What Ripple Effect will Currents 2012 Have on PR?

Every year, a different city from one coast of the country to the other plays host to the annual Canadian Public Relations Society conference. This year, CPRS National will bring Canada’s premier public relations and communications event to Victoria, B.C. The Canadian Public Relations Society is proud to provide a professional and entertaining conference to communicators across Canada.

Currents 2012 will offer delegates an exceptional three-day experience from June 10-12, where they’ll fill their days with professional development workshops and keynote presentations and their nights with planned social activities. CBC Radio listeners might recognize one of the confirmed keynote speakers, Anna Maria Tremonti, host of CBC Radio’s The Current. Tremonti will address delegates on the second day of the conference.

CPRS takes the old adage “save the best for last” to heart as the National Awards of Excellence Gala and Dinner will recognize the best communications campaigns in Canada on the final night of the conference.

As an advocate for the public relations and communications industry, CPRS wants to advance the profession by helping delegates enhance their careers through the workshops offered during the conference. These will cover an array of topics that include ethics and crisis communications, internal communications, trends in communications, and social media.

Come see what CPRS is doing for its members. Among the many conference workshops, CPRS offers several Society-themed sessions that focus on informing CPRS members about professional accreditation (APR), career mentoring (with CPRS Fellows) and media measurement (MRP). The CPRS National Council on Education is also hosting the second annual CPRS Poster Session. Public relations educators, graduate students and industry practitioners will present innovative research in the field of PR.

The benefits of attending Currents 2012 don’t end when PD workshops or keynote presentations finish. Combine the best of work and play with Victoria amenities and attractions, which provide that extra getaway time to soak in the West Coast climate. Over the course of the conference, delegates will be given the unique opportunity to network with fellow communicators from a range of industries from across Canada. In a profession as connected as PR, this conference provides an opportunity to strengthen old relationships and develop new ones with practitioners throughout the industry.

The marketplace is changing as quickly as the tides. Is your public relations strategy ship-shape?

Check victoria2012.cprs.ca for more information on the conference or join the conversation on Twitter: @CPRS2012 and #CPRS2012

CPRS Introduces the Affiliate Membership

CPRS Calgary, along with CPRS National, is excited to offer a new membership category called the Affiliate membership.  The Affiliate membership is for individuals who have been employed full time in public relations for less than two years and is a stepping-stone for students between graduation and beginning a full-time career in the field. New grads also qualify for the Affiliate membership for the two years following graduation.  After two years of membership at the Affiliate level, the member will move to full membership.

An Affiliate member will receive benefits of a full voting member of CPRS, including:

• a national membership card;
• access to the member only area of the national website;
• national member pricing for awards, national conference, webinars, the Public Relations Knowledge (PRK)™ exam and Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) magazine subscriptions;
• member referral credits;
• insurance coverage if working as an independent consultant;
• all National communications via email and inclusion in the online searchable  Membership Directory; and
•  will be access to an online Resume Databank to post your resume.

Affiliate members receive the benefits of a full voting member of CPRS. The cost of a Calgary Affiliate membership is $167.50 + GST, or 50% of the cost of a full membership. The membership is designed to help transition students and professionals new to the PR field into a full-time member of CPRS. We certainly hope the Affiliate membership will expose young professionals to the networking and professional development benefits CPRS offers its members. Applications for the Affiliate membership are available on the CPRS website: http://cprs.ca/join/mbr_contact.aspx .

If you have any questions or you’d like more information please contact membership@cprscalgary.com.

The Alberta Election is April 23 – Pencil it in!

Soon you will be standing at the ballot box, pencil in hand. Soon we will know who the next premier of Alberta will be. Or will our new premier be our old premier? Only time will tell.

Many public relations practitioners are following the race closely, knowing full well the role government plays in their everyday lives. Those watching closely know this race is different than those before it: more drama, more intrigue, more rhetoric.

I had a chance to catch up with noted political pundit and author, Dr. David Taras, who holds the Ralph Klein Chair in Media Studies at Mount Royal University. I asked Dr. Taras if he thought television debates were still important in a social media world. He believes that these televised debates are more important than ever, and that there should be more than one. “It is a chance to compare leaders when they are out of their media bubbles. The camera brings a level of intimacy and, for many of us, this is the first time we get to see the leaders for any length of time.” Indeed, the 10-second media sound bite leaves a lot to be desired when trying to determine the future leader of our province.

As communicators, we talk of messaging often. So how well are our potential leaders doing on that front? Dr. Taras says Alison Redford has done a “terrible” job. “She started out in the first week apologizing and in the second week she made a series of health care proposals that drew fire from the doctors; she would have been better off to brand herself as the ‘education premier’ and then start her messaging around building schools.” As for Danielle Smith, Dr. Taras says things started out pretty well but her campaign has lost some of its steam lately. “She started out with a good news story everyday; the critics couldn’t catch up with her – it was a brilliant strategy. Then she ran out of good news announcements and the controversial stuff came out – crazy statements by candidates, issues with climate change and talk of the Alberta firewall.”

