eChaser: March 2011 / p3

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PRESIDENT’S COLUMN

Carol Murray, APR, Greater Fort Worth PRSA

Ours is rarely a 9-to-5 job. (Do those exist?) Early mornings, late nights, evening meetings and weekend events are the norm in PR. But where we really earn our keep is when we’re thrust into the middle of a controversy and charged with presenting our organization’s side of the story.

Gas drilling. Bus advertising. Police impropriety. School curriculum. Evolution. Super Bowl temporary seats (another variation of the long-running Jerrygate). There’s never a shortage of issues.

And nine times out of 10, the person in the hot seat delivering the message is a member of our chapter, someone I’ve known or worked with for years. It’s during these times when I am most proud of our profession and my colleagues. Their ability to communicate clearly, their 24-7 accessibility to the media, their dedication to transparency and presenting both sides of the issue, and their calm demeanor when dealing with often irrational, uninformed and downright ugly opinions speak volumes for our craft.

I’m convinced that the programs, professional development and especially the relationships that PRSA and our chapter provide are key to traversing these trying times with our organization’s reputation and our personal self-esteem intact.

I hope you never find yourself in the crossfire of a public debate. But if you do, know that there are many of us — your PRSA friends — who have been there and are eager to lend advice, encouragement, assistance or simply a shoulder.

Peers Ready with Sage Advice. Yeah, I like that.

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PRESIDENT’S COLUMN

Laura Hanna, IABC Fort Worth

There’s something special about March. Warming weather teases at the pleasant spring to come, and sightings of leprechauns gripping mugs of green beer are reported with frightening regularity.

That “something special” really applies to IABC Fort Worth this month. We have an excellent luncheon program, plans for the Bronze Quill competition will be unveiled, and several great scholarship ideas are on the table. Stay tuned for new information as it unfolds.

As the only local awards ceremony for professional communicators, Bronze Quill is eagerly awaited by communications pros in and around Tarrant County as a way to showcase the best of the best of their work. If you are not already on the e-mail list for IABC notices, sign up at iabcfortworth.com. Then you’ll be the first to know the when, where and how of this year’s awards show.

You’ll also be notified about the fascinating luncheon meeting Tuesday, March 22, at the City Club. Ryan Crist and John Cockrell Jr., two of program chair Julie Loeffelholz’s colleagues at Cockrell Enovation, will offer a mind-changing look at how innovative leaders in the printing industry are adapting to the opportunities created by new technologies and a rapidly changing marketplace. Register at our website.

Our membership drive is working, and several new members have stepped up to lead committees and advise our student chapter at Texas Wesleyan University. These members prove that mentoring is one of the best ways to shape the next generation of professional communicators by sharing knowledge, expertise and encouragement.

And we will always find room for more volunteers. Let me know of an interest or activity that you would like to promote with your fellow members. They are as eager to learn about it (and you) as you are to share it with them. Along that line, now is the time to consider serving on the 2011 Board of Directors. The transition to the new board will begin in July. Contact me at 817-531-5810 or lhanna@txwes.edu to discuss where you would like to fit in.

Meanwhile, mark your calendars for noon Tuesday, March 22, at the City Club for the March member luncheon. See you there!

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OVER & OUT

John Dycus, Fort Worth SPJ

Melissa Mia Hall died Jan. 28, and six days later so did Sharon Belz, and that’s a doubly sobering hit for someone who knew them both and appreciated their artistic, fun-loving contributions to an increasingly sullen and unsettled world. Melissa wrote for The Shorthorn at UTA (and graduated!) in the early ’70s, but her creative spirit found its lifelong expression not in newspapers but in fiction and nonfiction writing, photography, and paintings and collages. She worked for Barber’s Bookstore and as a substitute teacher, reviewed hundreds of books for which she was never paid enough, taught writing and did freelance editing. She was a critic for many publications, among them the book industry standard, Publishers Weekly, for almost 10 years. Although she conducted laser-sharp interviews and spun highly readable tales across multiple genres — mainstream, mystery, fantasy, science fiction — fame eluded her, yet she had this palpable perseverance. That and a machine gun burst of a laugh. You could get a laugh (“huge,” her obit called it) out of Belz, too, perhaps accompanying an “infamous” story (again from the obit) about someone in the Fort Worth journalism community. A Baylor grad, Sharon was a founding member of the Texas Girls Choir, with which she traveled extensively. Indeed, Carolyn Poirot’s best memory of Sharon was from the Gridiron Show and how well she could sing (“maybe the only one of us who really could sing”); Carolyn, on the other hand, couldn’t carry a tune and had such stage freight, she often forgot the lyrics. “One year, Sharon told me not to worry, she would sing along with me from a microphone backstage, and if I forgot the words to just keep moving my lips and she would belt the song out for me. It was great fun, and everyone in the audience must have thought I was taking singing lessons, since she drowned me out from the start. I had a wonderful time miming the words.” Melissa Hall and Sharon Belz: They didn’t mime their way through life. ...

It’s like they get up every morning and ask themselves, “How can we screw - the - planet today?” ...

So you bought the iPhone 4. Did you know that it can be used to produce rich multimedia stories, interactive slideshows and even audio broadcasts in real time? Knowledgewebb is hosting a free webinar for SPJ members at 3 p.m. Wednesday, March 9, on how to use an iPhone, an Android, Palm or BlackBerry to report and publish stories. Register here. ...

Application postmark deadline is March 11 for a 10-week Chicago Sun-Times minority summer internship. An applicant must be a junior, senior, graduate student or recent graduate. Contact Chicago Headline Club board member Rummana Hussain at rhussain@suntimes.com. ...

SPJ national reminds about the 5 percent discount on long-term care insurance from Prudential. The discount applies to members, spouses/partners, parents, in-laws, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles and children age 18 and older. More from the Prudential benefit adviser service at 877-636-3774. Discounted insurance with Prudential is just one of the professional opportunities and savings for SPJ members.

Headlines that caught my eye. Calling foul: Laid-off sports editor rips Gannett’s greed. ... Huffington Post plans huge expansion of citizen journalism for 2012 campaign. ... GOP spending plan would cost 700,000 jobs, new report says. ... Bill Gates: How teacher development could revolutionize our schools. ... Will robots replace journalists? ... CR would slash EPA, White House energy office. ... Vietnam-era journalists see new dangers today. ... Center for Public Integrity seeks reporters for state government corruption probe. ... BusinssWeek: Twitter isn’t journalism. ... Sea Shepherd claims victory as whaling season is cut short after confrontations with activists. ... Houston’s black newspapers build on their legacy. ... One reporter’s tale of pre-revolt Libya.

Closing words: “Life is easy to chronicle, but bewildering to practice.” — novelist and essayist E.M. Forster, who also said, “Death destroys a man, but the idea of death saves him.” ... “To love another person is to see the face of God.” — French novelist Victor Hugo, who also said, “There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world: and that is an idea whose time has come.”