Our opening speaker this morning is from McDonald’s corporate headquarters in Chicago and she has left a gift card at each attendee’s seat to enjoy a free mango pineapple smoothie.

I’m lovin’ it!

We understand that Naples was invaded last evening by a band of pirates that pillaged through the conference hotel. Our photographer was able to grab a few shots. Upon further investigation, we realized it was FPRA State President Jennifer Moss, APR, CPRC hosting a reception for this year’s leadership team. Aaaarrrrgggghhhh!

Thanks to everyone who came out last night for a VIP reception and tour at the beautiful Naples Philharmonic Center for the Arts. The Phil is the premier performing arts hall in Southwest Florida, hosting more than 400 events a year including world-class dance, opera, classical and popular music and Broadway musicals.

Click here for the complete photoset from the reception.

Listed below is the schedule for Day 3 – Tuesday, August 9, 2011 of FPRA’s 73rd Annual Conference:

6:00 am – 7:00 am: PR Coffee Club

7:00 am – 4:00 pm: Registration Desk Open

7:00 am – 5:00 pm: Cyber Cafe Open

7:30 am – 8:15 am: Continental Breakfast with Exhibitors

8:15 am – 8:20 am: Announcements

8:20 am – 9:30 am: Dillin Keynote Address, Balancing Brand with Business: What We’re Made Of

9:30 am – 9:45 am: Break

9:45 am – 10:45 am: Breakout 3A, Seminole Wars… David Takes on Goliath and Wins

9:45 am – 10:45 am: Breakout 3B, APR - Your Future, Your Career, Your Opportunity

9:45 am – 10:45 am: Breakout 3C, Creating Winning Grassroots Campaigns: Planting the Seeds to Grow Grassroots Advocates

9:45 am – 10:45 am: Counselors’ Network Breakout 2

11:00 am – Noon: General Session C, How to Build a Movement

12:15 pm – 1:15 pm: Counselors’ Network Lunch, The Revenge of Gladys Kravitz: How Technology is Changing the Face of the Local Influencer

1:30 pm – 2:30 pm: Breakout 4A, Past PR Programs Get a Facelift for the Future

1:30 pm – 2:30 pm: Breakout 4B, How Branding Helped Weather the Big Chill

1:30 pm – 2:30 pm: Breakout 4C, Take on the Day with Florida Orange Juice: Making Citrus Relevant to an Evolving Consumer

1:30 pm – 2:30 pm: Counselors’ Network Breakout 3

2:30 pm – 2:50 pm: Chocolate Break

3:00 pm – 4:00 pm: Breakout Session 5A, When Global Brands Unite: The Launch of Universal Orlando’s Highly Anticipated Wizarding World of Harry Potter

3:00 pm – 4:00 pm: Breakout Session 5B, The Perfect Storm

3:00 pm – 4:00 pm: Breakout Session 5C, Preparing for the CPRC Exam

4:00 pm – 5:00 pm: Counselors’ Network Breakout 4

6:00 pm – 7:00 pm: Reception of the Presidents

7:00 pm – 10:00 pm: Golden Image Awards

10:00 pm – 11:00 pm: Golden Image Entry Notebook Pickup

Tonight at 5:30 p.m., attendees will enjoy a night of networking, conversation and culture at the beautiful Naples Philharmonic Center for the Arts, located just half a mile from the Naples Grande Resort.

The Phil is the premier performing arts hall in Southwest Florida, hosting more than 400 events a year including world-class dance, opera, classical and popular music and Broadway musicals.

Light hors d’oeuvres, refreshments and a private tour of The Phil will be available. As a special treat to conference attendees, a portion of the adjacent Naples Museum of Art will also be open. Currently, the museum features sculptures by Louise Nevelson, whose work has been featured at the Guggenheim and Whitney museums.

Do you have purpose and passion for what you do?  Do you have a seat at the table?  Angela Buonocore has more than 32 years experience in communications for major corporations and is still excited to wake up in the morning and go to work every day.  She says we should all feel that way – the PR profession is extremely exciting and that’s why we’ve chosen it.

The lessons Angela shared with us today can be applied wherever you are in the organization, although your goal should be to work for the CEO.

She says, “If you’re not working for the CEO now, I hope it is your goal to do that.  I always wanted to sit in the executive suite.”

When she started her career In 1979, that was a pipe dream, but women have come a long way. As communications professionals, we have to strive to sit in the executive offices at the round table.

So how do you earn your seat at that table?

read more »

We’re well into the first full day of the FPRA Annual Conference and thought it was a good time to ask what you think about our conference coverage thus far. Tell us the good, the bad and the ugly. We’d prefer if you left your email so we can respond to you, but if you feel the need to be anonymous, go ahead.

“Chili’s is the new golf course. It’s where business happens.”
-       Michael Scott, The Office

While everyone’s favorite CEO, Michael Scott of Dunder Mifflin Scranton on NBC’s The Office, may believe that the golf course is not the place to do business anymore, many business professionals disagree and find business golf a very useful tool. Golf isn’t the typical networking tool and scenes with professionals standing at a hotel bar or a conference reception are much more typical, but business golf is all about relationships and not a 30-second “elevator speech”. It can actually be said that business golf is the “Original Social Media”.

Here are some benefits of using golf as a PR and business tool:

• It is a door opener: Instant common ground/equalizer
• Effective relationship builder: Uninterrupted time without distractions
• Builds and Reveals Character: Interviewing tool because you can learn a lot about a person on the golf course

read more »

There’s an old Chinese proverb:
If you want one year of prosperity, plant corn.
If you want ten yers of prosperity, plant trees.
If you want 100 years of prosperity, educate people.

This proverb illustrates Mosaic’s approach to dealing with the hostile public environment that surrounds the issue phosphate mining.  To prosper, Mosaic needs to continue mining in a positive atmosphere with public approval.

Some background:
Phosopate is a vital natural resource found more in Florida than other states.  Phosphate rock is processed in Florida and shipped around the world.  Phosphate mining goes back to the 1800s and is one of the oldest industries in the state.  Mosaic fertilizer is used by farmers to grow crops, and is an integral part of the food chain.

About 10 years ago, communities in Polk and Hillsboro counties began to run out of phosphate reserves.  At that time, Mosaic needed to begin mining elsewhere along the west coast, which means approval of permits and getting approval from citizens and local governments.  Because of the controversial nature of phosphate mining, negative headlines quickly began to appear in the papers, and phosphate mining became a hot political topic on Florida’s central west coast.

To gauge public opinion, Mosaic surveyed the public in their target communities.

Results:

• Public didn’t understand the advances in the phosphate industry
• Public didn’t understand the value of phosphate mining
• Public feared that the industry would roll over the environment as in the past before regulation
• Public believed that economic tradeoffs in other counties wouldn’t benefit them.
• Didn’t know Mosaic (which was positive)

From the survey results, Mosaic crafted a long-term plan… read more »

It was a standing room only crowd as Casey Wohl, also known as The Getaway Girl®, shared her personal story and tips she’s learned on how to pick yourself up and reinvent yourself when life throws you a curve ball.

Hitting a self-professed low point in life after a divorce in 2005 and then getting fired from her job in 2006, Wohl decided it was time to quick feeling sorry for herself and time to get serious about the next step in her life.  Drawing on two of her passions in life, traveling and spending time with her girlfriends, she began to carve out a niche as an expert on women travelers.

It all began with her first book, The Girls Getaway Guide to Orlando…Leave Your Baggage at Home®, followed by her second book, The Girls Getaway Guide to Key West…Leave Your Baggage at Home®. read more »