: How to Stand Out from the Crowd” at the IABC Dallas meeting Tuesday, Sept. 11. Info here.
PRSA national update: For your enlightenment and elucidation, selected webinars, free for PRSA members. “Accreditation Power Play: The How-To of Accreditation.” How do you start prepping? Learn what is expected, get organized, study the
right materials and follow the right process — the best way to earn the APR credential. • “Bringing the Power of PR to Brand Marketing.” Build brands with public relations insights and strategies. Create a
significant brand experience that will deepen emotion and drive engagement.
Presented by Grace Leong, APR. • “Public Trust and Confidence: Recent Study Results and Implications for Strategic
Communications.” Hear how government, commercial and not-for-profit organizations can baseline
their current level of public trust and confidence with the National Trust and
Confidence Index.
PRSA local update: Speak? Easy. The Texas Volunteer Management Conference is gearing up for its
annual meet and seeks a PR professional to lead a 90-minute workshop on social
networking, working with the media and event planning. The conference will be
Jan. 24-25, 2013, in Grapevine. Contact Nedra Cutler at Meals on Wheels, 817-258-6426 or nedra@mealsonwheels.org.
PRSA local update II: The Independent Practitioners SIG will meet Thursday, Sept. 20, 11:30 a.m.-1
p.m. at Monty’s Corner Grill in Montgomery Plaza on West Seventh Street.
PRSA local update III: This month in PR/marketing history. Sept. 1, 1850: Infamous huckster P.T. Barnum brought to the United States the greatest opera singer of her day, a Swedish
woman named Jenny Lind. Even though Barnum had never heard Lind sing, he offered “the Swedish nightingale” 150 performances in the United States and Canada, with an unheard of $1,000
guarantee per performance. When Lind reached New York, she was greeted with a
mania comparable to the arrival of the Beatles. She expanded opera’s appeal to Americans and also Barnum’s bank account. He netted possibly half a million dollars from the tour — a tidy sum for 1850, and not once did he have to worry about someone illegally
downloading the songs.
• September 1813: “Uncle Sam” came into being. The name is linked to Samuel Wilson, a meat packer in Troy, N.Y., who supplied barrels of beef to the Army during
the War of 1812. Wilson stamped the barrels with U.S. for United States, but
soldiers began referring to the grub as “Uncle Sam’s.” The local newspaper did a story, and Uncle Sam eventually gained acceptance as
the nickname for the federal government. Today, Troy calls itself “The Home of Uncle Sam,” and Congress officially recognizes Wilson as “the progenitor of America’s national symbol,” a notably mellifluous distinction.
• Sept. 15, 1858: Two stagecoaches left St. Louis to deliver mail to San Francisco, inaugurating
government postal service between the eastern and western regions of the
nation. The historic first delivery is said to have included an envelope of
Valpak coupons, a solicitation from Publishers Clearing House and a sticky note
stating that the Post Office was holding a package back at the station in St.
Louis.
