- by Tara Erwin

On Tuesday, Nov. 15, a packed room of PR professionals at Chef’s prepared to dive into both the spaghetti parm and the exciting schedule of events that awaited them during the 2011 Annual Meeting.  Outgoing president John Senall expressed gratitude for his year of service and incoming president Virginia McAuliffe officially took the gavel to begin her term.  Last, attendees were treated to a presentation from social media guru Sarah Evans as she discussed “Hijacking the Online Conversation.”

Following is an excerpt from John Senall’s final remarks as the Chapter’s president:

Thank you for your support of our chapter throughout 2011.  Whether you came to our events, participated in a survey or volunteered on a committee, your active involvement in PRSA Buffalo Niagara was extremely valued and strengthened us as a chapter.

As I said last year when I took office as president, this is your chapter – all 195 members – and the board is just here to keep the organization on course, listening to your wishes and input.

It was a great privilege to serve you this year, and I am very proud of the accomplishments we achieved together, including:

• Expanding our collaborations by working with the PRSA Syracuse Chapter on a media training seminar and working alongside the Advertising Club of Buffalo on another successful career day.
• Reinvigorating the Diversity Committee, which is now working on a school outreach program to be unveiled in 2012.  The committee also will be presenting speakers at the 2012 Sunrise Seminars on diversity-related issues.
• Creating an all-new website thanks to the E-Communications Committee, chaired by Tony Astran.  I hope you are already enjoying this change as a new and improved way to make your reservations and to receive information.
• Presenting top-notch programs throughout the year thanks to the work of our Programming Committee, led by Jennifer Gallardo.
• Bringing in another national speaker for our Annual Meeting to add value to your membership.  I hope you enjoyed the free members-only program with Sarah Evans as our way of providing more for your membership dollar.

Speaking of more for your membership dollar, it has never before been a better time to be a PRSA member.  The national office’s free monthly webinar program begins in January, so please stay tuned for details.
 
I wish to extend a special thank-you to each and every Board member who gave above and beyond this year to make our chapter such a success.  It has been a true joy working with each of you and I look forward to continuing to serve as past-president in the coming year.  We are all in great hands thanks to our new president, Virginia McAuliffe.

Cheers to a wonderful 2012!

And here is an excerpt from Virginia McAuliffe’s presidential acceptance speech:

I am extremely honored to serve as the 2012 president for our chapter – one of the fastest-growing, accomplished and reputable chapters in the country.  I feel very lucky to have served on committees and the Board of this organization with some of the most talented and respected practitioners in the area.

I see the upcoming year as a chance to give back to our chapter and the exceptional people within it.  Our president, John Senall, is one of these exceptional people and has led our chapter through yet another successful year.  I’d also like to extend a special thank you to two very dedicated members who will be leaving our Board at the end of this year:  Eileen Herbert and Doug Sitler.  We thank you both so very much for all your time and expertise.

Coming off a productive 2011 and inheriting such a strong and financially-sound chapter, setting goals for the upcoming year proved to be no small task.  But if I had to pick, I think one of our greatest member benefits is having access to senior practitioners.  One of my goals is to revitalize the Mentor Program by not only expanding our mentor list, but also by using it as a vehicle to present organized and deliberate networking and growth opportunities to our membership.

Also, beginning in 2012, all members will have access to a vault of educational webinars on behalf of PRSA National.  These webinars, valued at $2,000, present us with many individual opportunities to broaden our knowledge – in the comfort of our own offices and at our own convenience.  I’ll be developing an incentive program to be run in concert with these webinars to increase exposure of our chapter to the community.  Membership has its privileges and we’d like the region to know about it!

I look forward to serving our chapter in 2012.

Chapter Members Learn How to Manage the Message

For Sarah Evans, owner at Sevans Strategy, a Chicago-based social media and public relations consultancy, even something as random as an earthquake can turn into an opportunity to get her company’s name mentioned in several national online publications.

By using Twitter and connecting with her media contacts in the early morning hours, Sarah was able to give a firsthand account of the Windy City’s freak rumblings.  The story, which mentioned her name and company, was picked up by CNN’s iReport, and newyorktimes.com, among others.  “I received five viable business leads (as a result of the coverage),” she said.

