President’s Column – November 2013

Chris Smith, Greater Fort Worth PRSA President
csmithcommunications@gmail.com

Being president certainly has its strategic and operational challenges, but for me, the best part of the job is giving credit where credit is due. Ralph Waldo Emerson once said that success was “to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.”

Recently, some of our members have gone above and beyond in their profession, giving back and setting the bar higher for us all. Gigi Westerman, APR, Fellow PRSA, is one such person. In her Fellows nomination letter for Gigi, Past President Allyson Cross wrote that Gigi “spent many hours meeting with potential APR candidates, encouraging their efforts and reviewing their Readiness Reviews . . . as a result of her efforts, several candidates within GFWPRSA are close to achieving APR status.” Gigi was inducted last month as a Fellow at the PRSA International Conference in Philadelphia and joins five other chapter members receiving this respected designation and honor.

Another member, Sandra Brodnicki, APR, is helping others in our profession understand and demonstrate the value of well-thought-out public relations through contribution of a recent article, “Identifying Roadblocks Key to Defining Objectives, Success.” The article appears in the latest PR Measurement Guidebook (Vol. 7) from PR News Press, and it stresses the importance of evaluation in communication efforts and in our industry as a whole. In the article, Brodnicki offers her thoughts and experiences on the pitfalls that we often face when dealing with internal and external clients who may have a fuzzy understanding of how communications fits within an overall business strategy. More importantly, she lays out processes for identifying and overcoming roadblocks and proving the merits of proactive, strategic communications.

We were also excited to learn that our own Julie Wilson, APR, recently received the Lloyd B. Dennis Distinguished Leadership Award. The award recognizes exemplary public relations practitioners who have used their skills in public affairs to promote truth while demonstrating high standards of integrity and honesty in business dealing, and who have helped affect positive change within an organization. Julie’s commitment to PRSA’s principles has set a solid example for practitioners that deal with public affairs and our industry as a whole and we’re honored to have her as a longtime member and role model for our chapter.

Many thanks to those who have given and continue to give back, helping pave the way for others in our profession.