So what happens next? Well that’s up to you, you’re the one with the pencil.

 By Jeremy Berry, APR
CPRS Calgary Board Secretary

 

Hanging Out with Gen Xers Highly Rewarding

Posted by Judi Gunter APR FCPRS L.M.

What a rewarding time I had last night at the Third Tuesday YYC meet up (#TTYYC) at the Melrose.  I scored the front row table to hear Sarah Baker explain Pinterest, the new social media sensation and I was sitting with Jodi, Tammy and Karen, my three favourite face-to-face Gen X women friends.

Jodi Currie and I worked together in communications at The Kidney Foundation and on the CPRS Calgary Board in 2009.  She followed her dream after the Foundation stint and went back to school to add a Travel and Tourism diploma to her Broadcasting diploma on her resume.  She’s convocating June 1st and WOW!

Jodi has won all kinds of accolades while at school, including the coveted DC Fleming Award (aka Student of the Year) two years in a row!!! In 2011 she was the first 1st-year student to ever win it and this year, the first student to win twice.

Jodi has also won several other honours, awards and scholarships while at SAIT including the Sam Switzer Scholarship.  “It was a significant sum of money and helped me so much.  I have so much respect for those individuals and organizations which provide scholarships because they really have a huge impact for students, regardless of amounts,” said Jodi, and was I ever grateful for her comment!

Because Tammy Schwass was sitting there on my left!   Last year, Tammy and I were hooked up in the CPRS mentor program and this year she is on the CPRS Board as the Education Director, engaging the student members and fostering the two scholarships — the David Wood Scholarship at MRU and the new Calgary Legacy Scholarship.  She is also managing the mentor program — so triple delight, sitting to my right was Karen Walker, the protege with whom I am enjoying time this year.  Karen works in communications at STARS and has just returned from a transformational volunteer stint in Haiti.

When I left the Melrose last night, my trio of protegees were buzzing together in a conversational clutch about all the things young 30-something career women care about — choosing well, working hard, following their dreams, achieving balance and making our world a better place.

Being a mentor has been such a rewarding experience for me.  THANK YOU

Can You Keep A Secret?

What if it is hush-hush news about the most popular couple in the world and is so big, it has international implications? That was the challenge four local public relations professionals faced last year leading up to the University of Calgary Royal Visit featuring newlyweds “Will and Kate”.  This Thursday, join Colleen Killingsworth MCM, APR, ABC, FCPRS, Susan Mide Kiss, Lisa Rushka APR and Bonnie Elgie APR as they share a behind-the-scenes look at one of the biggest events in the university’s – and the city of Calgary’s – history!

While it was a media relations dream, there were also many challenges with logistics, protocol, approvals and more. Find out about all that goes into hosting a Royal Visit and what it meant to the University of Calgary in the moment, as well as the implications for today and in the future. This dynamic team will reveal the code name for the communications operation, the details behind what Will and Kate saw and how the Royal Visit is still impacting the university today.

Register today and join us for lunch this Thursday, March 15th. Networking starts at 11:15, lunch is served at 11:45 and the presentation begins at 12:05.

The Annual CPRS National Awards of Excellence

The annual CPRS National Awards of Excellence offers an impressive range of different nomination categories to public relations practitioners!

Virtually every aspect of public relations, marketing and communications is represented in the list of categories that you can find on the CPRS National website.

I encourage you to  take just a few minutes and check out the list of past recipients to be amazed by a remarkable range of projects, programs and campaigns covering marketing communications and community relations, government relations and crisis communications, print projects, electronic/social media and many others in both internal and external communications.

The CPRS Major Awards present an excellent opportunity to recognize someone you know in the public relations profession, whose dedication and commitment, knowledge and professionalism has inspired you and others to change the way we think and do things.

Are you a member of CPRS in good standing? Have you or your team worked hard and completed an outstanding project, program or campaign in internal or external communications? Do you know a PR practitioner whose accomplishments should be known to the rest of communications community? The CPRS National Excellence Awards present a unique opportunity to showcase your work as well as to recognize your peers.

All necessary information to help you in preparing submissions can be found on the website of the Canadian Public Relations Society.

Please keep in mind that you will need to mail your submissions in paper or binder format on or before March 30, 2012 5 p.m. ET to:

CPRS National Office
4195 Dundas St. West
Suite 346
Toronto, ON M8X 1Y4

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact the CPRS National:

Tel: 416-239-7034
Fax: 416-239-1076
admin@cprs.ca

And finally, the CPRS National Awards of Excellence recipients will be recognized on June 12, 2012 at the CPRS Awards gala dinner at the CPRS National Conference in Victoria, British Columbia.

