Hoosier PRSA Blog is for members of the Hoosier Chapter of PRSA to discuss public relations issues and trends affecting the profession. Prospective members, students, journalists and those interested in public relations are encouraged to join in the discussion. Hoosier PRSA Blog will also be used to provide brief news related to the chapter.
Are your digital strategies helping accomplish these goals? James Burnes, Principal and Senior Strategist for Project Brilliant, asked these and many other tough questions to PR pros at the August 10 luncheon in the Sheraton's Panaorama room. Often in charge of social media initiaves, PR pros are especially key to keeping a company's social strategy on track - and thus, must be able to answer these questions.
To view James' presentation online, check out his website. In the video below James shares his top takeaways from Wednesday's presentation.
Speaker: James Burnes, CEO of Mobiltopia and Principal and Senior Digital Strategist for Project Brilliant
Announcements from the podium:
Upcoming Events:
Social Media Bootcamp III – Saturday, August 13
A half-day seminar from the Professional Development committee, hosted by University of Indianapolis. Registrants will choose two breakout sessions from four offered, with topics on social media case studies, measurement, gaming and SEO. Registration closes at 5pm Wednesday August 10. APRs: this professional development course counts toward maintenance credits!
Meet the Media – Monday, September 12 from 3 to 5 pm at Indianapolis Monthly in the Emmis Communications building. More details to come.
Other Announcements:
The Hoosier Chapter of PRSA will begin our reciprocal awards judging in late September or early October. If you have your APR or at least 5 years experience, please consider helping out as a judge. More info to follow soon, but it’s always a great way to get a few communications projects or programs ideas! And, APRs earn maintenance points for this, as well!
MCCOY (Marion County Commission on Youth) is looking for volunteers to serve on their Marketing/Communications Committee. If interested, e-mail Stephanie Freeman at Stephanie.freeman@mccoyouth.org.
We’re looking for volunteers! President-elect Bobbi Simmons is hard at work forming the officer and committee chair slate for 2012. If you are interested, please see Bobbi or e-mail her at presidentelect@prsahoosier.org.
Network with journalists, enjoy breakfast and receive admission tickets to local attraction all for FREE for PRSA members!
On July 27 at the Indiana Historical Society join four multimedia journalists as they discuss the increasingly competitive industry of photojournalism. With new technology and social media, the armature is capturing news and pushing it out free of charge for the entire world to consume. As newspapers, magazines and television news stations slash budgets; photojournalists and video journalists are reinventing their craft.
With photojournalism in flux, public relations professionals are moving into the driver’s seat to create news on behalf of their organization. Join the following multimedia journalists to talk about how we can work together:
Tom Triol - photographer at WRTV6
Tom Russo - photographer at Greenfield Daily Reporter
Charlie Nye - photographer at the Indianapolis Star
Vanessa McClure –multimedia journalist at Fox 59
You'll receive breakfast and admission tickets to use later at the Indiana Historical Society's Indiana Experience. All this will be offered if you are a member of PRSA - just one of the many reasons why it pays to be a PRSA Hoosier Chapter member.
We got up out of our seats for more than networking and food at the latest PRSA luncheon. Len Mozzi professional trainer, consultant and coach, had the PRSA luncheon attendees participating in interactive and entertaining exercises.
Combining 20 years of experience as a theater professional with expertise in training to provide a unique perspective on leadership skills, Mozzi taught us several important “commandments” for creative and effective leadership.
There was so much excitement packed into this luncheon, you’ll have to review Mozzi’s additional materials to get all 10 Commandments of Creativity but here are a few important ones to keep in mind:
Thou Shalt Seek to Discover Rather Than Try to Invent – Rather than reinventing the wheel of communication, Mozzi suggets we embrace and discover new elements within our communication toolbox, rather than making up a new tool.
Thou Shalt Not Deny – How often do you say “Yes, BUT…” in a meeting? Mozzi suggests starting to say, “Yes, AND...” This prevents your response from coming across negative and might provide additional insight into solving the problem at hand.
Thou Shalt Listen Actively to Thy Partner – Mozzi suggests that we should stop thinking about our next comment in the meeting and actively listen to what our coworker or associate is saying in a meeting.
