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| Wednesday, September 8, 2010 |
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Sign up TODAY for August 18th Cruise on the Foxy Lady
Deadline to register extended to Aug. 11!
 Join us on August 18 for this year's PRSA Summer Social! It promises to be a relaxing evening of picturesque shorelines, great food and networking with area public relations professionals.
Please register by Aug. 11 to ensure your spot on the cruise. Spouses, students and guests are welcome to attend. Registration begins at 5 p.m. at the Holiday Inn City Centre in Green Bay, with the two-hour cruise departing promptly at 6 p.m.
See you there!
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We Won, We Won, We Won!
 Out of 25 small-size PRSA chapters, the Northeast Wisconsin Chapter had the greatest growth in national membership for 2008! We went up 17.7 percent, beating runner-up Utah Valley at 17 percent.
In addition to bragging rights, the Chapter has also received $250 to put toward professional development expenses. In addition, we received an umbrella to use as a door prize!
Integrys Energy Group Newsletter Earns PRSA Commendation!
The Award of Commendation is given for superior performance in the design and execution of an individual tactic within a broader public relations program.
After merging six utility companies under the Integrys holding company banner in 2007, demand for a wide-reaching yet personal, employee-focused newsletter became more important than ever. “Our goal in Internal Communications was to help employees understand Integrys and the company’s business objectives,” said Marilyn Bazett-Jones, communications specialist at Integrys and editor of the InterChange. “We created InterChange, a publication that compiled important and impactful news across all subsidiaries into an online and print resource. We convened an editorial board with reps from each subsidiary to help us 'read the readership' and suggest story ideas.”
- The newsletter. Integrys submitted three consecutive issues of InterChange.
- A one-page summary. “The hardest part of the entire entry process was keeping the content to one page,” commented Marilyn. “We had to tell our story using the most accurate words and concise descriptors."
- Supporting documents. “We did an employee survey in the fall of 2008, so we included those statistics as well as some of the plans we had after evaluating the comments from employees,” said Marilyn.
What advice does Marilyn have for her fellow PRSA colleagues? “Collect your best results and give it a shot!” she said.
PRSA recognizes excellence in public relations through a variety of award programs. Here are a few tips for submitting your best practices and tactics:
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Go to PRSA.org/awards for overviews of the various award opportunities, guidelines, examples of past winners and much more.
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Start early. The award deadlines are typically at the beginning of the year for projects/tactics from the previous year. So, start preparing now and make it your goal in 2010 to submit your accomplishments.
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Write concisely. PRSA looks at hundreds of entries, so make yours stand out by addressing each of the criteria in an organized, concise manner.
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Just do it! “You’ll never win if you don’t enter,” said Marilyn.
If you – or your organization – have recently won an award for a publication or campaign, please share it with us.
Send us your feedback: Sponsorship E-mails...yea or nay?
By: Rachel Lom, director-at-large
In our ongoing effort to provide exceptional programming and services at an affordable price, the Northeast Wisconsin PRSA Board has been discussing alternative ways to finance our goals and mission. One option includes sponsorship opportunities, such as sponsoring one of our meetings.
As a PRSA member or interested non-member, the NEW PRSA Board would like to get your feedback. How would you feel about receiving up to one e-mail each month from a corporate sponsor? Please note that we would NEVER, under any circumstance, sell or provide your e-mail/contact information to ANY sponsor. The sponsorship emails would be sent by NEW PRSA on behalf of the sponsor. In addition, these messages would have to meet the following criteria:
· The message must be approved by the chapter’s sponsorship chairperson AND the chapter president.
· The product, service or event must be relevant to the professional interests of our membership.
· If the product, service or event is relevant to the group’s demographic but not professional interests, the NEW PRSA Board must vote on whether to allow the sponsorship.
· No more than one promotional e-mail will be sent per month.
Please let us know how you feel about this sponsorship option. While we believe this would be a popular sponsorship choice for potential advertisers, we are also very sensitive to our responsibilities to our membership and others who entrust us with their contact information. Share your thoughts with us by e-mailing PRSAsponsorships@WriteImageLLC.com by August 15, 2009. |
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Megan Wilcox is Taking the APR Plunge!
Study group now forming
by: Janet Bonkowski, APR
.jpg)  We have some terrific news to share on the accreditation front! Megan Wilcox, Corporate and Public Relations Specialist at ThedaCare, is taking the plunge towards Accreditation in Public Relations within the next year. With her application to National approved earlier this month, Megan is now developing a game plan for achieving her APR by April/May of 2010.
Between now and then, Megan will be studying for her online exam and undergoing the Readiness Review process (which includes a panel interview and portfolio presentation). PRSA of N.E.W. is now forming a group study to prepare for the Exam. The group may meet as early as September/October of 2009, but expects the majority of its meetings to occur in the first quarter of 2010. Study sessions will be comprised of Megan, other chapter members interested in pursuing accreditation in the near future, and area APRs serving as facilitators.
If you've continued to toy with the idea of taking the plunge yourself, there's never been a better time to jump in. Recall that you can build your "project plan" for approaching accreditation in whatever way works for you. Want to follow the same schedule as Megan? Great! Prefer to attend study sessions this fall and winter, get your studying out of the way, and then proceed with the Application and Readiness Review? Fine by us!
To sign up for the study group, simply contact Chapter Accreditation Chair Janet Bonkowski, APR by e-mail at bonkowskij@schneider.com or by phone at 920/592-2865. Deadline for jumping in: August 15, 2009. Join us!
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| Abby Gutowski has been promoted to public relations manager for the Weidert Group in Appleton. She previously held the position of public relations specialist. |
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August
9 years
Kristin Bouchard
3 years
Rose Ahern
1 year
Beth Kneisler
Cody Pinkston
Kristin Rabas
Angela Walschinski |
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Integrys Energy Group’s