FPRA 2009 Most Improved Chapter of the Year – Ocala Chapter, President Tina Banner, APR

The presentation of the Dillin Dessert was sponsored in part by the Dick Pope/Polk County Chapter President Kris Keprios.

Semi Sweet Belgium Chocolate, Caramel Sauce, Chocolate Sponge Cake with a Caramel and Coffee Reduction.

The awards portion of the annual Presidents’ Luncheon has just been completed in the Great Hall South of the Boca Raton Resort and Club.

FPRA State President Lanette Hart, APR, CPRC, took the stage and began by recognizing the outgoing president of each of FPRA’s 15 professional chapters:

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Coming up next is the Presidents’ Luncheon. This special event honors the work of outstanding individuals and chapters over the past year, including the coveted Chapter of the Year and Chapter President of the Year awards.

PR professionals who recently earned their accreditation or certification in public relations also will be honored. The food highlight of the luncheon is the famous Dillin Dessert, sponsored by the Dick Pope/Polk County Chapter. The dessert is named in honor of the founder of FPRA, Lt. Col. John W. Dillin and his love of chocolate. More on that in just a bit.

Building a new site? Updating an existing one? Planning one for the future? Here’s a few pointers on how to build an online newsroom that the media will love!

5 reasons to have an online newsroom:

1. Deadlines are 24/7. Your info is available to journalists 24/7.
2. Reporters covering specific industries doing research will use your site for info.
3. Editors can fish for story ideas and fact check.
4. Journalists can click through to your site from a news release to get more info. Be convenient! include hot links.
5. Journalists can use your angle.

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In this session, Laura Sturaitis with Business Wire shared strategies for ensuring that your press release gets maximum exposure with your target audiences.  Sturaitis mentioned that you create and distribute a press release, but your readers may use all of it or only parts of it.  Keep in mind that parts of your release, may be embedded, downloaded, and shared in ways that are specific to that user.  It’s important to create a release that is flexible enough to be useful in a number of ways.  Sturaitis doesn’t see the need for a special format for social media releases (as has been pushed over the last couple of years) but rather an awareness of all the ways your release may be used after you distribute.

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The 71st FPRA Annual Conference kicked off with a general session lead by Peter Shankman (@skydiver), Founder of HARO.

Peter started his session with a look back to the previous ‘revolution’ almost a decade ago, the Internet. Remember, that was supposed to change everything, but has it? Companies still send out press releases. The same thing applies with social media.

What social media has shown us is that the more we rely upon technology the more we need to rely upon the basic communication skills. Social media has also shown us that it comes down to content. Of course, content has to be written well, it has to tell a story.

Social media is a tool, it is nothing more than a tool. We’ve seen great uses of social media, and very bad uses. Social media is nothing more than the ability to screw up in front of a much larger audience, in record time.

Social media does allow brands to turn their customers and fans into evangelists. It’s no longer about doing PR on your own. It’s about giving customers and clients the ability to do PR on your behalf.

A big question from clients today is viral, “can we make this viral?” How about this, let’s focus on making things “good”. Just focus on making good content.

Peter then showed a video clip from “Where the Hell is Matt?”

The video was never advertised, it was passed along via word of mouth. It’s about trust, it’s one friend passing something along to another.

The big question is, “How do we do that?” Peter joked that if he had the answer to that question, he wouldn’t be speaking here, he’d be off somewhere else, very wealthy. What he will share, is how to prime the pump.

One of the first steps is adoption and acceptance. That is, teaching your clients what the new tools are and how they’re being used. Get them to the point where they accept that they ‘might’ have to use these new tools for communication.

The new concept is transparency. It’s a new way of doing things. Being open and honest can help you in the long run. Building that trust will allow people to forgive you in the future.

Relevance is getting the right information to the right people. The media is not dying, media conveys information, information flow has not stopped. Media is fracturing. Understanding how your audience likes to receive their information is a key factor. When it comes down to it, ask them.

Social media is not a broadcast system, it’s a conversational system. You listen as much as your talk. It’s no longer about ‘me’.

Next, key point – brevity.

Twenty years ago the average attention span was three minutes, in the world of Twitter your attention span is 140 characters. Consider that in your messaging.

Side-note, don’t put all your eggs in one basic. What’s the next Twitter? Keep in mind that things are always changing. Ok, back to the topic of brevity.

How to start/learn brevity? Learn to write, take a class, go to school….but just learn to write. If you can’t write well in long form, how can you write in short form?

We are constantly being asked for our attention, think about how you can stand out?

Become top-of-mind to your audience. People become top-of-mind by constantly giving out information. It’s also about constantly building relationships. Make it about more than information sometimes.

PR has morphed into ‘getting other people to do it for you’ thanks to social media.

FPRA Immediate Past President Suzanne Sparling, APR has taken the stage to present the slate for the 2009-2010 Executive Committee. A vote was taken and passed. Please welcome our new board:

President – Sheridan Becht, APR (Orlando)
President-Elect – Jennifer Moss, APR, CPRC (Central West Coast)
Immediate Past President – Lanette Hart, APR, CPRC (Jacksonville)
VP Annual Conference – Wendy Crites Wacker, APR (Gainesville)
VP Golden Image – Rebeca Searcey, APR (Tampa Bay)
VP Communications/PR – Vivian Myrtetus, APR (Capital)
VP Chapter Services – Kristin Knapp, APR (Capital)
VP Accreditation & Certification – Jeff Nall, APR, CPRC (Pensacola)
VP Finance – Linda Herridge (Space Coast)
VP Member Services – Debby Steele (Central West Coast)
VP Planning & Research – Kris Keprios (Dick Pope/Polk County)
VP Professional Development – Mary Briggs, APR, CPRC (Southwest Florida)
VP Technology – Chris Gent (Orlando Area)
FPRE Foundation – Adrienne Moore, APR, CPRC (Treasure Coast)
Counselors’ Network – Tricia Ridgway-Kapustka, APR, CPRC (Jacksonville)

FPRA President Lanette Hart, APR, CPRC has opened the annual business meeting. She recapped the past year of successes and accomplishments.

Listed below is the schedule for Day 1 – Monday, Aug. 10, 2009, of FPRA’s 71st Annual Conference:

7 am – 5 pm: Registration Desk Open

7:30 – 8:25 am: Exhibitor Continental Breakfast

7:45 – 8:25 am: Past President’s Annual Meeting

8:30 – 8:50 am: Welcome and FPRA Annual Meeting

8:50 – 9:55 am: General Session A – It’s Not Web 2.0. It’s Not Web 3.0. It’s Simply Life.

9:55 – 10:10 am: Break with Exhibitors at the Cyber Café

10:10 – 11:10 am:

• Breakout 1A – Social Media & Press Releases
• Breakout 1B – Setting Up Online Press Rooms as Part of Your Company’s Web Site
• Counselors’ Network Breakout

11:20 am – 1:40 pm: Presidents’ Luncheon

1:50 – 2:50 pm:

• Breakout 2A – APR – Your Future, Your Career, Your Opportunity
• Breakout 2B – Meeting the Challenge: Employee to Employer!
• Breakout 2C – Nuts and Bolts of Social Media

3 – 4 pm: State Board Meeting

5 – 6 pm: Social Media Social

6:30 – 9 pm: Scholarship Fundraiser – Hot Stuff … Cool Cash, Silent and Live Auction