As part of tonight’s Golden Image Awards ceremony, three individual awards are given. The first award is the 2011 FPRA Member of the Year Award. This award recognizes one member who has made a significant contribution to the Association through outstanding leadership, demonstrated enthusiasm, extraordinary involvement and loyal support. The recipient is selected by the FPRA State President.

Drum roll, please… the 2011 FPRA Member of the Year is:

CHRIS GENT, APR, CPRC
Kissimmee Utility Authority
Orlando Area Chapter

Send Chris a congratulatory email at cgent@kua.com

FPRA State President Jennifer Moss, APR, CPRC:

It is my honor tonight to present one of our association’s top awards – the Member of the Year.

Per Association Policy, the Florida Public Relations Association Member of the Year Award is intended to recognize one member who has made a significant contribution to the Association through outstanding leadership, demonstrated enthusiasm, extraordinary involvement and loyal support.

It is the responsibility of the President to choose the member to be honored. As I thought about who in our Association meets these criteria, one name kept coming to mind again and again.

This member is, and has been for many years, very involved at both the local and state levels. Locally, this member has been on the chapter board for 13 consecutive years serving in numerous positions such as newsletter editor, webmaster, online communications, technology and chapter president. Committee service has been just as rich including Roast & Toast, Image and Media Roundtable.

This year he served once again as the chapter’s VP of Technology maintaining the chapter’s presence online and in social media. In this role, he handled event announcements, designed a holiday e-card, took chapter photos, posted Facebook, Twitter and website updates, and has started the production of a new chapter website. He taught an Image workshop and served as an Image judge. He set-up an annual membership survey in Survey Monkey and handled incentive drawings for those completing it. He and his family also volunteered and participated in the Chapter’s Community Service Feed the Homeless event.

At the State Level, he has served for six of the last seven years on the Executive Committee as VP in positions including Golden Image, PR, Communications and Technology.

This year as VP of Technology he initiated development of the new FPRA logo, created or reinvigorate our Facebook Fan pages, established the FPRA Channel on YouTube, monitored Twitter feeds, worked with chapters on their social media, monitored online graphic standards, served as Association Photographer and ran the blog team (which he actually started in 2006).

He has been a luncheon speaker/workshop presenter at the Gainesville, Nature Coast, Ocala, Orlando Area, Space Coast, Treasure Coast and Dick Pope/Polk County chapters as well as the student chapters at both UCF and Rollins College. Over the years he has also served on numerous association committees including the Technology committee that helped commission the association’s new website in 2009.

He has chaired the Scholarship Fundraiser twice including in 2005 when I was conference chair and we held the event on the Yacht Starship in St. Pete.

He has donated personally to our Education Foundation while coordinating a matching gift from his employer, solicited numerous items for our Auction Fundraiser, solicited sponsors for Annual Conference, and donated in-kind items through his company.

And from a Personal/Professional standpoint, in the last 15 months he has completed his Master’s in PR from The George Washington University, graduating Valedictorian, earned his APR and his CPRC and had his 6th child with his wife of 18 years.

Orlando Chapter President Wendy Jo Moyer, APR, said “he continues to amaze me daily, and I wonder if he ever sleeps! Not only is he the vice president of corporate communications for the Kissimmee Utility Authority, the father of six children ages newborn to 17 and a regular volunteer in the community, but he also donates countless hours to FPRA. He is truly deserving of this award as his efforts continually exceed expectations.”

And I couldn’t agree more. Seriously, I do not think he sleeps.

I am sure you all realized early on in this presentation who the 2010-2011 FPRA Member of the Year is, so I will not delay any further in welcoming him to the stage – please join me in a hearty round of applause for Chris Gent, APR, CPRC.

Drum roll, please… the winner of the 2010 Past President’s Award is:

Rick Oppenheim, APR, CPRC
RB Oppenheim Associates
Capital Chapter

Send Rick a congratulatory email at roppenheim@rboa.com

Congratulations to FPRA’s Central West Coast Chapter for their song “We Tell the World.” The song is a clever spoof of the song and charity single “We are the World” originally recorded by the supergroup USA for Africa in 1985.

Here’s a link to all the video entries.

