The Heat is ON!

Hello FPRA Treasure Coast!

I think the heat might be slowing me down. I hope you haven’t missed me too much! We’re in the home stretch of our membership year and I’m really looking forward to my last couple of months as your Chapter President. As some of you may know, this is my last week as the Media Relations Specialist for the South Florida Water Management District. Beginning July 6th, I will be the Development Director for St. Anastasia Catholic School in Fort Pierce. My children attend this school and my mother, husband and I all attended this school as well. I will be in charge of school media relations, communications, special events and fundraising. I will continue on as Chapter President and will remain on the Board as Immediate Past President next year. When I get my new contact information, I will forward it along to you.


Tweet All About It!! The FPRA Media Conference was a Huge Success!
The Treasure Coast Chapter held its annual Media Conference in June. About 150 people from the public relations and media fields took part in the conference with the theme of a “Welcome to the Digital Conversion” on the same day of the switch to digital TV, June 12, in Stuart. “Successful Media Strategies: Digital PR and Marketing Power Tools,” the title of this year’s annual Media Conference, assembled professionals from all media outlets including newspaper, magazine, radio, television, Internet and more.



The day began with a luncheon and a moment to honor the 42-year career of Tom Weber, the former publisher of Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers. Weber, who retired at the end of May, received a special painting from the chapter.

The keynote speaker, Jay Berkowitz, a senior online marketing professional for more than 20 years, is the author of The Ten Golden Rules of Online Marketing Workbook, the Founder and CEO of www.TenGoldenRules.com, a strategic online marketing consulting business. Berkowitz has also managed marketing departments for Fortune 500 brands: Coca Cola, Sprint and McDonald’s Restaurants, and has developed online and offline strategies for AT&T and leading health and fitness Web site eDiets.com. He presented his latest topic, “Web 2010,” and provided 10 strategies defining business futures. You can find a copy of his presentation at http://presentations.tengoldenrules.com/web_2010/.

Another presenter was Alex de Carvalho. A social media strategist and avid user of social networks, Carvalho works at the intersection of online social interaction, Web site user experience and marketing programs, specializing in the practical application of social media platforms, culture and ethics for external and internal community engagement. He is the co-founder of StartPR, an online service for reputation management, blogger relations, and brand monitoring. He noted that social media is changing marketing, public relations and journalism.





Other sessions during the day included Communications for Non-profits, presented by Suzanne Sparling, APR, United Way of Brevard County, Photography and Videography 101, Meet the Press Roundtables and PR 101.

As part of the conference registration, attendees received the ever-popular Media Directory – this year on CD. If you missed out on the opportunity to attend this event, you can still purchase your Directory by contacting Lisa Swyryn at Lisa@communigraphics.biz and she will make sure you get a copy. Copies cost $25.

The conference has always been an excellent networking vehicle assembling the Treasure Coast’s media professionals with their public relations counterparts in the community and this year was no exception! Thanks to Media Conference Co-Chairs, Beverly Bevis Jones, APR and Adrienne Moore, APR, CPRC for their dedication and leadership of this event. They had many committee members and volunteers to assist them…so a BIG THANK YOU goes to Justin Beard and Denise Belizar, as well as volunteers Bryan Beaty, Robert Lane, Karen Brown, Lisa Hornamen Sywyrn, Lauren Anderson, Robin Delgado, Inez Frid, Erick Gill, Felonice Margasak, Diane Charette, Linda Probst, Stacy Ranieri, Gina Golina, Nancy McCarthy, Larry Schultz and Laurie K. Blandford who helped put this wonderful event together.

In honor of the Media Conference, I started an FPRA Twitter Account…follow us at FPRATC!

Regan Communications is All-A-Twitter
Thanks to Misti Guertin, APR, Vice President of Regan Communications for sharing this story about how Regan Communications is using Twitter to get the word out about their clients.

http://www.metro.us/us/article/2009/06/16/04/3245-82/index.xml
Firms tweet their message, PR execs find Internet is a treasure trove to get their clients out to the public

During a time when traditional media is struggling to stay relevant due to dwindling readership, public relations executives are tapping into Twitter to get the word out about their clients. So far, it’s working, according to some of the top local industry executives.
Twitter is now becoming one of the “go-to” tools at Boston-based Regan Communications Group, which boasts clients such as the Boston Celtics, Mohegan Sun and Legal Sea Foods.

“We’ve been aggressively using Twitter for several months, and we found pretty quickly it is a very powerful vehicle for the right kinds of messages,” said Christian Megliola, who heads new media at Regan.

Earlier this year, executives set up a Twitter account for their client — the Boston Wine Expo — in order to publicize the upcoming event, attract wine enthusiasts locally and nationally and highlight some of the special guests. Within a month, more than 800 people were “following” the Twitter account and the Boston Wine Expo Web site had huge Web traffic coming from Twitter. This year’s wine expo had 200 more attendees than last year, which Regan executive Dominic Amenta believes was in part because of Twitter.

Marlo Fogelman, president and founder of marlo marketing/communications in Boston, tweets daily.

“A couple of weeks back a writer at Marie Claire tweeted about needs she had for a story. My colleague who followed her saw the tweet, tweeted back and secured a placement for our client,” Fogelman said.

