News You Can Use

Hello FPRA Treasure Coast!

State Board Meeting
Bryan Beaty and I will attend the Quarterly State Board Meeting in Jacksonville this weekend. Lanette Hart, APR, CPRC, State President, has asked that I share information about our upcoming Community Service Project at Martin County High School with the other Chapter presidents as a shining example of a Best Practice. Additionally, I’m looking forward to sharing many other great things our Chapter has been doing with the group. Look in next week’s blog for information that we bring back from the meeting.

Speaking of the MCHS Community Service Project
Several members of the Treasure Coast Chapter will conduct a panel discussion at Martin County High School on Tuesday, Feb. 24, starting at 9:10 a.m. Debra Banta, APR, and a committee of seven FPRA members will present the organization’s High School Community Service Project: “What Is Public Relations/PR Career Opportunities” for more than 100 career tech students at MCHS. As part of a panel discussion, local FPRA professionals, representing the diversity of career opportunities in the public relations industry, will present an overview of the field and give each student a Tool Kit for Success.

Panelists will discuss their jobs as public relations professionals, how they got into their career and offer advice for entering the public relations field. The panel includes: Linette Trabulsy with South Florida Water Management District, Kherri Anderson with the Martin County Supervisor of Elections, Kendall Clifford with the Firefly Group, Erick Gill with the St. Lucie County Board of County Commissioners, Robin Delgado with the Law Firm of Philip DeBerard, Cara Perry with Florida Atlantic University and Sam Yates with Yates and Associates.

Thanks, Debbie, for all of your hard work on this endeavor. And thank you to all of the panelists who enthusiastically agreed to participate! This event will certainly be a huge success and I look forward to bringing it to other high schools throughout the Treasure Coast!

Call for Entries for the FPRA Treasure Coast Chapter 2009 Local Image Awards
The Image Awards Committee has announced the “Call for Entries” for the FPRA Treasure Coast Chapter 2009 Local Image Awards. The Call for Entries and application is only available electronically on our website at http://www.fpratreasurecoast.com/%20/%20http://www.fpratreasurecoast.com/. Deadline for entries is March 24, 2009.

Remembering our Past and Toasting our Future ~ 25th Anniversary Celebration
On Tuesday, March 10th at 4 p.m., we will celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Treasure Coast Chapter of FPRA. Join your fellow FPRA members and friends at the Sunrise Theatre in historic downtown Fort Pierce for a reception honoring the past 25 years. After the reception, the Sunrise Theatre invites you and a guest to stay for the performance of “Footloose: The Musical.” The cost to attend is $25 per person and includes the reception and the show! Only 60 tickets will be reserved for our Chapter, so make your reservations early and feel free to bring a guest. Look for your invitation in the mail soon, but feel free to make your reservations now by calling Programs Chairman Cara Perry at (772) 873-3339 or e-mail at ccarlton@fau.edu or by RSVPing online at http://www.fpratreasurecoast.com/.

February Monthly Meeting Recap
Our FPRA Treasure Coast February business meeting was a little unique. Instead of a speaker, attendees were given an opportunity to meet and greet with their fellow members. The “Speed Networking” meeting was an overwhelming success with many happy, smiling people breaking the “network for 5-minutes only” rule! Participants were given five minutes to network with fellow guests. When the five minutes were up, participants moved to another table getting to know another person. Business cards were moving about while the room got louder and louder! Two first time attendees said that it was the best way to get to know fellow members and they were thrilled that this session was held during their first meeting. The attendees were also delighted that Panera Bread of St. Lucie West catered the lunch this month. The only thing that disappointed some is that we didn’t do this sooner in the membership year!

Indian River Council Professional Development Seminar ~ Mirror, Mirror on the Wall – What is Aging After All?
Learn more about aging and the creative process on Thursday, April 16 from 9:30–11:30 a.m. at the Richardson Center at Indian River State College’s (IRSC) Mueller Campus. Gene D. Cohen, M.D., Ph.D., the director of the Center on Aging, Health & Humanities professor of Health Care Sciences and professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at George Washington University, will present “New Understanding About Creativity & Psychological Growth With Aging.”

New research on aging has identified a number of positive brain and behavioral changes in the second half of life that set the stage for psychological growth and creative expression. Scientists now recognize positive developments among middle-age and older adults. The New Senior Moment (a creative one) will be perhaps the best example of a phenomenon where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Be prepared to witness the dismantling of a number of long held negative myths and stereotypes about aging.

Admission to this lecture is $25 per person and seating is limited to 300. Reservations can be made by calling IRSC at (772) 462-7880 or the Cultural Council at (772) 770-4857. This event is sponsored by the Lifelong Learning Institute at IRSC, the Cultural Council of Indian River County, Vero Beach Magazine and the Treasure Coast Chapter of FPRA

The Richardson Center on the Mueller Campus at Indian River State College is located at 6155 College Lane, Vero Beach. For more information, visit http://www.gwumc.edu/cahh/About/cohen.htm.

Thank you to Laura Kelley, APR, for coordinating this event.

Member News
Congratulations to Bev Paris of Paris Production as she has been selected by the Cultural Council of Indian River County as a Laurel Award for Cultural Leadership honoree for 2009. Bev, and her husband, Martin, are recognized in the Philanthropic /Business Leadership category. The Laurel Awards recognizes leaders in Indian River County who have consistently supported the cultural community in the following categories: Philanthropic/Business Leadership Award, Volunteer/Activist Award, Cultural/Professional Leadership Award, Artist Award and the Carolyn Eggert Award. The 14th Annual Laurel Awards Celebration Dinner will take place on Wednesday, March 25, 2009 at Grand Harbor Club in Vero Beach.


Have a great week,
Linette