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