eChaser: July 2011 / p3

PRESIDENT’S COLUMN

Carol Murray, APR, Greater Fort Worth PRSA

col·lab·o·ra·tion

1. The act of working together with one or more people in order to achieve something.

2. The betrayal of others by working with an enemy, especially an occupying force.

When I think of collaboration, I rarely adopt the negative definition. In my experience, collaboration is an effective tool for achieving something very positive. You can bet that will be the case when Greater Fort Worth PRSA collaborates with Dallas PRSA later this month.

We’re breaking with tradition and forgoing our regular luncheon in favor of an afternoon/evening social Thursday, July 21, in and around Cowboys Stadium. We’re doing this for two reasons: One, to give those members who can’t make a noon meeting an opportunity to participate in another way; and two, to give members in both Fort Worth and Dallas a chance to meet, network and share experiences. (We also thought it would be fun to explore JerryWorld under the auspices of “professional development.”)

Board members for both chapters strongly believe that by working together we can create higher visibility for our profession and provide PR professionals throughout North Texas with more beneficial services. Thus, more joint efforts are planned.

I encourage you to join us in Arlington this month and collaborate with our colleagues from the other side of 360. I promise, not an enemy in sight!

P.S. If you aspire to chapter leadership, please consider the Southwest District’s QuickStart program July 22.

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PRESIDENT’S COLUMN

Laura Hanna, IABC Fort Worth

Mention July and people usually see stars. That’s especially true at IABC this month as we celebrate our long-awaited Bronze Quill Awards; the new Board of Directors takes the reins; and exciting news from IABC headquarters means extra benefits for our members.

Bronze Quill chair Tim Tune has arranged for a “SUPER” BQ luncheon. In addition to recognizing the best of the best work by local communications professionals, Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck will offer his insights on the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee’s communications initiatives and programs — and how they changed as quickly as the weather. This is a don’t-miss event for anyone fascinated by the good, the bad and the ugly of the Arlington Super Bowl experience.

Bronze Quill is 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday, July 26, at the City Club in downtown Fort Worth. Reservations deadline is noon July 22. Check iabcfortworth.com for more information and to make your reservation to join Mayor Cluck and your award-winning friends and colleagues.

July signals the start of a new year for IABC, including the transition to a fresh Board of Directors. The 2010-2011 board included Laura Hanna, Texas Wesleyan University, president and Southern Region junior delegate; Cheryl Hart, Hart Marketing, past-president and Southern Region senior delegate/programming chair; Betsy Deck, city of Euless, webmaster; Julie Loeffelholz, Cockrell Enovation, membership chair; Ken Roberts, Chesapeake Energy Corp., secretary; Tim Tune, commpreneur, treasurer and Bronze Quill chair; Lori De La Cruz, Blue Marble Media, accreditation chair; Kay Colley, Texas Wesleyan University, education chair and student relations; and April Eubanks, Graphic Design and Scholarship Committee. I owe a great debt of thanks to these folks for the time, energy and talent they devoted to making IABC so exceptional this year.

And if you liked that board, you’ll love the 2011-2012 version, because it’s almost the same crowd. We will miss Ken Roberts, who is rotating off the board. Eunice Nicholson is the new secretary and programming chair. Also joining the board is Barry Grubbs. We look forward to another great year.

July marks IABC’s Member-Get-A-Member promotion. Members can earn three free months of membership (up to a full year) for each member they recruit during the month-long promotion. Contact me at 817-531-5810 or lhanna@txwes.edu for details.

SEE YOU FOR A “SUPER” TIME AT BRONZE QUILL!

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OVER & OUT

John Dycus, Fort Worth SPJ

All things convention. Hey, it’s New Orleans. ...

Fifty years ago this fall, two Baylor journalists, Dave Cheavens, ‘33, veteran Associated Press bureau chief in Austin, and David McHam, ‘58, reporter for The Houston Post, joined the Baylor journalism faculty. On Thursday evening, Oct. 20, in the Baylor Student Union Drawing Room, Baylor will celebrate the legacy of these early journalism leaders. Living legend McHam and his wife, Betty Lynn, will be honored guests, and many of his former students are expected to attend. McHam has taught at Baylor, SMU, UT Arlington and the University of Houston. Invitations won’t go out for a while, but if you know any of the players, likely you’re invited. More from co-organizer Mike Blackman at michael_blackman@baylor.edu, 817-926-4238 home or 817-586-8750 cell. ...

The third annual, award-winning Will Write for Food, where up to 20 college journalists take over a homeless shelter’s newspaper in South Florida, is open for business. The project will take place Labor Day weekend and focus on providing a voice to the area’s homeless population. The program, sponsored by SPJ and the Florida College Press Association, covers hotel, meals and some travel expenses. If offended by “don’t get us wrong, you need to know your shit,” don’t apply. Application deadline is July 15. ...

Jerry Mitchell at The Clarion-Ledger, the Pulitzer Prize-winning daily newspaper of Jackson, Miss., has these top 10 tips for investigative reporters that he’s pretty proud of (as he should be), and leave it to Angie Summers, late of the Star-Telegram and now assistant to Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck, to alert us to them. You can take the reporter out of Mississippi, but you can’t take ... well, you know.

Caught my eye. Obama administration rescinds wilderness protection. ... Ocean acidification makes clownfish go deaf. ... Congregations work with EPA. ... Study shows regulating carbon helps society. ... Solar energy powers one million Bangladeshi homes. ... Senate votes to end ethanol subsidies. ... Critical weather satellites to lose funding. ... Quebec’s subsidized child care pays for itself. ... ‘It’s nothing short of amazing that this newspaper was delivered on time.’ ... Black, white and red all over: Newspaper ads dive. ... Lance Armstrong takes down anti-’60 Minutes’ website. ... Lesson for PR firms: Don’t tweet threats to journalists. ... NY Times’ David Carr: Never been a better time to be a journalist. ... How the greenbelt movement in Kenya fights climate change. ... Astronauts evacuate to Soyuz spacecraft as junk nearly hits International Space Station. ... Child environmentalists who have already changed the world.

Closing words: “The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.” — Oscar Wilde, who also said, “Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.” ... “I try to remember two things: First, if you don’t ask, you don’t find out; and second, the questions don’t do the damage. Only the answers do.” — Sam Donaldson in his 1987 memoir, “Hold On, Mr. President!”