Annual Conference Update

 Scholarship recipients are off to Annual Conference in August 

Part of our chapter’s commitment each year is to provide a limited number of member scholarships to annual conference. This year six Southwest Florida FPRA members were awarded scholarships to attend FPRA’s state conference: PR2011 The Evolution of Public Relations, August 7-10, in Naples, Florida, at the Naples Grande Beach Resort.

Scholarship recipients were selected based on their current and past leadership contributions to the Southwest Florida Chapter of FPRA, a statement of what they hoped to gain personally and professionally from attending the state conference, and financial need.

We are very pleased to present scholarships to three first-time conference attendees, in addition to three veteran PR professionals and past conference attendees.

Recipients will share lessons learned and valuable tips garnered at the state conference with the SWFL Chapter membership during a panel discussion at the September business meeting.

Congratulations to this year’s scholarship recipients:

Partial scholarships

Jessica Clark, APR
Shell Point Retirement Community

Ginny Cooper, APR, CPRC
The Cooper Group

Kirsten O’Donnell 
Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida

Full conference scholarships

Erin Comerford 
Lee County Port Authority

Melissa Simontis, APR 
PACE Center for Girls, Lee County

Kathleen Taylor, APR
The News-Press Media Group

   

Tailgate Party to Kickoff 2011 Annual Conference

Don your Alma Mater colors and show your school spirit at the ultimate tailgate party and class reunion as FPRA kicks off the 2011 Annual Conference on Sunday, August 7th at the Naples Grande Beach Resort.

Slip back in time to your college days of football games, school songs and tailgate parties, all while supporting the Florida Public Relations Education Foundation. Experience the chapter challenge cheerleading competition, chow down on burgers, dogs and beers, and bid on outstanding silent and live auction items.

The $45 fee for the fundraiser is a separate cost from the conference registration fee, but well worth the price of admission to be part of the tailgate party of the year. Come cheer on our chapter video being coordinated by our two head cheerleaders: Michelle Nagel and Kirsten O’Donnell. Need more info: visit http://www.fpra.org

Top 11 Reasons to Attend State Conference

Just in case you need a reason to attend FPRA's Annual Conference August 7-11, 2011 at the beautiful Naples Grande Beach Resort, we've pulled together 11 reasons so you have plenty to spare.

1. Learn from the very best in the public relations profession.

2. Network with your professional peers.

3. Be in the know!  Here about the soon-to-be latest trends before they become trends. 

4. Get reenergized and inspired! 

5. Get direct access to some of the most influential people in PR today.

6. Got credentials?  Begin your journey to your APR or CPRC at conference.

7. Receive recognition for your professional accomplishments.  Take home the gold at the annual Golden  Image Awards.

8. Celebrate accomplishments with your peers at the annual President's Luncheon.

9. Enhance the profession.

10. Build your professional library.

11. This year's conference is in our own backyard at the beautiful Naples Grande Resort in our sister city of Naples.

Scholarships allow FPRA members to catch “The Big Picture”!

In addition to recognizing excellence in public relations, the Annual Image Awards on April 14, 2010, provided the backdrop for awarding six Southwest Florida FPRA members with scholarships to attend the Florida Public Relations Association’s (FPRA) 2010 State Conference: The Big Picture: Bringing PR Leadership and Strategy into Focus, August 8-12, in Naples, Florida, at the Naples Grande Beach Resort.

All six recipients were awarded scholarships based on their current and past leadership contributions to the Southwest Florida Chapter of FPRA, a statement of what they hoped to gain personally and professionally from attending the state conference, and financial need.

Symbolic of the generational diversity in the public relations industry today, scholarship recipients this year represent professionals at various points in their career, from relatively recent college graduates, to Southwest Florida industry icons.

Recipients will share lessons learned and valuable tips garnered at the state conference with the SWFL Chapter membership during a panel discussion at the August business meeting.

Full conference scholarship recipients:

Angie Strait
PR Coordinator
Lee County Port Authority

Carla Ulakovik
Community Project Specialist
East County Water Control District

Partial conference scholarship recipients:

Susan Bennett, APR, CPRC
President
Susan Bennett Marketing & Media

Danielle Flood
PR & Communications Manager
ECHO (Educational Concerns for Hunger Organizational)

Kerri Goldsmith
Administrative Assistant
HBK Source Financial

Samantha Scott
President
Pushing The Envelope

Sunset Social: Big 80's Style!

Everything was big in the 80s. Big hair. Big shoulder pads. Big shoes. And that was just the guys!

This year's Sunset Social at FPRA's 72nd Annual Conference will be celebrating the decade of decadence on Sunday, August 8 at 7:00 p.m. to kick-off the 2010 FPRA Annual Conference.

The 80s was a time for a new form of entertainment called music videos. Music videos and movie classics such as Footloose, Terminator, and Ferris Bueller's Day Off, to name just a few, impacted an entire generation. To pay homage to this "big" era, members of this year's Annual Conference planning team are inviting you to participate in FPRA's 1st Moments of the 80s Video Competition Challenge!

Here’s how it will work: Get your chapter together to think of a creative scene from the 80s – a music video, a scene from a movie or even a TV show. Re-enact that scene or sing (or lip-synch) that music video and record it. Submit your Moments of the 80s Video on DVD (or upload) and we will show them at the Sunset Social on PR-TV. All the attendees will vote on the best Moment of the 80s!

If you have an idea, or your organization would like to help our chapter enter this challenge, please contact Kathleen Taylor, APR at president@fpraswfl.org.

If you have any questions about the contest itself, please contact Sharon Arnold.

Don't forget to pull together your silent auction donation! Whether it's a 80s related or not, we are looking for big and small items to donate for the silent auction portion of the Sunset Social. The auction is the way we raise funds to support student and professional development scholarships. Contact Sharon Arnold, Trista Wallace or Kathleen Giery and let us know what items(s) you can donate!

To kick off the fun, here's an 80s mini-challenge! What movie is this dialogue from? The first person who e-mails Annual VP of Annual Conferece Wendy Crites Wacker with the correct, exact title of the movie wins a $10 gift certificate to use on a Scholarship Fundraiser Auction Item of his or her choice!

“I'm not fat.”
“Well not at present, but I can see you really pushing maximum density.”

FPRA State Conference Scholarships Available

You don’t want to miss The BIG Picture: Bringing PR Leadership and Strategy into Focus. August 8-11, Naples Grande Beach Resort

You have probably heard the saying Either Go Big or Stay home. Well this year we get to do both as members of the FPRA Southwest Florida Chapter with the 2010 FPRA Annual State Conference “The BIG Picture: Bringing PR Leadership and Strategy into Focus” being held August 8 – 11, right in our own backyard at the beautiful Naples Grande Resort.

This year our Chapter is offering three full conference scholarships to members. The scholarship covers the registration fee for the entire conference and events, however, recipients are responsible for their own personal expenses such as hotel and transportation.

If you are interested in applying for a conference scholarship please submit a short essay (two or three paragraphs) covering the following:

• Involvement in FPRA (past and present)
• Financial Need for scholarship.

Applications should be emailed to Pam Nulman, APR, CPRC, by March 26, 2010. Scholarship recipients will be announced at the Image Awards the evening of Wednesday, April 14.

Catch the latest information on “The BIG Picture” on the annual conference Facebook fan page and on the FPRA You Tube channel.