Thou Shalt Make Thy Partner Look Good – What goes around comes around, right? Mozzi reiterated the importance of making others around you look good in any circumstance.
If you want to learn about the rest of the 10 Commandments of Creativity, be sure to visit www.lenmozzi.com for upcoming events and other opportunities.
We would like to thank our sponsor, Moreover Technologies for their support. Moreover Technologies offers real-time, relevant global news and social media, media monitoring, news monitoring, business intelligence and content aggregation services. If you’re interested in learning more about Moreover Technologies, contact Joel at 847-430-3276 for more information.
For more information about Len Mozzi's next speaking engagement and notes from the luncheon, feel free to download the additional information below.
First is a reminder to always update your contact information at BOTH prsa.org and hoosierprsa.org, any time you have a change in jobs, e-mail addresses, etc. Full information on how to do that will be in our blog recap post.
To update at prsa.org, click on MyPRSA on the home page and log in. To update at hoosierprsa.org, use the link right on our home page to log into our Avectra management system, where step-by-step instructions are included for updating your information. Please be sure to go to both prsa.org and hoosierprsa.org to update your information if you are not receiving e-mails from one or both groups, or you’ve just changed jobs or had other contact information changes.
The topic for the next New Pros Roundtable will be "SEO: what it means for PR". It is Thursday, April 28, at 6 pm at Young and Laramore downtown. Jesse Laffeen, consulting manager at Slingshot SEO, will be the featured expert. For more details, check out the Hoosier PRSA New Professionals Facebook page.
April is APR month. I invite our Accreditation Co-Chairs, Melissa Kleinschmidt and Andrea Farmer, to make an announcement about APR month. [after they're done] On a related note, the Universal Accreditation Board is giving away an iPad 2 to a lucky accredited member, as part of APR month. To find out more details on how you can enter the contest, go to praccreditation.org or see our luncheon recap blog at hoosierprsa.org later this afternoon.
Individuals who send an email with “APR” as part of their electronic signature box to apr.ipad.giveaway@prsa.org will automatically be entered in a random drawing to win an iPad 2 ($499 value) and a year’s worth of data service ($300 value), which were donated to the UAB by Seattle-based The Frause Group Inc. Individuals who attach a digital scan to their email showing APR on their business card will be entered in the drawing a second time (complete contest rules).
An important note for all of you who mark your calendar for the second Wednesday of every month. Next month will be our annual Pinnacle Awards Celebration, an evening event that will take the place of our regularly scheduled luncheon. Also, it will be on May 18, at6 p.m. atop the Sheraton Indianapolis City Centre, in their Panorama Room. Again, more info is online at hoosierprsa.org.
The entries are in.The judging process is underway.You’ve submitted your best work. (Or at least wondered who else did!) Whether or not your organization is up for an award, now is the time to reserve your seat at the year’s premier networking event happening Wednesday, May 18 at 6 p.m., at the Sheraton Indianapolis City Centre.It will be an exciting evening of celebrating the Hoosier Chapter’s best work and announcing the winners in both the professional and student categories. Don’t miss this opportunity to network with fellow Hoosier PRSA members and PR practitioners, and learn from one another’s accomplishments.The evening will include dinner and a cash bar. And, Paul Poteet – Indiana's most popular weatherman, meteorologist & morning drive radio character, voiceover specialist, co-host of The Paul & Tom Internet Radio Show and WTHR Channel 13 contributor – will emcee the event.Business dress is appropriate. Extend this invitation!
Were your colleagues involved in this project? Don’t forget to include them in the celebration of all of your hard work! And what about your boss? Surely you’d like him/her to see your work being recognized by your peers! Make it an evening out with your clients, too! Students – there’s no better place to shake the hands of local PR practitioners
The chapter has hired a new chapter administrator, the folks at The Corydon Group. The contact@hoosierprsa.org e-mail address will not change, but our phone number and physical mailing address will, of course, we will update it online at hoosierprsa.org as soon as our new number is confirmed. And speaking of hoosierprsa.org, we are in the process of designing and developing a new website! We are very excited about the project and hope to unveil it sometime in May. So keep an eye out for that!
