We look forward to our January meeting every year, as we are able to recognize our incredible peers AND raise money for our scholarship fund. January’s meeting will be Tues., Jan. 17 and held at Lake Terrace Convention Center. If you have not RSVP’d, do so today! Click here.
Not sure if the proper use is web site or website? What about state abbreviations and date lines? These are all things that can baffle us throughout the writing process if we are not up to speed with the latest changes. On Tues., Aug. 9, Pine Belt PRAM will be hosting an AP Style & Writing Workshop with a great presentation by Dr. David R. Davies and Maggie Williams form Southern Miss. With a combined experience of 45 years, these two know just enough and more to help us tackle the tangled web of writing!
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Jones County Junior College Campus
Home and Health Building Auditorium
Workshop 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. (Lunch available from Noon to 1 p.m.)
Registration is required due to limited seating.
Cost: $35 for PRAM Members | $45 for Non-members
Please download the registration form, here:
2011 PRAM AP Wkshp Registration Form_final
Whether it’s devastation from a flood or tornado, our fellow Mississippians are suffering and in need. We (the Pine Belt) saw aid and kindness from other communities in the aftermath of Katrina, and now it’s our turn to lend a helping hand to them.
We don’t know specific needs at this time, but others involved on the ground do and our donation of money will certainly be helpful and welcome. If you’d like to make a donation, please contact Ashlea or Iris. We will write one check to a charity who can reassure us that our money will be sent to specific communities, if that is our wish. Depending on how much we are able to collect, we may give to more than one charity. If your business is willing to donate, it would certainly be welcomed.
Mississippians are known for their hospitality and kindness and I know Hattiesburg and Pine Belt PRAM, in particular, will step up to the plate and do our part.
May 24, 2011 at 12:48 pm | Community Action Project, News
Hattiesburg – The Public Relations Association of Mississippi recently held its 2011 State Conference and PRism Awards Banquet, where many Pine Belt professionals received honors and recognition for excellence in public relations work.
The PRism Awards began in 2003 as a way to honor outstanding public relations work performed by professionals within the state of Mississippi. The awards are judged by professionals outside the boundaries of the Southern Public Relations Federation, which includes Mississippi, Alabama, Florida and Louisiana. The winners of PRism Awards receive the highest honor, followed by Awards of Excellence and Certificates of Achievement. In addition, Judges’ Choice Awards and Best of Show are awarded each year for work the judges deem as most exceptional.
“I am so proud of the Pine Belt PRAM Chapter for doing so well at PRisms this year,” said Ashlea Maddox, president of Pine Belt PRAM. “We have a chapter of very knowledgeable, experienced and talented public relations professionals, and their employers are very fortunate, indeed, to have them.”
Receiving PRism awards in 2011 were: Samantha Kinard for work on Hattiesburg Clinic’s Social Media Program; Beth Taylor, Jana Bryant and Sheila White for the University of Southern Mississippi’s University Communications and the BP Oil Spill; Leyla Goodsell and Three to Five Creative Communications for Southern Pines Animal Shelter’s $100K Challenge; and the Staff of Hattiesburg Clinic’s Corporate Planning and Development Department for its Neurological Research Center Branding Campaign. All of three of the most prestigious awards were awarded to Pine Belt professionals. Goodsell and Kinard each received a Judges’ Award, while Overall Best of Show was awarded to Bryant, White and Taylor.
Partners of Three to Five Creative Communications were presented with an Award of Excellence for work on a Graphics Package for U-Save Car Rental. Tara Burcham of the University of Southern Mississippi’s College of Science and Technology also received an Award of Excellence for the news release Nobel Prize Winner to Present Lecture.
Recognized with Certificates of Achievement from the Pine Belt PRAM Chapter were: LaShana Sorrell of commUNITY Cares; Donna Simmons, Lisa Parker and South Mississippi State Hospital; Lydia Walters and PollyAnna Magee of Dixie Electric Power Association; Leyla Goodsell and Three to Five Creative Communications; and Samantha McCain of American Red Cross of Mississippi.
