Enhance Your Education to Advance Your Career
The world of PR and communications is changing quickly. You know it’s not enough to just get by on what you learned in college. You have to keep learning in order to keep up! But there are so many options for furthering your education — from Google and Hubspot certifications and graduate certificates all the way to postgraduate degrees and professional credentials such as APR certification.
How do you know what kind of certification or degree will help you meet your professional goals? What do the different forms of professional development teach and how will they impact your career? Will it be worth the effort and expense?
Join us as Dr. Kay L. Colley, APR, professor and chair of Mass Communication at Texas Wesleyan University, provides an overview of what you can expect from the different educational pathways and how to figure out which one is right for you. Dr. Colley knows from experience. She has earned an associate’s degree, bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, Ph.D., and APR certification, along with countless digital certificates from places like Hootsuite, Hubspot, Meltwater and Muckrack. She now chairs the mass communication department at an institution of higher learning and is uniquely positioned to give insight into this topic.
Find out what educational options are available along with their costs and benefits. Plus, hear personal stories from others who have faced this decision in their own careers, and learn what’s worked for them so you can find the best learning path for your journey.
Dr. Kay Colley
Kay L. Colley, APR, is a professor and chair of Mass Communication at Texas Wesleyan University. She teaches journalism and public relations courses. Previously, she taught journalism and public relations at the University of Texas at Arlington, the University of North Texas, Texas A&M University and Blinn College. She has won several teaching awards including Teacher of the Year from the Small Programs Interest Group of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication in 2011 and the Earl Brown Distinguished Faculty member at Texas Wesleyan University in 2011. She has also been named an Engaging Educator at Texas Wesleyan twice.
She firmly believes in the importance of continued education and has undergone training focused on digital content creation at the Poynter Institute, the University of South Carolina, and most recently the Dow Jones News Fund Multimedia Training Academy at the University of Texas at El Paso in Summer 2022. She holds certifications in social media and influencer communications from Hootsuite, Hubspot, Meltwater and Muckrack.
A former journalist and award-winning public relations spokeswoman, Colley holds a PhD in Higher Education from the University of North Texas.
Buy your tickets for this event by midnight Thursday, Mar. 30. We look forward to seeing you!
Rescheduled to March 1: Effective Emergency Communication: Successful Messaging for Good Times and Bad
Dallas-Fort Worth Chapters Shine at PRSA ICON 2022
By Andra Bennett House, APR, PRSA ICON Local Host Committee Co-Chair
We did it! The Dallas and Fort Worth Chapters knocked the hospitality at Public Relations Society of America (PRSA)’s ICON 2022 out of the ice park at the Gaylord!
More than 1,000 PR pros, speakers, exhibitors and sponsors gathered at the Gaylord Texan Hotel in Grapevine to learn and grow Nov. 12-15, and they got an extra helping of Texas hospitality on the side. And guess who brought the most money and peeps to the party? GFW PRSA! We had 54 registrants, more than any other chapter in the U.S. Dallas was second with 51 registrants.
I want to begin by thanking those who answered the call last year to be on the DFW Host Committee, co-chaired by Thomas Bennett, III and myself: Cambria Jones; Andrea Huguely; Christy Jones; Michelle Sing; Blake Lewis, APR, Fellow PRSA; Kim Brown, APR; and Maricar Estrella Hastings. We met virtually on a monthly basis to brainstorm potential sponsors, plan the welcome reception and hospitality booth activities, and promote the conference. Most worked the hospitality booth at some points during the conference as well.
We served up a spicy hot welcome at our Hospitality booth with dozens of jars of salsa donated by Mrs. Renfro’s, client of Balcom Agency. Those were gone by the end of Day 1! We also provided raffle items with a gift basket from Visit Frisco, Starbucks gift cards, 12 tickets to Dallas Wings 2023 home games, and pins and maps from Grapevine CVB, Visit Fort Worth and Visit Dallas.
Thanks to all the hospitality booth volunteers from the Dallas and Greater Fort Worth Chapters:
Alyssa Christian
Ashley Freer
Richie Escovedo, APR
Susan Schoolfield, APR
Lesley Dupre
Carol Murray, APR
Glenda Holcomb Moreno
Isabelle Scott
John Ponzio
Joy Donovan Brandon
Kathleen Sams
Lesley Mason
Linda Goelzer
Malinda Miller
Michelle Sing
Paula Cobler
Prescotte Stokes III
Taylor Bartley
Terry Allen
Tiara Tucker
Krista Roberts
And did you know Fort Worth brought the Hypnotoad to ICON when TCU PRSSA — out of all the PRSSA Chapters in Texas — stepped up to host PRSSA students at ICON? What an exciting and unique learning experience for all students involved in coordinating this major event. Thank you, Dr. Amiso George, APR, Fellow PRSA for leading that effort.
Finally, if you haven’t seen the photos from the welcome reception, go here to see PR People. Having. Fun. The dance floor was not large enough for all the folks wanting to learn line dancing! And Prowler the mascot from Panther City Lacrosse has surprisingly deft footwork, er, paw work.
Next time you see Ken Ross, APR from Lockheed Martin Aerospace, be sure to thank him for LM’s generous donation to fund the Welcome Reception entertainment and decorations, as well as Balcom’ssupport.
PRSA National staff and board members are all still singing the praises of our chapters and are glad they chose to return to North Texas after a 30-year absence. We should all be extremely proud of the way we represented the Lone Star state and our profession. Next year, Nashville has its work cut out to top the DFW team!