During her presentation, titled, “Hijacking the Online Conversation: How to Make Your Brand Stand Out,” Evans shared her savvy and spunk with pointers such as:

• When it comes to online conversations, start slow by simply sharing or giving information without asking for something in return.
• With Facebook, it’s all about the “Like,” “Comment” or “Share” buttons.  Engage and highlight your brand’s followers by choosing a Member of the Week to profile or offer exclusive content to private Facebook groups.
• From a customer service standpoint, monitor Tweets so that your organization can establish a pattern as to when they are most likely to be viewed, so that someone can be available to offer assistance or feedback.
• When blogging, look for opportunities to provide “guest posts,” which will drive more traffic to your site.

Evans’ presentation reminded attendees that the tides are turning and social media is beginning to drive traditional media.  For example, a case study involving a person posting an unusual wildlife picture to their Facebook page ended up receiving more than 300 comments and being picked up by the local media after it was verified.  From there, it became the most viewed story on local TV stations’ websites and was picked up by all major news networks.  “In this case,” said Evans, “it didn’t take a producer to determine what was newsworthy; it just took a few hundred people.”


Photos

Chapter Presidents

      - by Beth Silverman

PRSA Buffalo Niagara Chapter’s fall membership party on Thursday, Oct. 20, at Bar Louie was a huge success.  Twenty-three PRSA members attended, including our newest members: Laurie Kaiser, Melanie Gregg and Marty Biniasz.  (Be sure to look for these newest members at upcoming events and welcome them personally.) 

The following members won door prizes:

• Lori Allan – Bar Louie gift package
• Barb Byers – Bar Louie gift package
• Jennifer Pratt – Bar Louie gift package
• Beth Silverman – Bar Louie gift package
• Elaine Duquette – Bar Louie $25 gift card

And the winner of the grand prize, a $50 gift card to the Walden Galleria, was Shaun Seufert!  Thanks to all who attended.  If you weren’t able to make it, be sure to watch for our March membership happy hour.

     - by Tara Erwin

Congratulations to Kevin Manne, who earned his APR accreditation in November.

Hey, did you know there’s now a dedicated email address for all the news of members’ promotions, new hires, marriages, births and any other good news you want to share?  Drop a line to honors@prsabuffaloniagara.org and we’ll include your information in a future column. Please note the item must come from the newsmaker his or herself – we won’t publish information secondhand.

     - by Tony Astran

In December, fans of PRSA Buffalo Niagara Chapter took to our Facebook and Twitter pages to chime in about the “12 Days of Christmahanukwanzakah” – a creative, fill-in-the-blank exercise to replace lyrics from a popular holiday song with PR-themed topics.  And so, without further ado, here are the “lyrics” to a new hit song (or not!) for the local PR industry.  (We’ll skip ahead to the 12th Day.  Contributors and themes are in parenthesis.)

On the 12th Day of Christmahanukwanzakah, my PR pro gave to me:

• twelve logo-ed backdrops,  (Mike Barone, press conferences)
• eleven measurable objectives,  (Tony Astran, creating PR plans)
• ten media trainings,  (Tony Astran, reputation management)
• nine LinkedIn connections,  (Kevin Manne, networking)
• eight follow-up phone calls,  (Beth Silverman, media relations)
• seven meeting reminders,  (Kara Kerwin Kane, PR clients)
• six ad conversions,  (Kevin Manne, measuring results / ROI)
• five dancing mascots,  (Tony Astran, “stunts”)
• four proper uses of “affect” versus “effect,”  (Tony Astran, copywriting)
• three carefully-worded statements,  (Beth Silverman, crisis communications)
• two Facebook “Likes,”  (Travers Collins, social media)
• and a sack full of RSVPs.  (Tony Astran, special events)

 Thank you to everyone who participated.  As a PR professional, keep it clever in 2012!  And for right now, whether you’re celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or even Christmahanukwanzakah, may it be a festive holiday season filled with loved ones!