A Week Away From the Big Day

Hi, everybody. With the awards ceremony just a week away, we've received a lot of RSVPs. This is just a reminder that the RSVP deadline has been extended to Monday, June 9. So, get your RSVPs in. This is going to be an event you don't want to miss.

If you have any questions about registration or reserving your space, just send me an e-mail at ccoy@barbermartin.com.

I look forward to seeing everyone next Thursday night.

Camille Coy
Communications Specialist
Barber Martin Advertising

{Let's Get Connected}...In the Final Stretch of Planning!

Thursday June 12 is right around the corner! I hope many of you have already marked your calendars for the big night we have planned for you. We are expecting a huge turnout, so hope you can make it. I also want to take a moment to thank everyone who submitted an entry. We received more than 100 submissions!

If you have any questions about the awards gala, let any of us know, in the meantime check out the invite in the following link and make sure to RSVP for the event by June 5:

http://www.prsarichmond.org/attachments/contentmanagers/1465/PRSA_Awards_Invitation.pdf

Finalists will receive an email -- watch your inboxes and see you at Lewis Ginter on June 12!

-Denise

What? Is This Really Work?

I hope by now most of you have had the chance to view the video invitation starring our own president, Felicia McLemore. I thought I'd spend a few minutes to take you behind the scenes of the making of the video.

As luck would have it, we had absolutely beautiful weather the day of the shoot. In fact, for April, it was quite warm. Along with my camera crew from the Lottery (thanks Adam and Ben for generously donating your time!) we set off on an adventure. I must admit, spending the day amidst the fabulous surroundings of Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden wasn't exactly hard duty.

Felicia joined us as we headed down to the Bloomendal House for the opening shot. What a trooper she was! Felicia kept her "cool" even with the afternoon sun really beating down on us. Once we got into the rhythm of the shoot, a nice soft wind helped us "breeze" through the afternoon to get all the shots we needed to put together a nice finished product. Adam and Ben were brilliant picking just the right spot for each scene. And thanks to Felicia's excellent job reading the script, we don't even have enough to put together a blooper reel!

All in all, we had a great time putting this video together AND we spent a wonderful afternoon in one of the most beautiful spots in all of Richmond. So, what better way to spend a summer evening than with your colleagues at Lewis Ginter? I hope everyone will be able to join us on June 12 for what is sure to be a fabulous event!

Goal Set, Goal Accomplished

Hi there! I apologize for not introducing myself sooner. My name is Meredyth Thurston and as a part of the planning committee I helped to collect, submit and ship the 2008 award entries out-of-state for judging. We exceeded the committee goal and processed 101 entries this year!

As a first-timer to the Virginia PR Awards Committee, and any PRSA Richmond committee for that matter, I have enjoyed working with and getting to know other industry pros. I hope to connect with each of you at the awards program June 12. Until then, feel free to post any questions or suggestions!

Meredyth Thurston
Account Coordinator
Charles Ryan Associates
mthurston@charlesryan.com

Successful experiment!

Yesterday's Webinar--the first-ever offered by our chapter--was a bit of an experiment. I'm happy to say that it went well! Sixteen people attended, and the feedback so far has been very positive.

This is a great tool for sharing information, and I hope we can use Webinars in the future for a variety of topics.

If you missed yesterday's event, but would like to download tips for creating winning award entries, you can find a PDF and an audio file on the 2008 Awards Information page on prsarichmond.org.

More tools to get connected!

We've added a PDF file and an audio file with tips for preparing award-winning entries.

Jeff Wilson, with CRT/tanaka, did a fabulous job of providing these tips, and many thanks go to Steve Mullen, president of EndGame Public Relations for producing the podcast. (By the way, the voice talent is the award committee's own Jennifer Mullen.)

Check out these tools on the 2008 Awards Information page.

And don't miss Thursday's Webinar on writing winning Virginia PR Award entries.

We just finished our Webinar dry run!

Just finished our practice session for the April 10 Webinar on writing winning award entries. I'm really excited, because it's coming together beautifully!

The technology is really neat--participants attend an interactive session with audio and video. No traveling to or from a meeting site--very efficient!

Learn more about this free Webinar and register online now!

Getting Connected More Each Day!