Despite the snowy roads and chilling winds, over 100 Hoosier PRSA members and guests welcomed Brad Carlson, Vice President of Marketing for the 2012 Indianapolis Super Bowl Host Committee to the January luncheon on Wednesday.
Brad presented the committee’s master plan including the bid for 2012, the unique legacy project for the near eastside and incredible media coordination plans. Brad detailed the initiatives Indianapolis has taken to ensure the Super Bowl will have a lasting impact on the Indianapolis community. Evidence that Indianapolis is excited about the event is indicated in the 10,000+ volunteers already registered to help deliver Super Bowl 2012.
One of my favorite projects began in 2008, when the host committee placed their bid for the 2012 Super Bowl. With the ultimate goal of creating future civic leaders, the committee chose 32 Central Indiana eighth grade students to participate in a Student Ambassador program. The 32 students will be graduating high school seniors in 2012 and were chosen based on their academic achievement and citizenship involvement.
The student's first assignment was to hand-deliver the Indianapolis Super Bowl package to NFL team owners across the country, in their perspective team jerseys.
While our great city has many valuable assets for a Super Bowl, including a climate controlled stadium, pre-planned financial backing and a strong volunteer base, the hope on the faces of those 32 students must have been hard to turn down.
Before Wednesday, I didn’t know $40 million (and counting) was dedicated to creating positive change in the Indianapolis community simply because of this one game. The committee chose to focus the projects around the near eastside, a once bustling area with many opportunities for growth. So far the committee has opened Pogue’s Run Grocer,The Little Green Bean Boutique and an art studio along East 10th street.
The committee is also working on numerous other projects such as planting 2,012 trees before 2012 and Super Scarves, a group of volunteers who are knitting a scarf for every single Super Bowl volunteer.
Georgia Street will see an exciting redesign to accommodate the ten-day, three-block interactive festival of football. Complete with a pedestrian-friendly corridor, the area will create a connection between the expanded Indiana convention Center and Conseco Fieldhouse.
When Brad was asked “What happens if it snows?” he looked around a packed room of dedicated PR professionals and could only come to one conclusion – Indianapolis was ready, snow or shine.
Which is exactly the motivation behind the 2012 tagline: Get your winter on. It’s cool.
The January Hoosier PRSA luncheon was sponsored by TrendyMinds who provided complimentary blankets and lip balm for all luncheon attendees.
What are you most excited about for the 2012 Super Bowl in Indianapolis? It’s only 387 days and counting!
A recent event hosted by our Hoosier Chapter of Public Relations Society of America and the Fort Wayne Advertising Federation discussed how companies can “Do More With Less.” In today’s uncertain economy, with resources slimming and budgets tightening, how can we give our clients top quality work with less staff, a smaller budget and limited resources?
A panel of several professionals from marketing, public relations and advertising got together to hash it out and give some examples and advice. Here’s what we learned:
Rely on interns. Interns are an untapped resource for most businesses. They are a group that is especially eager for hands-on experience; lean on them to help execute day-to-day tasks leaving more of your time for bigger pictures and strategic moves.
Get specific. Narrow down your target audiences and re-evaluate again in order to determine whether your campaign or strategic plan will actually provide the ROI that your client is expecting. Make sure you are targeting the right crowd from day one. Spend your money where you’re sure it will be paid back.
Move online. Think about taking your traditional marketing campaigns online. Toss out direct mailers and implement e-blasts and social media strategies that can accomplish the same goal at a much smaller cost.
Rely on outside partnerships. Countless different industries are slimming down and companies are looking more and more to each other to help out these days. Think about asking your business partners to team up more often. Think — “I’ll scratch your back, you scratch mine” — and no one spends a dime, pretty smart.
If you don't have the write stuff or your stuff is a little rusty, the Hoosier Chapter of PRSA can help. Your professional association will be offering "Get The Write Stuff! Writing Workshop to HElp You Sharpen Your Skills."
Anyone in public relations knows what the most important skill to our profession is -- solid writing. From 140 characters to 500 words, your writing – a news release, a speech, an article, a tweet – determines how well you engage key stakeholders.
On Saturday, November 20, the Continuing Education committee of Hoosier PRSA is conducting a writing workshop to help you win the war of the words.