The Pine Belt Chapter of PRAM consists of professionals working in healthcare, education, government, non-profit, tourism, economic development, retail, arts/entertainment and industry. The Pine Belt Chapter is committed to building program activities that contribute to the expanded scope of professional achievement of its members and to making valuable contributions to the art and science of public relations policies and practices throughout the area. For more information about Pine Belt PRAM, visit www.PineBeltPRAM.com
April 11, 2011 at 3:29 am | Announcements, News, PRISMS
On Jan. 18, we installed our 2011 Executive Board Members and awarded a few of our members for their outstanding work this year!
Bud Kirkpatrick Practitioner of the Year: Shawn Mercer
Burlian O’Neal Walker Professional Promise Award: Amber Hartfield
President’s Award: Samantha McCain
Committee of the Year: Workshop Committee – Tara Burcham, Leyla Goodsell, Ashlea Maddox, Sara Peterson
In addition to the awards, we renamed the Professional Promise Award to the Burlian O’Neal Walker Professional Promise Award after a great legend of public relations for our area. His family was in attendance to accept a plaque in his honor.
For pictures from the fun-filled meeting, see below:
January 26, 2011 at 2:59 am | News
As public relations professionals, we often have a chance of submitting our work to be recognized at the local, state and regional levels.
The Public Relations Association of Mississippi (PRAM) is now accepting entries for the 2011 PRism Awards to honor outstanding efforts in the marketing and public relations field! The competition is open to all PRAM members who are interested in showcasing their work and placing their efforts in the spotlight. Oprah Winfrey once said, “Good luck happens when preparedness meets opportunity.” The PRAM PRisms is your chance make your own luck and spotlight your great work from this past year! The deadline is January 21 and information can be found here.
And while we are talking about awards, be sure to mark January 18 on your calendar! That’s the date for our local awards banquet! There will be a silent auction and a lot of networking. Be sure to RSVP and enjoy the fun!
December 28, 2010 at 5:22 pm | News
The Christmas meeting has been changed! It will not be on December 14, but will be on December 21 from 5-7 PM at Seasons on 98 W. Be sure to RSVP here.
The meal is on us, but be sure to bring a wrapped ornament, value of $5. In the spirit of the holidays, we will also accept donations for The Extra Table to provide meals at a local food bank! Hope to see you there!
December 6, 2010 at 7:43 pm | News
This year our chapter’s community action project will be to help Extra Table supply mission pantries with food. PRAM will purchase food through Sysco and food will be sent to Edward Street Fellowship. Feel free to make monetary donations at the PRAM meeting in December to Tara Burcham or contact LaShana Sorrell at 601.447.0941 to schedule pick up.
For more information on the Extra Table please visit www.extratable.org .
November 23, 2010 at 7:14 pm | News
Welcome to the new PineBeltPram.com! Thanks to our members with Roberts Creative, we were able to create and launch a new website in record time! We are so appreciative of their services!
So what can you expect from the new website? First, the site is about YOU the member! Here is a list of the new features:
Events: You can RSVP to meetings and workshops through this calendar. Just click on the date and you’ll be able to see the meeting information and fill out an RSVP form. Easy as pie! We’ll continue to e-mail our members a reminder, but this makes it super easy on you!
Featured Member: Each month, we will feature a new member on the front page. Through the Featured Member spot, we hope that you will find out something new about someone AND network with them. Afterall, that’s why we have PRAM!
Membership Directory: The membership directory is password protected, but it is a very comprehensive database of our members – WITH contact information. You’ll also find the subject matter that each member specializes in. If you need to reach out to someone who works in government communications, you can just hop on over to the membership directory and find who you need!
Blog/Facebook/Twitter/Flickr: One of the “desires” for this new site was the ability to be social! On the front page, you will find a blog, a feed from Twitter, a link to Facebook, and a photo gallery for Flickr. We will post interesting articles and news updates to the blog – in which you will be able to subscribe to if you use a RSS Feed Reader (ie: Google Reader). We also encourage discussion about any articles we post! In addition to the blog, we are always posting new stuff to Twitter and Facebook. If you are looking for a job, this is the first place jobs will be posted!
This new website is a tool for you to extend the networking experience to the online realm. We hope you enjoy it!
November 16, 2010 at 12:49 am | News