by Blog Master | Jan 24, 2022 | Featured
New Year Message from the President
Akeam Ashford
Welcome to 2022
I’m excited to serve as your 2022 PRSA Kansas chapter president. I understand the past two years may have been rough on you personally, and even professionally, but I welcome you to lean into PRSA Kansas even more this year. We have a dynamic board filled with both young talent and seasoned communication professionals that are dedicated to making 2022 the best year yet for our chapter.
PRSA offers a number of professional resources to help you in your career. I can personally tell you I have made life-long friends in our chapter, and I wouldn’t be where I am today if not for those relationships. I invite you to attend our monthly events to explore current and future trends, discover best practices and network with fellow PR pros. Starting in February, these events will take place every fourth Wednesday of the month. You can stay up-to-date by signing up for our email newsletters, following PRSA Kansas on Facebook and LinkedIn and visiting PRSAKansas.org.
Our national organization also provides immense opportunities for development. I encourage you to log on to PRSA.org often, navigate to the MyPRSA tab to find upcoming webinars and helpful links to engaging content. These resources are free for PRSA members and a great way for you to learn more – advancing both yourself and the profession. If you’re interested in obtaining an Accreditation in Public Relations (APR), reach out to our APR Chair Cynthia Wentworth, APR, at [email protected] for more information. We are lucky to have multiple APR’s in our chapter and I encourage you to use them as a resource.
I want to give a big thank you to Kristy Bansemer, our immediate past president, for leading PRSA Kansas through a global pandemic. I want to build on what she’s done and bring new ideas to our organization, but I need YOUR help. Please join me for volunteer and service opportunities in our community throughout the year.
In closing, I want to say thank you for all you do for PRSA Kansas. Thank you to Meghan Carver, our president-elect, and the entire PRSA board for agreeing to serve alongside me this year. I hope this year brings you much success and happiness. I’m proud to be part of a profession that is a critical part of any organization. Thank you for selecting me to serve as your president in 2022.
Happy New Year!
Akeam Ashford
PRSA Kansas President
[email protected]
by Blog Master | Jan 14, 2020 | National, Professional Development
Achieve your 2020 careers goals with a PRSA membership. Sign up with code JAN20 to get a FREE 1-year Chapter (up to $100 value) or a FREE 1-year Section (up to $65 value). Some restrictions apply. Mark one resolution off your list and become a member today at: https://apps.prsa.org/JoinUs/membershipApplication
by Blog Master | Jun 12, 2018 | Food for thought, Uncategorized
By Jennifer Strong Worrell, PRSA Kansas At-Large Director
Did you know that PRSA has several apps?
Through the PRSA app, members have convenient access to the latest edition of PRSA’s Issues and Trends publication, webinars, association web portals, exclusive content, a new podcast series, and more. The PRSA Membership App is the official member app of the Public Relations Society of America and the PR industry.
Ethics App
PRSA also has an Ethics app for members to always have at their fingertips, a must-have for PRSA members in today’s media environment.
The PRSA Ethics app is based on the PRSA Code of Ethics, public relations’ oldest code of professional conduct. The PRSA Code of Ethics helps practitioners navigate ethics principles and applications. The code sets out guidelines built on core PRSA values like advocacy, honesty, loyalty, professional development and objectivity.
All valuable information for PRSA Kansas members to have and apply in our daily practice.
Download the PRSA app: iOS | Google Play
Please note: you must create an account. Your MYPRSA log in will not work. Click here for more information.
Contact Jennifer: [email protected] | LinkedIn
by Blog Master | Apr 29, 2018 | Food for thought
By Jamie Opat, PRSA Kansas Ethics Chair
Disclosure. As public relations professionals, we represent publics that expect and demand full information. As PRSA members, we follow an ethical code of conduct that addresses disclosure as a way to build trust and to foster good decision making.
What if the full truth cannot be shared right now? How can you placate the attorney advising your organization to filter all statements through him or her before you share them with the media?
This is an opportunity for you, the PR professional, to counsel your bosses, your board and your shareholders that truth is imperative and not always perfectly timed. Delays, silence, sins of omission – these will erode trust in your reputation that can be hard to regain.
The people who need the information first – those in your inner circle of stakeholders – always deserve the chance to have and digest those facts before they are widely shared. The practices of HOW you share information with the greater public – for example, news releases at 5 p.m. on Fridays – will also be evaluated for their transparency.
PRSA’s code provisions related to the Disclosure of Information remind us to be honest and accurate, to quickly correct errors, to ensure that those you represent are releasing truthful information, to reveal sponsors for causes and interests and to avoid deception.
Pretty straightforward, right? That is, until you notice an error in a media kit but fail to correct it. Or employ people who appear publicly as volunteers for a grassroots cause.
In a world of shrinking transparency (who really sponsors that social media ad campaign?) we as current practitioners should serve as an ethical touchstone for a new generation of professionals.
For more information, visit the Ethics section on the prsa.org website.
Reach Jamie at: [email protected] | Twitter | LinkedIn
by Blog Master | Mar 15, 2018 | Chapter events, Food for thought
By Susan Dyer, PRSA Kansas PR Chair
During our last PRSA chapter meeting, we watched a webinar about Snapchat, PR in a Snap (PRSA log in required to view the webinar), one of the latest shiny objects to hit the social media landscape.
During the webinar, the presenters mentioned key takeaways for using Snapchat. Among the ones they discussed, here are three of them.
- Be human.
- Provide content that engaging, entertaining and educational.
- Remember who your audience is.
Aren’t those the key to any great content? It shouldn’t matter what platform or channel you are using…your brand should always be human and provide valuable content to a relevant audience.
Be Human.
In this Strategies + Tactics article, “6 Ways to Create Brand Stories That Connect With Audiences,” author Malayna Evans says, “Write in a real, human, sharing-a-beer voice. Stay away from jargon such as abbreviations, acronyms and buzzwords. Remember that gray, boring corporate-speak is a turnoff to readers and listeners.”
The goal of any writing should be to make the reader feel smart, not to make you sound smart. If you use simple terms and sound like a person, you’ll connect with your audience and build trust.
Engage, Entertain, Educate.
Your content should inspire your audience, provide entertainment or offer advice or information. If it doesn’t, why are you writing it?
Remember who your audience is.
If your audience is teenagers, your content will sound different than if you are reaching retirees, and your communication channels will differ too. Gifs, memes and Snapchat might catch a teen’s attention, while an email with a link to a simple infographic might be best for retirees.
Whether you’re writing an op-ed, creating a video, or posting on social, your messaging should connect with your readers (or viewers), sound like an actual person and offer some kind of value.
Contact Susan at: [email protected] | Twitter | LinkedIn
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