The SWFL Chapter celebrates 25 years with Rise & Shine!

The Shell Point team who brought Rise & Shine to life.

If anyone doubts the Power of PR and the commitment and passion of PR professionals in Southwest Florida, all they need to do is browse through Rise & Shine, a new booklet celebrating 25 years of the Southwest Florida Chapter of the Florida Public Relations Association.

It all began back in 1985 when Paul Kutz, a member of the Orlando Chapter moved to Fort Myers and encouraged local public relations professionals to start a new chapter. With Paul serving as the founding president and Barbara Schropp as president-elect, the rest as they say, “is history.”

The book is a pictorial history of board members, community projects, leadership and professional development, as well as a showcase of outstanding public relations programs. As an added bonus it offers a fun perspective on hair styles, eyewear, fashion and technology throughout the past three decades.

The booklet “debuted” and was an immediate hit at the chapter Media Breakfast on June 7th. Copies will be available for members and guests at the upcoming July 12th and August 2nd meetings as well. Be sure to pick up a copy and take your time savoring every moment of the journey.

Of special note: The genesis of Rise & Shine began with the Chapter’s 25th anniversary celebration during the July 2010 meeting with a fun look back at the first 25 years by members Lynn Schneider, APR, CPRC and Teri Hansen, APR. After spending hours researching and organizing 25 years worth of memories and photos for the presentation, Lynn decided to take the program one step further and create a commemorative book.

Although many, many members contributed time and energy to bring Rise & Shine to life, a special note of appreciation goes out to the Shell Point Retirement Community PR team for the hundreds of hours spent on design and layout.A special "Thank You" to: Lynn Schneider, APR, CPRC for her leadership, enthusiasm, writing and editing; to Deanna Schmidli, graphic designer, for the book’s design and layout; Sarah Nadal; for her help with scanning hundreds of photos; and to Jessica Clark, APR for editing and serving as a liaison with the board of directors.