Chapter president, members honored at FPRA state conference

Chapter President Mary Dorn, APR, was named FPRA Member of the Year for her “outstanding leadership, demonstrated enthusiasm, extraordinary involvement and loyal support“ by state association President Sheridan Becht, APR, during the annual state conference in Naples Aug. 10.

The chapter received additional recognition when member Jo Lynn Deal, chief communications officer for Community Partnership for Children, received an award of distinction for a community relations campaign supporting the agency's mentor program.

Additionally, Volusia County Government employees Pat Kuehn, APR, CPRC, and Betty Holness received an award of distinction for “Volusia Counts,” the census awareness campaign they spearheaded earlier this year.

Congratulations to Mary, Jo Lynn and Pat for a job well done!

Making social media a part of your daily routine

Tyler LeCompte, operations manager for Daytona Employment, spoke about social media to the Volusia/Flagler Chapter of the Florida Public Relations Association at its July meeting. He is co-owner in several other ventures including a video marketing company called MeHype. LeCompte presented “Integrating Social Media with Public Relations Daily.”

The speaker’s no-nonsense advice was to pay attention to who you are, and “listen, listen, listen” before jumping into blog conversations, the same as you would after personal introductions.

The purpose of a blog, he says, is to make you a trusted resource before potential clients or customers visit your Web site. Before driving people from a blog to a site, it is important to ensure the Web site is search engine optimized – so search engines can find it. Although his Blackberry reminds him frequently to check on his more active posts among the estimated 2,700 social media platforms available, LeCompte says it’s not necessary for every person to be that vigilant.

“You don’t have to be there every minute, but it’s bad if you’re not there when people are talking about you,” LeCompte explained.

2010-11 Board of Directors

President – Karen Chrapek, Neighbor to Family

Immediate Past President – Mary Dorn, APR, Mary Dorn Communications Consulting

President-Elect and Vice President of Accreditation/Certification – Vickie Pleus, APR, CPRC, Consultant

Vice President of Communications – Luis Paris, Center for Business Excellence

Vice President of Finance – Bissy Holden, Florida Health Care Plans

Vice President of Membership – Char Wrlak, Conklin Center for the Blind

Vice President of Programs – Tangela Boyd, Daytona Beach Area Convention & Visitors Bureau

Vice President of Public Relations – Jo Lynn Deal, Community Partnership for Children

Vice President of Special Programs – Pam Hamlin, Independent Consultant

Vice President of Technology – Victoria McGuirk, APR, PR and Development Consultant

Secretary – Marisol Moreno, Homewood Suites by Hilton

Student Chapter Liaison – Meredith Rodriguez, Bethune-Cookman University

NASA news chief shares communications challenges during June meeting

Not knowing when the end of the space shuttle program will really be has proven to be quite the communications challenge for NASA, according to Allard Beutel, news chief in Media Services for External Relations at Kennedy Space Center. While the end of the program will come no sooner than November, it's still uncertain when the final launch will be. Thousands of employees are waiting for information that can help them make life decisions. The world is waiting to hear what will become of the space program after the shuttle. There are lots of moving targets, he said.

 

Chapter honors Great Communicator, Image, Member of the Year winners

Thanks to our chapter members, award recipients, guests and friends who attended our April 20 Great Communicator, Image and Member of the Year awards luncheon at the LPGA International Clubhouse. Emcee and past Great Communicator John E. Evans, APR, CPRC, entertained the group while recognizing some of the area's top public relations professionals and projects.

Ray Salazar, president of the United Way of Volusia/Flagler Counties, was honored as the 2010 Great Communicator. Past Great Communicators joining us for lunch included Evans, Mike Jiloty, Bob Davis and Kate Holcomb, APR.

Image Award winners included an Award of Distinction to Michael Pleus and the City of DeLand with Stetson University and the Stetson Consulting Group for their "Discover DeLand" project.

Taking three Image Award honors were Jo Lynn Deal and Community Partnership for Children for a mentoring program project. The project earned an Image Award, Judges' Award and Grand-All Image Award.

Pam Hamlin was recognized as the chapter's Member of the Year. Hamlin is a freelance consultant who currently serves as the chapter's vice president of membership.

Congratulations to all of our award winners!