The Update

9/2005

Summer is winding down and Spokane's attention shifts from the lake back to the city. Our first membership meeting of the fall will be Friday, Sept. 9.

Greater Spokane Public Relations Society of America Fall Workshop -- Professional Development at the Next Level featuring exciting new research presented for the first time on the West Coast by the people who are breaking the ground!

Thursday, Sept. 29, 2005

Mother Joseph Room, Sacred Heart Medical Center

8:30-8:45 a.m.              Coffee and communication
8:45-9:45 a.m.              Capturing the Turmoil of the Daily Grind
9:45-10:05 a.m.             Q&A
10:05-10:30 a.m.            Snack break
10:30 - 11:30 a.m.          Emotional Intelligence
11:30 - noon                 Testing our EI
Noon - 1:30 p.m.           Lunch and Keynote  - Measuring the Emotions 

Cost
$75  PRSA and PRSSA members
$85  Non-members
$25  Lunch and keynote presentation

Registration

Download registration form here.

Capturing the Turmoil of the Daily Grind: Measuring the Emotions of Public Relations Practitioners

Presented by Augustine Pang and Yan Jin, representing the team of researchers that included Glen T. Cameron, Ph.D., the Maxine Wilson Gregory Chair in Journalism Research at the Missouri School of Journalism, University of Missouri in Columbia.

Augustine Pang is a Ph.D. candidate at the Missouri School of Journalism, University of Missouri in Columbia. Before he embarked on his doctoral studies, Gus was an award-winning newspaper correspondent reporting extensively on Asia-Pacific countries. He joined the academia in 1999 and was a journalism lecturer at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University (NTU) until 2002.

Gus’ research focuses on crisis communication, public relations, and media sociology. Gus has won several awards at leading international conferences. Among the conferences he has had papers accepted and/or presented are: Association of Education of Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC); International Communication Association (ICA); International Public Relations Research Conference (IPPRC); Public Relations Society of America (PRSA); Corporate Communications Conference (CCI); and Summit on the Future of Measurement and Accountability (SFMA).

Yan Jin, Ph.D., is assistant professor of public relations at the School of Mass Communications, Virginia Commonwealth University. As the recipient of several Top Paper awards, Yan has published and presented numerous research papers at leading national and international mass communication and business conferences. She has also authored book chapters and journal articles on public relations theories and online strategic communications. She has worked as research consultant for several national media groups and consumer product brands. While lecturing at the Missouri School of Journalism and serving as faculty advisor, Yan and her student team were awarded the First Place Prize in the 2005 Case Study Competition in Corporate Communications sponsored by the Arthur W. Page Society and the Institute for Public Relations.

Emotional Intelligence and how it affects the way we work presented by Dr. Terry Novak , professor in the Eastern Washington University graduate program in public administration.

Emotional intelligence = the innate potential to feel, use, communicate, recognize, remember, learn from, manage and understand emotions.

Terry Novak has had the opportunity to both help make things happen and teach about it. In his administrative role, he served as director of Spokane's Riverpoint campus, building a joint campus for Eastern Washington University and Washington State University, with participation from Whitworth College, Gonzaga University and the Community Colleges of Spokane. He resigned the campus directorship in 1999 to go full time at Eastern as a professor in the graduate program in public administration. 

Novak previously served as vice president for business and finance at EWU and was director of the Joint Center for Higher Education, the predecessor agency to WSU at Riverpoint. He went to Eastern in mid-1991 after 13 years as Spokane city manager and 12 years in city management in Alaska, Minnesota and Missouri.

Novak received a bachelors degree in political science and went on to graduate work in international relations at the University of Paris. There he discovered that international politics is similar to city management, so he returned to the United States to pursue a career in local government He received his master’s degree and PhD in public administration at the University of Colorado.

back to top

Kevin Jones from Southwest Airlines will address the Sept. 9 joint breakfast meeting of the Greater Spokane PRSA Chapter and the Spokane Public Relations Council. His topic is "The Customer Isn't Always No. 1."

