Articles

Get Your APR

The other thing I’m passionate about is getting people involved as volunteers.  If you’re a PRSA member, and haven’t already done so, please sign up to be part of our PRSA group of volunteers.  There’s an online form at http://prsanantonio.com/content.php?page=Volunteer.

New board member and new treasurer

Welcome to our newest PRSA board of directors member, Faith Green who will take on the hospitality chair role.  Faith is a development associate at Boysville. Please join me in welcoming Faith to the board. 

Thank you to Stephanie Finleon Cortez who has volunteered to serve as our chapter treasurer.

Outliers

PRSA San Antonio has a significant group of “outlier peers”, that is, our 30-some members who live outside the San Antonio metro area. We have a new board member, Steve Harmon, APR, who lives and works in Laredo. Steve is heading up efforts to help our members outside of San Antonio more fully integrated into the life and times of our PRSA Chapter. If you’re an outlier, you’ve probably heard from Steve, including a recent survey.  If not, let me know and I’ll put you in touch with Steve.

Speaking of outliers, thank you to Board member Steve for making the trip from Laredo to San Antonio for our January board meeting, and to Doreen Harrell, APR, who drove up from Corpus Christi to be a presenter at the APR information session in January.

New to our chapter:  A to Z Helpers

At its January meeting, our chapter board approved the appointment of A to Z Helpers of San Antonio (www.AtoZHelpers.com) to help us with our bookkeeping and event registration duties. We are delighted to have A to Z on board with us. April Goodman (who you might have met at our February lunch meeting) is our A to Z account manager.

Mark your calendars

•          February 26 at 5:00 p.m.:  Del Oro individual award nominations are due.  These awards are for people who have made outstanding contributions to the PR profession. A notable new award in this category:  The Public Relations Champion award. This award will honor an individual who honors and embraces the importance of public relations in the workplace. (Think of someone who engages a public relations professional in strategic programs and decisions right from the beginning … someone who gives us the proverbial “seat at the table”. That would be someone we want you to nominate.)

•          Our March 3 meeting will feature Bert McClure, President of Incite Digital Marketing who will speak on Search Engine Optimization:  Unravelling the Mystery.  The Thursday March 3 will be held at the usual place, the La Quinta at Horizon Hill, from 11:30 to 1:00.  Registration is open – go to http://prsanantonio.com/meetinginfo.php to sign up.

•          March 6 at midnight:  award deadline for La Plata (campaign) and El Bronce (tactics) award submissions.

•          Anybody ready for a mixer? We’re hoping to have one of our ever-popular mixers in March.  Keep your eyes peeled for an announcement.

•          On April 7, our meeting topic will be “Risk Communications” presented by Bob Howard who is a leader in crisis and risk communication as relates to national and international disasters.  Bob is a PRSA San Antonio board member. Stay tuned for more information on registration.

•         May 12: our Annual Del Oro Awards Event.  A cocktail hour and awards dinner will be held May 12 at San Antonio Zoo.

Thank you

Thank you to APR Chair Michelle Baker, APR; Doreen Harrell, APR; Melissa Monroe-Young, APR; and the 10 PRSA members who attended an APR information session on Saturday January 23.  The morning event was held at and sponsored by at the Holiday Inn Market Square, which was a great location for the meeting (and they served us a lovely continental breakfast buffet).

Thank you to Anais Biera Miracle of the Children’s Shelter for hosting the PRSA Board meeting on January 28.  The Children’s Shelter treated the board to a delicious lunch and a tour of their amazing and impressive facility. From the minute I stepped on the campus of the Children's Shelter campus I felt the love. Those kids, bless them, do not arrive at the Children's Shelter from good situations. The way they are greeted and cared for and loved by the Children's Shelter staff and volunteers is heartwarming and beautiful. It seems like they -- the kids -- are given a second chance. In some case I have a feeling it might be their first chance.

Finally ….

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

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