Before getting into the exciting things we have planned for PRSA in 2012, I want to start by thanking our 2011 president, Amber Remke. Last year was a year of milestones – from stellar programming, to the induction of our very own Dana Birkes into the prestigious College of Fellows, to reengaging some of the Tulsa chapter’s most seasoned members with a beautiful APR banquet. Amber assembled and led an extremely dedicated group of professionals, and the bar has been set high for 2012!

Perhaps the highest profile event we have planned this year is the Southwest District Conference, which Tulsa will host April 11-13 at the Hyatt Regency. This is a huge honor for our chapter and a great opportunity to show off our City to PRSA members in the region. I encourage you to check out the conference website at www.prsaswconf.org for the latest programming information and announcements. We’ll also post the official conference schedule in the coming weeks, so be sure to take advantage of early bird registration before it ends Feb. 17.

Thank you to all the committee members who have been working on this event over the last six months, including Amber, Jeff Pounds, Morgan Phillips, Kristen Turley , Jeremy Burton, Rachel Anderson-Hill, Andrea Myers and Tracy Kennedy. Also, thank you to all of the sponsors who have already stepped up to support the conference, including Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma, Bank of Oklahoma, Cherokee Nation Businesses, ONEOK, Saint Francis Health System, Schnake Turnbo Frank I PR, Rex PR, Williams, Oral Roberts University, PR Newswire, Business Wire and the Southwest District. We have made tremendous progress in organizing an event you won’t want to miss and continue to seek sponsors and volunteers. Please contact me at nicole@rexpr.com if you are interested.

I also hope you’ll join us for our next meeting Feb. 9 on community involvement. Volunteering in the non-profit community is a great way to build your personal reputation and create an impact on our City, but with the demands of work/life balance and the overwhelming need for PR and marketing skills, becoming an effective volunteer can be easier said than done. This meeting will feature a panel of local PR pros and community volunteers to provide tips on how to best select the causes you wish to support and how to grow that involvement over time.

As we continue to move through the year, please do not hesitate to contact me with programming ideas and other feedback for our chapter. I look forward to serving you as president!

Nicole Morgan, APR

Register now for "The Last Conference You'll Ever Attend!"

Registration is now available for the 2012 PRSA Southwest District Conference.

This year we will cover it all -- from dissecting Joplin's tornado disaster response effort to communicating about the most complex topics to senior management's perspective on PR's role in achieving business goals. In a time when working in PR is a world of chaos, this may be the last conference you'll ever need.

Keynote Speakers:

Alan Armstrong - President and CEO of Williams, a $23 billion energy company

Deirdre Breakenridge - CEO at Pure Performance Communications and four-time published author

Steve Crescenzo - Owner of Crescenzo Communications and author of the popular blog of "Corporate Hallucinations"

Also Featuring:

Robin Rather - CEO of Collective Strength

Kris Schindler, APR - Senior Public Relations Counselor

Christi Davis Gallagher, APR - Director of Brand Reputation for Sam's Club

Carin Canale - President and Founder of Canale Communications

Convoy of Hope - Provider of Joplin disaster response

David Marlowe - Principal of Strategic Marketing Concepts

David Tesmer - Texas Health Resources

Stacey M. Jones, M.S., APR, and Lisa Bondurant, M.S., APR, PRSA Arkansas Chapter

Katrina Kokoska, creative services manager, Schipul - The Web Marketing Company

Caitlin Kaluza, manager of search engine marketing, Schipul - The Web Marketing Company

Jeff Nene, senior director of public relations, Convoy of Hope

Christine Hollinden, principal of Hollinden

Jeff Dailey, owner, Jeff Dailey Media

Register NOW and receive an Earlybird rate!

Where: Hyatt Regency Tulsa - 100 E. Second St., Tulsa, OK 74103

When: April 11, 2012 6:00 PM to April 13, 2012 12:00 PM

Tickets:

$250.00 Non-Member Ticket
$200.00 Earlybird rate before February 17

$150.00 PRSSA Student Ticket
$100.00 Earlybird rate before February 17

For more details about the promotion, view the informational flyer or visit www.prsa.org.

PRSA Tulsa February Meeting

Finding the Balance in Community Involvement 

Plugging into the community is key when you are a PR professional, but with the demands of workload, family life and (for younger pros) limited funds can often be overwhelming.

Join us Feb. 9 for a panel of local PR professionals and community volunteers  to discuss how to know where to best put forth your efforts, how to grow that involvement over time and how to use non-profit volunteer experience to increase your breadth of knowledge in other industries.

Panel members include: Cassie Reese, immediate past chair of Tulsa’s Young Professionals and director of corporate relations at Crossland Construction Company, and Dana Birkes, APR, a recent PRSA College of Fellows inductee and corporate vice president of business development and marketing at Flintco.

A location for the February meeting is TBD, but an email notification will be sent out as soon as a venue has been confirmed.

Date: February 9

Tickets:

Member: $20

Non-member: $25

Student: $15

Allison Dent - Recent College Graduate

Allison graduated from the University of Arkansas in December 2011with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism: Advertising/Public Relations. She is a writer, blogger, event planner, editor and public relations practitioner.

Public Relations experience includes:

• BlueCross BlueShield of Oklahoma, public relations department: drafted news releases, assisted in the writing, layout and redesign of its internal newsletter, set up and staffed events and wrote posts for BCBSOK's Facebook wellness blog.

• Self magazine in New York: assisted with staging of designer clothing items and accessories for photo shoots and inventory.
• TulsaKids Magazine:  wrote articles and compiled materials for a campaign to encourage Tulsans to save gasoline by riding the bus.
• Trinity Episcopal Day School: gathered information and assembled its monthly newsletter.

Allison currently resides in Tulsa and is searching for a position in the public relations industry.

Carol Carter - Marketing and Public Relations Coordinator for LIFE Senior Services

Carol Carter is the Marketing and Public Relations Coordinator for LIFE Senior Services, a non-profit United Way agency that serves 25,000 seniors and family caregivers each year.  Carol has been with LIFE for nearly ten years and has expertise in the areas of marketing and branding, marketing communications, community relations and media relations. 

She represents LIFE Senior Services in several organizations including Tulsa Interagency Council and Broken Arrow Human Resource Council, and serves on advisory committees for the Alzheimer’s Association and Baptist Village of Broken Arrow.

As a 2007 graduate of Leadership Broken Arrow, Carol is on the LBA Development Committee and chairs Social Services Day.  She was also recently elected president of Broken Arrow Seniors board of directors where she has served for six years.

She holds a Bachelor's degree from the University of Tulsa with a major in Advertising/Public Relations.  Earlier in her career, she worked for Brothers & Co. and Case/Dunlap Enterprises.

Carol is married to Chuck Carter, a CPA and management consultant in the oil and gas industry, and has children. In her spare time, she enjoys photography and gardening, and is addicted to Words with Friends.