The Gainesville Chapter is hosting a media breakfast from 7:30 – 9 a.m. Thursday, July 22 at Joe’s Place in Gainesville. Enjoy a delicious breakfast with your fellow public relations colleagues and learn what it takes to get your message out through the ever-changing media environment. During this interactive breakfast panel, our local experts will discuss helpful hints and pitching tips, review their news outlets and answer questions from the audience.

If you’re looking for a great opportunity to learn more about getting plugged into your local media and you have ties to the Gainesville community, this is the event for you.

Media Panelists:
Anthony Clark, Business Editor, The Gainesville Sun
Scott Costello, Publisher, Home Magazine
Ryan Frankel, President/CEO, and Linda Michalisin, VP of Public Affairs, Frankel Media Group
Kevin Ireland, Editor and Publisher, North Central Florida Business Report
Chris Malone, Program Director/On-Air Host, 98.5 KTK
Bob Williams, Community Service Manager/News Anchor, WCJB TV20

Cost: $20 – FPRA Members or Non-Profits, $25 – FPRA Non-Members
$10 – FPRA Student Members, $15 – FPRA Student Non-Members

Register at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GCZYYCQ by July 19.

Do you want to kick your brand up a notch?

Register now for the Gainesville Chapter’s annual professional development seminar, “PR Recipes for Success: How to Kick Your Brand Up a Notch,” on Friday, June 25 at the UF Graham Center.

Whether you represent an agency, corporation, governmental entity, non-profit or small business, learn and share innovative, cost-efficient methods to leverage your company brands. This full-day conference has several exciting speakers lined up to present on some tasty branding topics, including the Dalton Agency and a panel of branding experts facilitated by PRO iNK’s Terry Van Nortwick. APR-certified professionals can earn two credits for attending.

Visit the Gainesville Chapter website for more information.
 
There are several opportunities for exhibitor tables and ad sponsorships. If your company would like to join our chef’s circle, contact Laura Johnson, lfjohnson@rtix.com. See you June 25!

Attend the 72nd FPRA Annual Conference to see The Big Picture: Bringing Public Relations Strategy and Leadership into Focus. We will have speakers and topics to hone your strategic thinking, develop your business acumen and enhance your leadership skills, such as:

• Jim Lukaszewski, The Lukaszewski Group – Developing a Strategic Mindset: How To Become a Trusted, Strategic Advisor
• Lisa Malone, NASA – PR strategy around sunsetting of the Space Shuttle program
• Deirdre Breckenridge, PFS Marketwyse  – Putting The Public Back In Public Relations
• Peter Hollister, Hollister, Trubow and Associates – Building a Strategic Plan
• Thomas Smith, Disney – Case Study: Launch of the Disney parks blog
• Douglas Cherry – How PR Pros Avoid Legal Woes
• Debbie Mason, Strategists Inc.  – What Your Boss REALLY Wants But Hasn’t Told You
• Molly Kellogg – Polishing Your Professional Reputation

MARK YOUR CALENDAR: August 8 – 11, 2010 at the beautiful Naples Grande in Naples, Fla.

RESERVE YOUR HOTEL ROOM NOW: Reservation link is up at www.fpra.org

REGISTER NOW: Registration forms are ready! Not sure if you’ll have the budget for AC next year? Have some $$ left over in your 2009 budget? Take care of it now and relax!

It took the help of FPRA’s state office staff and an army of volunteers to pull off this year’s 71st annual conference, but one person led the entire effort. That individual was Karen Smittle, APR, CPRC of the Gainesville Chapter. Karen spent more than a year planning and promoting, securing speakers and sponsors and working hard to ensure a environmentally-friendly event.

This year’s conference theme was PR on F.I.R.E. and we thought you’d like to meet the ‘spark’ behind it all. Congratulations, Karen, on a terrific conference!

Next year’s conference is scheduled for Aug. 8-11, 2010, at Naples Grande Beach Resort in Naples, Fla. We hope you will join us!

Emily Desmery is FPRA’s summer 2009 intern. She is a rising sophomore at William Smith College in upstate New York and in her capacity at FPRA’s state office in Sarasota has been instrumental in planning the conference. From calling speakers to arranging meals to designing conference materials, Emily has helped ensure everything runs smoothly here in Boca Raton. Her experience with FPRA and life under the Florida sun has inspired her to make a strategic move: next spring, Emily will enroll at the University of Tampa to complete her studies in public relations. Thanks for all your hard work Emily, and good luck at UT!