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!

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!

Tom Hoof passionately talked about how the Tampa Bay Rays took a broken brand – Tampa Bay Devil Rays – and turned it into a winning brand to hit it out of the park! Using tried and true public relations strategies the team was transformed from “bad boy” to “community player” with an integrated marketing communications approach. read more »

As promised, here are the photos from Tuesday night’s Golden Image Awards gala.

Click here to see the entire photoset.

At last night’s Golden Image Awards gala, the FPRA 2008 Annual Conference Blog was honored with an Award of Distinction and a Judges’ Award.

In 2008, Chris Gent led a volunteer blog team — Suzanne Dameron, Kelly Donovan, Melissa Filipkowski, Amanda Forbes, Dr. Allen Moore, APR and Paul Ramey, APR – came together to produce the blog for the 70th FPRA Annual Conference. The blog enjoyed tremendous success, drawing 2,570 unique visitors during the 3-day conference that generated 8,810 page views. The blog also boasted 85 posted articles, 122 visitor comments, 515 photos and two hallway interview podcasts.

Thanks to FPRA Executive Committee and FPRA state office for supporting and encouraging this endeavor!

The Counselors’ Network held its annual business meeting this morning and approved the following slate of officers for the 2009-10 year:

Chair – Trish Ridgway-Kapustka, APR, CPRC
Chair-Elect – Joe Curley, APR, CPRC
Secretary/Treasurer – Jessica Rye, APR
Immediate Past Chair – Carole Savage, APR, CPRC

Directors at Large
Kathleen M. Giery, APR, CPRC
John McShaffrey, APR
Mary Briggs, APR, CPRC

Director at Large for One-Year Term
Melanie Mowry-Etters, APR, CPRC

Returning Directors at Large
Terri Behling, APR
Leah Lauderdale, APR, CPRC

Listed below is the schedule for Day 3 – Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2009, of FPRA’s 71st Annual Conference:

7:30 am – noon: Registration Desk Open

8 – 9:15 am: Power Networking Breakfast

8:15 – 9:15 am: Counselors’ Network Business Meeting

9:25 – 9:30 am: Announcements

9:30 – 10:35 am: General Session D, Re-branding the Tampa Bay Rays

10:35 – 11:50 am: Closing Session, Coming from a Position of Strength

11:50 am – noon: Conference Finale