Hello and welcome to my first official blog post! As a member of this year's PRSA awards committee, I am so excited both about the upcoming event as well as the chance to learn some new things along the way.

As the planning process for PRSA's annual gala began, I whole-heartedly embraced our theme of social media and all that it entails. Admittedly, though, I've only dabbled in a few social media areas (LinkedIn, listened to a few podcasts here and there, etc.). However, the more I begin to utilize some of these tools, the more excited I am about them. I am feeling more and more connected with my peers, and indeed the world around me, with each passing day!

I know that everyone visiting the PRSA Richmond site will appreciate all of the effort our committee has put into planning the event this year. I think that you will find everything being offered on this site - from the Webinar to this blog - is a fun, exciting new way for us all to communicate. I hope that you, too, will begin to embrace some of these new tools now at our fingertips!

Jennifer Mullen
Communications Manager
Virginia Lottery

Fresh, fresh--baby, fresh!

Hi! I'm Theresa House, and I'm working to make your online experience valuable and FRESH. I'm certainly not doing it by myself--what a great committee we have! Every member of our committee geniunely cares about your user experience.

Speaking of your online experience, we've got some great things in store for you. Our first priority has been to be sure that you have all of the information you need to be a part of this longstanding and prestigious awards program. That's why the 2008 Awards Information web page on prsarichmond.org is your go-to resource for all things awards. (Find a link in the upper-right corner of this blog.)

Need a little inspiration for preparing your award entries? We've got a great Webinar planned for you. Get pointers from Matt Isner with Charles Ryan Associates, and Jeff Wilson with CRT/tanaka. Charles Ryan Associates walked (or maybe danced) away from last year's awards with the Silver Best in Show Award for its Virginians for Better Transportation community relations program. And I've lost count of the many awards that perennial favorite CRT/tanaka hauls away every year. Who better to learn from, right?

Learn more about the Webinar and register online!

I hope you'll take advantage of all that the Web has to offer. If you'd like to share an idea or offer a comment, then I'd love to hear from you.

Theresa House
(804) 397-5038, theresa.house@comcast.net

Connecting in a new way

Hi, everyone. This year on the awards committee, I am collaborating with a number of people and organizations to crank out all of the collateral pieces, including the call for entries that's arriving in mailboxes as I type.

The awards ceremony is shaping up to be a really exciting event this year, especially with the implementation of different social media tools, including this blog. I'm not very tech savvy, so I tend to shy away from computer-based social networking and whatnot. But since I've been working with the committee, I have learned just how easy it is it reach out and connect in new ways. I hope our initiatives will influence others to do the same.

Camille Coy

Communications Specialist

Barber Martin Advertising

ccoy@barbermartin.com

Welcome to {Let's Get Connected}

I’m flattered to be the first official post on the Awards blog. The blog is a result of our new media strategy for this year’s Awards, which will be unlike anything you’ve experienced before. We’re evolving our look, tone, approach and event flow -- so sit back and enjoy the virtual "ride."

I encourage you to check out this blog weekly to view or respond to posts from Committee members and to let us know how we can help you prepare your entries or answer questions you may have about the Awards dinner, slated for Thursday June 12!

I’m so proud and lucky to be part of this solid Committee! The members of the Awards Committee are top-notch PR professionals who are committed to doing great work, both on- and off- the job! I’m humbled by their work ethic and creativity and am in awe of their ability to keep the ball moving forward.

Staying on track is key during this planning process. We had our first planning meeting in late January and we’re off to a great start! Our Committee meets every two weeks to discuss various initiatives from identifying strategies to build buzz for the Awards program, to talking about what types of hors d’oeuvres we’ll have at the Awards dinner. During the planning process, our Committee members have had a chance to get connected and build new relationships with their teammates and generate great ideas for the Awards initiative! And we hope you'll do the same as you move forward with your entries-preparation-process.

Our goal is to be a resource for you, our members, to connect you with peers who may be preparing entries and to keep you energized, as we know the process can be daunting at times!

We’re here to help you, so reach out to us -- post your thoughts/questions, call us, email us.

Let’s get connected!

Denise M. Baddour
2008 Awards Chair

804 784 8259

dbaddour@luckstone.com