Welcome to the official newsletter of the Greater Spokane PRSA Chapter. Past issues can be found by going to www.prsaspokane.org and clicking on the "Newsletters" link.
A Message from the President
There are many exciting activities and events
happening this spring at both the Chapter and National level.
Due to the enormous interest in January's
PRSA breakfast dedicated to Social Media, your Greater Spokane PRSA chapter is offering
a Social Media Bootcamp in May! Create
Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and Blog accounts ahead of time through a
detailed instruction packet and then come to the workshop where Social Media
professionals will show you how to effectively use your new accounts and how to
develop objectives and tactics to ensure your Social Media goals are on task. More details soon!
Also, PRSA National is currently
conducting an all-Inclusive chapter survey. Last year, PRSA conducted a survey to identify which
products and services deliver the greatest value to members. Among its
findings, the survey determined that members derive significant benefit from
their local Chapter affiliations. Taking that research to a new dimension, PRSA
is now conducting its first-ever all-Chapter survey to focus, in turn, on which
Chapter services members value most. All PRSA members will be invited to
participate in a short online survey that will be distributed in the middle of
March. The data National collects will help PRSA identify and share best practices
to continue to build value and loyalty at the Chapter and National level.
As always, please let me know of
any suggestions you may have to make our Greater Spokane Chapter even stronger.
You can contact me at mmgaley@msn.com.
Michelle Galey
President -- Greater Spokane Chapter
The chosen topic for the April 3rd breakfast is "Green Marketing". Our speaker is Bill Bloom, Sustainability Consultant for Community-Minded Enterprises. The emphasis of the presentation is "Getting green for going green." He will focus on the PR benefits a company can get from implementing green practices. For example, the Spokane Indian's are one of the most "green" businesses in Spokane. He will highlight some of the specific strategies they use to get the word to their stakeholders about their sustainability efforts.
His bio reads: As part of the Green Business Consulting Services at Community-Minded Enterprises Bill Bloom helps organizations to integrate more sustainable practices into their existing business plans. Utilizing a strategic framework based on The Natural Step, this approach is designed to help organizations avoid wasting time and energy by identifying places in their organizations where they can make change that is both meaningful and manageable.
Bill's formal education was in the visual arts, but claims to have found himself when he put on a suit and tie and began working in the commercial printing industry. As the VP of Manufacturing for a Northern California company with annual sales in excess of $22 million, Bill worked to refine and re-define the workflow systems from the moment a job entered the plant till it reached its customers hands. Since then he has been the owner and publisher of the Directory for Seniors in Spokane, North Idaho, Yakima and Tacoma as well as being a founding partner in Spokane's sustainable business resources guide, the GoGreen Directory.
Its always fun when we see one of our own doing big things! Joann Killeen, APR, former Greater Spokane PRSA member and National PRSA president was recently seen on the Today Show as the spokesperson for the national news making new mom of octuplets.
Killeen managed to generate a lot of air time live from LA on air with Ann Curry. And, like the pro she is, she stayed focused, repeated the message, stayed on message- and she looks great! To see a pro in action go to http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3041445/.
The 2009 Portland Communicators Conference will be held on May 6. This is a great way to network with other communication professionals and learn new tactics and techniques. Visit the
conference website at www.pdxcommconf.org for a full up-to-date schedule.
If You Missed the FREE Teleseminar Last Month, You Missed Out
Ford Saeks, president & CEO of
Prime Concepts Group, Inc., emphasized message, market and methods during the
February PRSA teleseminar - Innovative Marketing Mastery™ Creativity in Action Get Your Prospects and Customers to Buy More Products and Services.He outlined ten types of benefit
messages that resonate with audiences and discussed key words and calls to
action.He also stressed the importance
of testing messages with target markets.
Saeks challenged PR
practitioners to sharpen their creativity enabling them to stay open to new
messages, markets and methods.He
encouraged listeners to change every day habits such as choice of radio or
television stations to keep the brain more active.
Web 2.0 means an
organization's markets have control of its brand according to Saeks.He covered methods of marketing with an
emphasis on social media and its ability to provide feedback and build
relationships.He also gave 7 steps for
developing a viral marketing campaign.His 5 top websites to pay attention to included Facebook, YouTube,
LinkedIn, Twitter and Go2Web20.
The 2009 PRSA Day on the
Job is successfully underway. A total of 40 job shadows have been arranged and
are to be completed within the next month. Students from universities
throughout the region will experience a day in the life of a communications
professional. A big thank you goes to those professionals who volunteered to
host a student!
Please welcome your newest member to the board of directors, Monique Dugaw and Cher Merrill. We are so glad to have you on the board and thank you for your time and efforts!
The board met on Feb.12 and March 12 at Rockey, Hill and Knowlton. New officers were welcomed and the February Teleseminar was recapped. Many upcoming events were discussed, including: Media Boot
Camp, Day on the Job, May Teleseminar and the PRSSA Networking Event.