FPRA 2009-10 Treasure Coast Chapter Board of Directors Slate of Officers Set

The 2009-10 FPRA Treasure Coast Chapter Board of Directors Slate of Officers will be presented to the membership for approval at the July Monthly Business Meeting. The Slate is as follows:

Executive Committee:
President – Bryan Beaty, Indian River State College
Immediate Past President – Linette Trabulsy, South Florida Water Management District
1st Vice President, President-Elect – TBD
2nd Vice President, Membership – Kathryn Treadwell, ARC of Martin County
Treasurer – Lisa Swyryn, Communigraphics
Secretary – Samantha Kayser, inVision Brand Partners, Inc.

Directors:
Image Awards
Chair: Louise Murtaugh, APR, Molly’s House; Committee Members: Robin Delgado, Attorney Philip DeBerard, Adrienne Moore, APR, CPRC, A. Moore Communications Strategies; Kherri Anderson, Martin County Supervisor of Elections

Professional Development (Includes Media Conference, High School presentation, etc.)
Co-Chairs: Krista Garofalo, United Way of St. Lucie County and Lauren Anderson, Stuart Cardiology Associates; Media Conference Committee Members: Beverly Bevis Jones, APR, BBJones Communications; Adrienne Moore, APR, CPRC; other committee members: TBD

Communications
Chair: Erick Gill, St. Lucie County; Committee Members: Newsletter Writer – Sue-Ellen Sanders; Newsletter Layout - Robert Lane, IRSC; Website – Mark Weinberg, St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office

Programs
Chair: Cara Perry, FAU Treasure Coast Campus
Committee Members: TBD (need 3-4)

Accreditation & Certification
Chair: Nancy McCarthy, APR, The Firefly Group

Indian River Council
Co-Chairs: Sarah Starr, Childcare Resources of Indian River County and TBD

As you can see, we have a couple key “TBDs” in the slate. If you are interested in serving on a committee, serving in a leadership role for Indian River Council or a leadership role for the Executive Committee, please contact Adrienne Moore, APR, CPRC at adrienne.moore7@gmail.com for information.

July Monthly Business Meeting
Now is the time to make your reservation for the Chapter’s last monthly business meeting of the year scheduled for Tuesday, July 14th at 11:30 a.m. at the IRSC Schreiber Center in St. Lucie West. Aileen Izquierdo, Vice President of Communication, Florida Atlantic University will present: “Brand New. FAU’s Journey Through the World of Visual Identity.” Izquierdo is responsible for creating and managing integrated communications plans and initiatives for internal and external university audiences that are aligned with the University’s strategic plan. Izquierdo is the first Hispanic vice president in the FAU’s 44 year history.

The Treasure Coast Chapter invites all interested public relations practitioners and anyone responsible for handling company communications. The cost is $15 for FPRA members and $20 for non-members. Again this month, Panera Bread will be catering lunch.

The Treasure Coast Chapter is privileged to have Ms. Izquierdo present at our monthly business meeting. Let’s show her a very warm welcome to the Treasure Coast by attending this last meeting of the year! RSVP NOW online at http://www.fpratreasurecoast.com/ or by calling Cara Perry, Director of University Relations at FAU Treasure Coast Campus, at (772) 873-3339.

Congratulations to Nancy McCarthy, APR, of The Firefly Group!
Congratulations to Nancy McCarthy, APR, Glowing Results Director of The Firefly Group, on being awarded the 2009 Treasure Coast Chapter Annual Conference Scholarship. In her first year of being a member of the Treasure Coast Chapter, Nancy currently serves as Membership Director for the Chapter as well as participates on many committees. Next year, Nancy will serve as the Accreditation and Certification Chair for the Chapter.

Speaking of Annual Conference – PR on FIRE!
Register now and make your hotel reservations (http://waldorfastoria.hilton.com/en/wa/groups/personalized/BCTBCWA-ZZEPRZ-20090803/index.jhtml). The deadline for early registration is July 19, 2009, and the deadline for hotel reservations at the FPRA discounted price is July 9, 2009. Hotel rooms are going fast, so reserve your room as soon as possible.

71ST FPRA ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Location: Boca Raton Resort and Club, Boca Raton, FL
Date: August 9 – 12, 2009
Registration Fee: $595/person

Membership Update!
During the Media Conference, the Chapter received three new membership applications. This brings our membership tally to 70 members…only 5 shy of last year’s record breaking number of members and only 11 shy of our goal of 81 members this year. We still have two more months left to recruit new members and Nancy McCarthy, APR, is still keeping track of leads and new member referrals for the New Member Contest where you could win one of several Visa Gift Cards! Please send any member leads to Nancy at nancy@fireflyforyou.com! Thanks.

Martin County Honors FPRA Treasure Coast Chapter

The Martin County Board of County Commissioners honored FPRA Treasure Coast Chapter with a proclamation celebrating our 25th Anniversary. Pictured accepting the proclamation was President Linette Trabulsy, Adrienne Moore, APR, CPRC and Debra Banta, APR with Martin County Chairman Susan Valliere.

Have a great week,
Linette