The Next PRSSA Meeting

Want to get hands on experience working on a case study with 2 PR Pros
that work for an innovative company? Interested in coming to a PRSSA
meeting that is unlike any of the other meetings before?

Geno Church and Spike Jones will be coming from Brains on Fire to lead a workshop using a real example with one of their clients, Fiskars. They
will also be presenting and helping us work through a case study to give
us practical knowledge that you can use in future PR endeavors. We got a
big room, so let’s fill it up!

When: February 24 at 7:00 pm

Where: McAdams 119

Attire: Business Casual

Cost: Free for members, $2 for non-PRSSA members

Here are the entertaining bios from the Brains on Fire website of the two
speakers:

Spike Jones was born in Dallas, Texas. Not that you should care, since
Spike will never ask you where you’re from, either. After graduating from the “I can’t dance” cult of Baylor University with degrees in
Environmental Studies and Journalism (read: tree-hugging hippie writer), he explored these United States and finally settled at a place they call the Brains on Fire back in the Year of the Golden Dragon (2000).

Spike (Spike to his friends) began here as a storyteller and now handles
new business rock-kicking-over initiatives and contributes strategic input for companies including BMW, Rawlings Sporting Goods, Dagger Kayaks, Fiskars Brands, Yakima, Perception Kayaks, Best Buy and Rage Against the Haze (South Carolina’s youth-led anti-tobacco
movement). Spike sits on the Board of Directors for the Word
of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) and preaches what Brains on Fire practices at speaking gigs, including various private events (Michelin, Biltmore Estates, Susan G. Komen Foundation), the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, the Public Relations Society of America and the Association of National Advertisers’ Senior Think Tank
Committee. Labeled “one to watch” from an anonymous answerer to our Net Promoter Survey, Spike is smart, good looking, athletic, persuasive and a rock star inside his own head. He also never passes up a chance to write his own bio.

Geno Church is a quoted, sought-after and stalked thought leader in
uncovering the DNA of sustainable word of mouth movements and building them from the ground, up. Seriously. Addys. Wommies. Forrester Groundswell Awards. A gold EFFIE, even.

Companies and organizations Geno’s loved on include Fiskars Brands, the American Booksellers Association, Rawlings Sporting Goods, National Family Partnership, Charleston Parks Conservancy, the US Office of National Drug Control Policy, Ronald McDonald Children’s Charities and Rage Against the Haze (South Carolina’s youth led anti-tobacco movement).  He contributes to the top-ish-ranked Brains on Fire blog Brains on Fire Blog, speaks at events nationally and abroad (we almost lost him in South Africa last year – three times) including gigs with the Word of Mouth Marketing Association, the Public Relations Society of America, American Marketing Association, the New Comm Research Communications Forum, and the What Teens Want 2008 Conference. He is widely quoted in blogs and traditional print on a regular basis. Geno’s Southern, approachable and probably one
of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet. No kidding.

Second PRSSA Meeting

Are you wondering what PRSSA is all about and what the benefits of being a member are? Come to PRSSA’s October meeting…

What: Learn more about the brand new Clemson PRSSA chapter

When: October 28 at 7:00

Where: McAdams 119

Attire: Casual

Free for members; 2$ for everyone else

At the meeting we will be discussing:
·       Chapter organization: executive board and committees
·       Benefits of being a member of PRSSA
·       Membership rewards program
·       Upcoming meetings and events
·       How to get involved
·       Communication with PRSSA

Bring any questions & suggestions you have about PRSSA!

See you there!

FIRST Clemson PRSSA meeting!

