eChaser: October 2012 / p2

PRSA national update: For your enlightenment and elucidation, selected webinars, free for PRSA members. “Using Age to Engage.” Age is both a demographic and a psychographic, which makes it a very diversified and useful research tool. When carried out correctly, generational marketing can be a cost-effective research approach to learning more about a target audience. Presented by Lisa Fall, APR. • “What’s Your Communications Campaign’s ROI?” Simply measuring the effectiveness of communication isn’t enough anymore. Senior management wants to see a correlation between the money spent on communication and the business outcomes resulting from it. Presented by Angela Sinickas. • “Building Effective Crisis Plans.” Learn to identify crisis-causing risks and exposures; the crisis plan components most plans miss but must have; how to avoid, anticipate and pre-empt the mistakes that cause response failure. Presented by James Lukaszewski, ABC, APR, Fellow PRSA, CCEP. • “Copyright Compliance.” You sure it’s OK to link to that YouTube video or post that article excerpt on your blog or media room? More and more organizations are tracking how their online content is used and finding infringers. Learn what is considered public domain; how to attribute others’ content safely; the ins and outs of copyright law, including the Software & Information Industry Association’s anti-piracy efforts; and what you need to do in order to comply and still effectively do your job. Presented by Keith Kupferschmid.

PRSA local update: Andra Bennett, APR, and Holly Ellman will represent GFW PRSA at the Leadership Assembly in San Francisco on Oct. 13, prior to the International Conference. Send your thoughts on topics you’d like them to address — diversity, basic writing and speaking skills, ethics, the Southwest District, accreditation, advocating for legislation that impacts PR, anything else on your mind — to abennett@fortworthchamber.com or h.ellman@tcu.edu.

PRSA local update II: The proposed leadership slate — Richie Escovedo, membership VP/president-elect; Michelle Clark, programs VP; Liz Heck, treasurer; Megan Murphey, secretary; Jahnae Stout, director; and Gigi Westerman, APR, Assembly delegate — will be voted on at the chapter’s annual meeting Wednesday, Nov. 14. Those approved will join incoming president Chris Smith; directors Margaret Ritsch, APR, and Joe Stout; Assembly delegate Holly Ellman; and immediate past president Allyson Cross.

PRSA local update III: The Independent Practitioners SIG will explore proposals and business development strategies at its next meeting Thursday, Nov. 15, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. at Monty’s Corner Grill in Montgomery Plaza on West Seventh Street.

PRSA local update IV: This month in PR/marketing history. Oct. 5, 1947: Harry Truman made the first televised presidential address from the White House. He used the air time to ask Americans to cut back on their use of grain in order to help starving Europeans recovering from World War II. The speech ushered in a new era in political communications, even though there were only about 100,000 television sets in the United States, or roughly the same number of channels available now on a good satellite dish. • Oct. 3, 1995: Kato Kaelin was devastated to learn that he will no longer have the place to himself after jurors decided O.J. Simpson didn’t do it. • Oct. 7, 2003: Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected governor of California, defeating 134 other candidates, including other actors and one adult-film star. • Oct. 13, 1975: At the Country Music Association awards, singer Charlie Rich opened the envelope to announce the Entertainer of the Year. When he saw that the winner was John Denver, Rich stepped back, took out a cigarette lighter and set the envelope on fire. Denver, who was there via satellite, was unaware of the incident and accepted the award graciously. While it embarrassed a few people, the shock was nothing compared to what would come in 1992, when Billy Ray Cyrus’ “Achy Breaky Heart” went platinum.

PRSA local update V: Standing reminders. 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 $75; the cost for nonmembers is $100, for nonprofits $50. Each posting runs a month. 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, Greater Fort Worth PRSA job bank chair, 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 Chris Smith at csmith501@charter.net.

Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas update: A new $30 electronic document fee at the Texas Attorney General’s Office is under attack from a civil rights group that believes it “undermines government transparency.” State lawmakers granted permission for the electronic option during the last legislative session to allow the AG to charge a reasonable “administrative convenience fee” for accepting legal documents electronically. Previous options such as e-mail and fax submissions were free but are no longer allowed. Filing documents related to public information issues in person is still permitted without charge. FOIFT recently launched a test program where it files documents via an e-mail request, at no charge. • The Austin Bulldog is a scrappy investigative online resource that for the past 15 months has been after the city of Austin for alleged improprieties involving the Texas Public Information Act and the Texas Open Meetings Act. Austin responded with what could serve as a model e-mail communication system. “This is easily the most well-thought-out policy addressing this issue, both from the private device/account and city server side, that I have seen,” said Joseph Larsen, special counsel to Sedgwick LLP and an FOIFT volunteer attorney.

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PEOPLE & PLACES

The Southern Newspaper Publishers Association awarded Star-Telegram editorial writer and columnist Linda Campbell top honors in the Carmage Walls Commentary Prize competition for newspapers with circulations over 50,000. Campbell wrote about the awarding of contracts for delinquent tax collection that demonstrated collusion between elected officials and contract winners. Contest judges said her entry excelled in all of the qualities that the competition seeks to recognize. "It is well written, yes, but it stood above the other entries for its local focus and clear impact. Campbell did considerable investigative work into the awarding of contracts for delinquent tax collection. She uncovered money trails and documentation that revealed collusion between elected officials and contract winners. Thanks to her revelations and persuasive presentation, the local board rescinded the contract and the local prosecutor investigated, leading to charges." The prize is named for the late Benjamin Carmage Walls, whose newspaper career spanned seven decades. Walls primarily owned community newspapers.