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Message from the President

Thank you to all of my PRSA San Antonio colleagues for electing me to the position of president for 2016.  It is a wonderful organization with dedicated members, and I’m excited and happy to be part of the leadership this year.

I welcome all of your ideas, opinions, and comments, so please contact me at[email protected] or 210-601-4572 to share your thoughts with me.  One of the things that has been very important to me in PRSA is getting involved as a volunteer. The minute I got involved as a PRSA volunteer, my membership in the chapter was enhanced tenfold.  I appreciate the professional and personal relationships I have been able to develop by being part of PRSA’s group of volunteers.   You’ll see a volunteer form elsewhere in this newsletter.  Please fill it out and join us around the PRSA volunteer table.

Thank you to Michelle Baker, APR and Monica Faulkenbery, APR, our San Antonio PRSA Chapter APR chair and co-chair, respectively, along with all of the other APRs who were present for my APR pinning ceremony at our January chapter meeting.  It was a lovely way to start my year as PRSA president!

A couple of years ago I decided to pursue the “Accreditation in Public Relations” (APR) credential, just for the heck of it.   The more I looked into it, I realized that it would be nice to have the “APR” behind my name.  Then I started to seriously study (sometimes only because of peer pressure from my study group), and at some magical point, I realized that after all of these years of being a PR practitioner, what I was personally missing was the formal theory behind the practice of public relations. As a result, I feel like I’m a much better PR professional, and I think my clients feel the same. In addition to the studying, all of the things I experienced along the way, from the discipline of preparing a portfolio, to getting feedback during my Readiness Review from a panel of peers who had already earned their APRs, to working with my APR mentor, were wonderful professional opportunities I would not have experienced in any other setting. I am so glad I went through the APR process, and if asked “would you do it again?” my answer is a resounding “YES!”  

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in 2014 that there are 321,000 PR practitioners. Only 5,000 have earned the APR credential. I am honored to know one a person who is the epitome of an APR who gracefully merges the theory, practice, and ethics of our profession.  That person is Renata Serafin, APR.  Renata has been a PRSA member for 13 years, and has just finished her 2015 term as San Antonio’s PRSA President.  Renata has been a very engaged board member and officer, and, I’m pleased to say, she will continue on the PRSA board serving as our Ethics, Advocacy, and Diversity Chair. 

Renata is a poised, appreciative, and encouraging leader.  She has spent countless hours on PRSA business, and I trust that she will be able to spend more time with her husband and children in the coming year. Renata’s theme for 2015 was “Focus on the Needs of Others.” She constantly put the needs of others ahead of her own, and provided advice, guidance, and mentorship to our board and society over the past year.  Renata has received a long list of professional awards, and at the January 7 PRSA meeting, we added to Renata’s recognition gallery by presenting a commemorative plaque to her, which read,

“To Renata Serafin, APR, with great appreciation for your leadership, commitment, and service to The Public Relations Society of America, San Antonio Chapter.”

Please join me in thanking Renata for everything she has done for the chapter. Renata set the bar high and I am honored to follow in her footsteps.

Finally, I’ll look forward to seeing you at our February 4 luncheon meeting.  Our speaker is Sheri Rosen, vice president, employee communication, culture & people development at Frost Bank, who will be speaking about internal communications.  The title of her presentation is “Let’s talk.  On purpose.”  The February 4 luncheon will be held at the La Quinta Inn & Suites - Medical Center, 4431 Horizon Hill Blvd., San Antonio from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.  Hope you can join us!

All the best,
Gretchen Roufs, APR
PRSA San Antonio President