Mark your calendar for the FIRST EVER Clemson PRSSA meeting:

WHAT: Panel discussion about jobs in public relations & PR practice

WHEN: September 25, 2008, 7 pm

WHERE: DANL 313

Attire: Business casual

Meet the panelists:

• Kim Banks, President, Simko Communications
• Robin Blackwood, Director of Client Services at Jeff Dezen Public Relations
• Carly Culbertson, public relations veteran, with diverse experience from non-profit to the corporate
  world
• Dusty Deming, Director of Marketing and Public Relations, YMCA Greenville
• John Gouch, Assistant Director of News Services, Office of Public Affairs, Clemson University

You will also meet the chapter’s professional adviser, Liza Jones of Payne-Jones PR, and academic adviser, Dr. Mihaela Vorvoreanu.

Please click here to RSVP.

Panelist Bios:

Kim Banks is the president of Simko Communications (www.simkocomm.com). With 10 years of experience in the public relations industry, mostly with various advertising agencies throughout the Carolinas, Kim Banks works with a variety of clients that span many different industries.  After leaving Erwin-Penland Advertising in Greenville, S.C. in the summer of 2007 as public relations supervisor, she opened her own firm, Simko Communications, a full-service public relations firm that specializes in strategic planning and messaging, media relations, community relations, crisis management and event planning.  Banks graduated from UNC Charlotte with a bachelor’s degree in Communications and a minor in Journalism and is also co-author of the Palmetto PR Divas blog.

Robin Blackwood is Director of Client Services at Jeff Dezen Public Relations (JDPR) in Greenville, SC. JDPR is a communications consulting agency specializing in public relations strategies. The firm provides public relations strategic planning, creative idea-generation, and program development and implementation for regional and national accounts such as Verizon Wireless, Bridgestone Golf and Fatz Cafe. Robin has been with JDPR since 1997 and in addition to overseeing the firm’s clients and employees, she manages JDPR’s internship program. If Clemson any students are interested in an internship at JDPR, please contact Robin Blackwood.

Carly Brooks Culbertson has over 20 years of diverse experience in the not-for-profit, agency and corporate arenas. Having developed and implemented award-winning campaigns for well-known brands, Culbertson is a seasoned marketing communications professional.

Culbertson joined Verizon Wireless as the Carolinas/Tennessee Region Public Relations Manager in August 2003 and immersed herself in media and community relations for the company. She lead the region’s communications charge for Verizon Wireless’ philanthropic arm, the Verizon Foundation, one of the largest corporate foundations in the world, as well as efforts for the organizations HopeLine initiative, which puts wireless services and equipment to work to assist victims of domestic violence.  She has recently resigned from the company to pursue other interests.

A true leader in the Carolinas community, Culbertson devotes much of her free time to domestic violence prevention and education. She serves on the media advisory board for both the South Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault and North Carolinas Coalition Against Domestic Violence. She is a former board member for Safe Harbor of Greenville, South Carolina, which provides a safe haven for women and children of domestic violence. In addition, Culbertson volunteers her time with the Girl Scouts and A Child’s Haven.
Dusty Deming has been engaged in marketing communications, including PR, since 1983. For 21 years she worked in the financial services field. However, after determining that she was, at bottom, a values-oriented person, she sought out a non-profit position and for the past two and a half years, she has worked for the YMCA of Greenville. Her education was in art and prior to 1983 worked as a graphic designer. Dusty has been a member of PRSA since 1986, and accredited since 1989. As a Public Relations counsel, it is her belief that understanding the organization and the communications process is primary. And, that Public
Relations therefore should be at the forefront of any endeavor. [updated September 15]

John Gouch is assistant director of News Services and online newsroom manager in the Office of Public Affairs at Clemson University. In that role he supervises the public information directors responsible for media relations and campus-wide internal communication for the university. He also manages the Newsroom section of the Clemson.edu Web site, where university news releases are presented. He joined News Services in April 2007 after 25 years at the Anderson Independent-Mail, where he was a reporter, City Editor and Managing Editor. He also was Director of Online Services in charge of the newspaper’s growing Internet business. He graduated from The Ohio State University in 1978 with a degree in journalism. Before joining the Clemson staff he was a member of the South Carolina chapter of the Public Relations Society of America for two years.