Best of luck!

Lolita Jukova

CPRS Calgary Board

Rewards and Recognition Committee Chair

Mount Royal University public relations students available for summer work placements!

Do you need assistance with your projects this summer? Mount Royal University’s (MRU) students can help you meet your goals while gaining valuable real life work experience in a learning environment.

 May through August, third-year PR students are required to complete a minimum 450-hour paid work experience term.

Our students use the RACE communication formula to plan communication strategies and can assist your organization with communication planning, media relations, event planning, social media and writing. Learn more at: http://www.mtroyal.ca/EmploymentCareers/CareerServices/Employers/hire_pr.htm or contactAshley Archer, at 403.440.6231 aarcher@mtroyal.ca.

Coffee Talk Topic: PR writing. Talk amongst yourselves.

To the managers and supervisors out there: do you think PR writing has improved or declined over the years? This is the question we set out to answer in a study released in late 2011 in the Journal of Professional Communication. We found that not only is entry-level PR writing on the decline, supervisors are lowering their expectations when it comes to writing. The Feb. 2012 issue of Tactics is all about public relations writing, leading me to believe this is a good time for a discussion. How are you dealing with this issue? Is it an issue for you? If you have tips to share or are interested in talking about our study, please email me at jberry@mtroyal.ca. If there is enough interest, I would be happy to pull together a little symposium on the matter.

 Jeremy Berry, APR
CPRS Calgary Board Secretary

CPRS Calgary Congratulates Two New APRs

It is with great pleasure that CPRS Calgary announces that two of our members – Kim Blanchette, APR and Cathy Downey, APR – have successfully completed the Accredited Public Relations process. Congratulations Kim and Cathy!

The APR designation is a natural step for practitioners of public relations who want to demonstrate their commitment to the profession. For more information about the benefits of the designation and details about the process, please contact Pat Hammond, APR, our Accreditation Chair. accreditation@cprscalgary.com

Words of wisdom from our newly minted APRs:

“Working in a highly technical environment, my accreditation in public relations is of tremendous value in demonstrating to my colleagues and senior executives the rigorous professional and ethical standards that guide my work. The process was challenging but rewarding, and brought a new dimension to how I approach public relations practice on a day-to-day basis. The support and guidance provided by CPRS at the local and national levels was invaluable, establishing a sense of community that was very much appreciated.”

Kim Blanchette, APR

Manager, Communications, Energy Resources Conservation Board

 “As a consultant, having my APR demonstrates to clients and prospective clients that I am an experienced and competent practitioner. I learned so much during the accreditation process, more than I ever would have thought. It may well be the best professional development I’ve ever undertaken!”

Cathy Downey, APR

President, Grit Communications Inc.

Top Five Things Learned by Returning to Public Relations School

Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow.  - Anthony J. D’Angelo

I think it had been more than a decade since I had that feeling in the pit of my stomach.

The feeling you get the night before you write a major exam. Or, worse, the feeling that you get during the agonizing wait for results.

I have been taking Public Relations continuing education courses this winter to update my skills and knowledge and it’s been that long since those butterflies were flying around my stomach.

But that is what going back to school does.

Sure the RACE formula and SMART objectives are so engrained in us that we can almost recite them while asleep. But my return to the classroom this winter has been a valuable reminder that Public Relations is a constantly changing world and to stay sharp, you’d better be constantly willing to learn and adjust.

I don’t remember too many public relations lectures focused on social media a decade ago, do you?

I’m not done the certificate course, so I still have a few more of those pesky butterflies in my future. For now, here are the top five things that I have learned so far:

1. I am not alone. There are a lot of people employed in PR in Calgary who, like me, feel they still have a lot to learn. It has actually been a surprise to see the a wide range of experience levels among the students taking these courses; some are experienced PR professionals looking to upgrade while others are experienced in other professions, looking for new skills and perhaps a new profession. Of course, many are just starting out in their PR career or will be very soon.
2. I am only scratching the surface of what social media can do. This incredible two-way communication tool is changing the way we do business and I can’t wait to see what comes next. It’s also changing the way these courses are taught. I can’t remember a class going by without social media becoming a focal point of discussion at some point. This is definitely an area the students can’t seem to get enough about.
3. This is a great place to start your network. It hasn’t taken too many group assignments to learn that these other people in class really know their stuff.
4. Good writers are still making this profession tick. There has been a constant emphasis on improving writing skills, and the many different avenues and tools in which this skill is required.
5. This is a great city of the PR professional. There are thousands of Calgarians either working in PR or directly linked and we are fortunate to have a great environment in which to learn.

Kyle Marr is a member of the Calgary chapter of the Canadian Public Relations Society. He has been in PR professional in the city for six years.