The Write Stuff – Hoosier PRSA Writing Workshop will offer hands-on presentations from area professionals on writing for four unique disciplines:
It's not often we find ourselves flying with an Air Reserve unit, even if it's a routine refueling mission over the Appalachian Mountains. But that's what 13 members of the Hoosier Chapter of PRSA did Wednesday at Grissom Air Reserve Base. The event began early by most accounts with a 7:30 a.m. check, followed by crisis communication presentations by Fred Bagg, Col. Gary Lockard and Bob Dittmer.
(In flight refueling aboard the KC-235R Stratotanker)
After a brief review of best practices in crisis communication, Hoosier PRSA members were briefed on the flight activities of the day before boarding a KC-135R Stratotanker. Our mission was to rondez-vous with a C-3 (pictured above) over the Appalachian Mountains.
Our first attempt at leaving Grissom was thwarted by an angry Monther Nature. Within about 20 minutes, however, the skies cleared and the crew at Grissom were able to realign the mission plans.
There's a lot we learned from our visit to Grissom. For instance, the length of the runway makes the base an alternative landing point for the Shuttle. Growing up watching the shuttle blast into space was always a treat for me, but learning that the space craft could have landed here in Indiana brought a whole new prespective to the program. Part of me (a very large part) wished that would have happened. But the mission we flew was neat in its own right.
(Cargo bay of the KC-135R Stratotanker)
The KC-135R Stratotanker is an amazing aircraft. Despite the lack of creature comforts of commercial aircraft, the KC-135R ride was quite comfortable.
Grissom has two squardons of KC-135R Stratotankers and is the largest refueling wing in the Air Force Reserve Command. The squadons supports the Air Force, Navy Marines and allied nations refurling needs.
The Hoosier Wing (that's what the squadons from Grissom are called) has been a part of Indiana since World War II, and has been used in every major conflict since. And the Hoosier Wing flies about six missions daily out of the Grissom base.
Besides its missions, the base has a tremendous local impact. "We put about $100,000,000 into the local economy and employ the largest number of people in Miami County," said Col. Lockard.
With that impact, the 434th ARW performed 290 missions in one week, making the record for the most aerial refuelings in that time period.
Networking is essential us. You know that. All to often, however, we get comfortable with people we see everyday – those in our office we work with. But sometimes it’s a good idea to get out of the office, arrange a lunch date with other professionals you know and meet up for a gab session.
Of course these meet ups have a purpose. All networking events have a purpose. The Hoosier Chapter of PRSA is reaching out to our colleagues across Indiana, in Fort Wayne and Bloomington, to grow our membership statewide. More than that, we want to be a resource. We’re looking to establish and maintain a network of professionals in Fort Wayne, and stage a least 20 events in the city to build tighter bonds between us Indianapolis professionals.
Here’s five reasons with think networking is vital. We hope you do too.
Give your thumbs and fingers a break from tweeting. Social media is constantly changing. The more we work together and share our experiences, the more we grow and learn about what we can do for our clients in today’s world, with today’s technology.
Your co-workers need a break. They like you, but go make more friends. Networking in our industry extends our acquaintances beyond our comfort zone. By attending professional development luncheons you connect with colleagues and possibly form new relationships with others you never would have encountered otherwise!
Build those all-important contacts. While you know a lot, you don’t know everything. Chances are someone else knows what you don’t. If they are part of your network, you can reach out to develop a relationship and the help will be there.
Find new leads. Whether you’re a maverick going solo with a small book of clients, or someone looking for new opportunities, it’s always good to have a few extra leads. Attending networking events and building relationships with fellow colleagues might prove to be that fruitful. And if you’re looking for new opportunities, your professional network can help. Since they will know your work, they may have suggestions for pursuing future opportunities, or someone just might have a job lead and the influence to get you in the door.
Learn more than you thought you knew. At most networking events you can learn something. The Hoosier Chapter of PRSA tries to create this sort of environment. With the advent of social media, there’s always something new to learn, which can help you and your clients.
Building a network of professionals and friends is how we succeed in our business. And we want to help. As we begin reaching out to Fort Wayne professionals, and others throughout the state, we’re looking for volunteers. Will you help us?
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