eChaser: August 2011 / p2

PRSA local update: Go ahead, be judgmental. Calling all volunteers, especially APRs — GFW PRSA needs judges for the Public Relations Association of Mississippi’s annual Lantern Awards. Judging will take place from 5 to 9 p.m. Aug. 10 and 11 in the conference room at the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, 777 Taylor St. Dinner and snacks will be provided. Contact Margaret Ritsch at margaret@prperception.com to sign up for one or both evenings. This is one of the chapter’s ways to earn funds for activities.

PRSA local update II: Standing reminders. Have something to say? Be a speaker at a North Texas PRSSA chapter meeting. E- Kevin Williams at kw757@yahoo.com. ... The DFW Communicators Job Bank lists full-time, part-time and internship positions in PR, media affairs, advertising/sales, event planning, graphic design, marketing, and corporate and employee communications throughout North Texas. Employers who are members of the participating organizations may post a job listing for $50; the cost for nonmembers is $75. Nonprofits get a 50 percent discount. Each posting runs three weeks. Greater Fort Worth PRSA receives a portion of the proceeds when a member marks his or her membership status on the submission form. More from Jerrod Resweber at jresweber@webershandwick.com or 469-375-0216. ... Stay on top of emerging trends and industry news, extend your network while increasing your knowledge, and keep learning and stay competitive. Any practitioner with at least two years in the field is eligible for membership in the world’s leading organization for PR professionals. Those with fewer than two years experience or who recently graduated from college and were active in PRSSA may join as an associate member. More from chapter president-elect Allyson Cross at cross@gcgadvertising.com.

PRSA local update III: Marketing/communications expert Steve Lee, a trailblazer on how to use all this “technology stuff” to better communicate, collaborate, sell and assist customers, will discuss “Web, Email, Social Media — What Does the Future Hold?” at the Dallas PRSA meeting Thursday, Aug. 11. Register here.

Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas update: There is much at stake in the ongoing dispute over the refusal by the Texas Department of Public Safety to release security costs associated with travel involving Gov. Rick Perry and his family. For years the Austin American-Statesman, San Antonio Express-News and Houston Chronicle have attempted to see normally routine travel reimbursement records that DPS argues must be off-limits because of security risks. This argument surfaced after embarrassing disclosures about a Perry trip to the Bahamas showed hundreds of tax dollars used for golf carts and scuba diving equipment. Recently the Texas Supreme Court ruled that the records can remain withheld if it can be proven that threats associated with releasing them under Texas’ Public Information Act would leave Perry at risk. The ruling was a blow to open government groups such as FOIFT, but what happened next was worse. The DPS said that records in question before 2008 (the period of time challenged in court) had been purged, and the American-Statesman reported that “DPS no longer keeps a separate accounting of Executive Protection Bureau expenses devoted to Perry and his wife, Anita,” making it impossible to provide travel costs upon request. DPS then said it had preserved “certain travel records” in question after all. It’s an important distinction even if the outcome remains the same: These records remain shielded from scrutiny, and Perry won’t say whether he wants the public to see them.

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