The meeting will take place at 7:30 a.m. Friday, Sept. 9, in the Cataldo Room on the Gonzaga University campus. Cost is $9 for PRSA and SPRC members, $7 for students and $11 for non-members.

Jones, a Spokane native, is the station leader for Southwest Airlines. In his position, he is responsible for ensuring the safe operations of all Southwest flight activities in Spokane.

Like many other Southwest Employees, Jones quickly climbed the success ladder at Southwest Airlines. He joined the Southwest family in 1999 as a ramp agent in Spokane. In 2000, Jones was promoted to a Spokane customer service supervisor. Before joining the Southwest family, Jones was a paramedic and operations manager for a large ambulance company in Northern California.

From Spokane, Southwest Airlines operates 14 daily nonstop flights to six cites. Southwest Airlines is the nation’s largest carrier in terms of passengers boarded. Southwest operates more than 3,000 flights a day to 60 cities, with its newest city, Ft. Myers, Fla., scheduled to start service Oct. 2.

back to top

Learning comes in many forms this fall for you and I encourage you to take advantage of the many educational opportunities this fall offered by PRSA. Whether its our monthly meetings, the evening at Shriners Hospitals on interviewing and writing about persons with disabilities; our fabulous fall workshop on emotions in communications or the international conference in Miami Beach there are many opportunities to learn.

The educational topics are varied and compelling. This last summer some of the PRSA and local PR professionals took up the challenge from the Red Cross to participate in training called The Power of Two as Disaster Public Affairs officers. The training has been fascinating and has trained professionals to be the volunteer spokesperson in the event of a disaster for the Red Cross. Ask member Jennifer Simmons when you see her next about her experiences at one of the largest apartment fires here in Spokane, or Carol Snyder from The Arc of Spokane about being on a wildfire call. This training has taken on a whole new meaning after this week's devastating hurricane and disaster in the south. Nationally PRSA and the Red Cross is implementing The Power of Two professionals to assist in whatever way they can.

There is no doubt that all the training we offer is valuable. I encourage you to sharpen your skills and learn something new this fall.

Maggie

back to top

back to top

It's time again to recognize those communicators, educators and leadership among us who exemplify the best in communications. The deadline for this year's awards entries in Oct. 31.  Look for applications on our website, www.prsaspokane.org.

Degerness Awards for Excellence in Communications

Named for PRSA member Ken Degerness, this award honors a local PRSA member who has delivered outstanding service in support of the community through significant work in the community through their public relations efforts and chapter activities. The 2004 recipient was Jim Desautel of Desautel Hege Communications.

Educator of the Year Award

This award recognizes an educator who has made a significant contribution to the advancement of public relations through a college or university setting. The 2004 recipient was Erica Weintraub Austin of Washington State University.

Communicator of the Year Award

The award honors excellence in communications leadership by a CEO whose achievements include the effective use of communications to reach business objectives. The 2004 recipient was Scott Morris, senior vice president of Avista Corp. and president of Avista Utilities.

These recipients demonstrate that mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and its publics play a critical role in maintaining long term relationships.

back to top

The annual Magnum PR holiday wine tasting and auction will be Thursday, Dec. 1.  We are seeking committee members to plan the details for this year's event, which raises money for our PRSSA student scholarship program. Can you help? Call Maggie at (509) 623-0471. 

back to top

Lance Kissler
Health Communications Specialist
CDC-NIOSH-Spokane Research Laboratory
315 E. Montgomery Ave.
Spokane, WA 99207
Phone: (509) 354-8014
Fax: (509) 354-8099
lkissler@cdc.gov

Greg Orwig
Director of Communications
Whitworth College
300 W. Hawthorne Rd.
Mail Station 0501
Spokane, WA 99251
Phone: 509-777-4580
Fax: 509-777-3725
gorwig@whitworth.edu

back to top

Help share the many good reasons to be a member of PRSA by telling our story to other PR professionals. In September and October PRSA will offer new members free local dues when they join national PRSA. It's a great incentive to make this the time to join. 

back to top

back to top