We’ll meet up at Easy Bistro in Downtown Chattanooga from 5:30-7 p.m.

Take time to unwind at the end of a busy day and enjoy the company of your public relations colleagues. This is a great way to network and get to know some of our newer chapter members.

While there is no cost to attend, please click here to RSVP or complete the form below. We’ll provide a few appetizers.

Be sure to invite a friend. This is a great way to recruit new Lookout PRSA members!

Please note that this will serve as our March monthly meeting. The next Professional Development Luncheon will be on Wednesday, April 18.

Join the UTC Public Relations Student Society of America as they wrap up Communications Week with a keynote address from legendary local broadcaster, Luther Massingil.

Hosted by his Sunny 92.3 morning show partner, James Howard, “A Conversation with Luther” will take place at 10 a.m. on March 9 – Luther’s 90th birthday.

“A Conversation with Luther” is presented by the UTC chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) and UTC’s student-run public relations firm, PRTactics.

The free event is open to the public, and seating is general admission. Doors to the UTC University Center auditorium will open at 9:30 a.m. Tickets are available for free online.

UTC’s annual Communication Week provides students who are preparing for jobs and internships with opportunities to meet professionals in their fields of interest. Newspaper, television and radio reporters and editors, public relations and advertising executives, and corporate, nonprofit and public service communicators share their insights with students during a number of seminars and events both on and off campus.

About Luther Massingill
Winner of the prestigious Marconi Award from the National Association of Broadcasters, Luther Masingill has been the morning host on WDEF-FM since Dec. 31, 1940, the longest run in one broadcasting time slot in the world. He is the only American broadcaster to announce both the attacks on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, and the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center.

Affectionately known as Luther to generations of Chattanoogans, he was featured in the most recent issue of American Profile magazine. Luther can be heard every morning on Sunny 92.3 from 5:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.

Image: American Profile

March 2012 Membership Promotion — Free Section

PRSA’s March 2012 membership campaign offers new members joining during the month a free Professional Interest Section membership for one year. Current members receive $20 off a Section of their choice when they add it to their PRSA membership. There are certain restrictions, so please visit the Chapter Leadership Toolkit section of MyPRSA for full details.

Free Section (for new members): promotion code MAR12
$20 off a Section (for current members): promotion code SEC12

Promotion materials are available on the Chapter Leadership Toolkit section of MyPRSA. If you would like hard copies of the promotional flyer, please contact me directly with your request. As usual during this promotion, we are offering new Associate Members joining with less than two years of public relations experience a free one-year membership in the New Professionals Section. Details are available online also.

The Central Iowa Chapter will judge our Incline Awards later this year.

I am writing you today to provide information on a matter of importance to every PRSA member. PRSA has been engaging in a series of discussions regarding the proper role of public relations professionals in editing entries on Wikipedia, the self-described “free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.” Given that Wikipedia is one of the most widely used information resources in the world, we believe it is important that our members are made aware of this ongoing debate.

Marcia DiStaso, co-chair of PRSA’s National Research Committee, has developed a survey that examines the profession’s experiences with Wikipedia. You can take the survey here.

Survey: Wikipedia and PR

We encourage you to send this survey to members of your Chapter, Section or Committee and ask them to take a few minutes to answer the questions. Please also post it to your website, LinkedIn groups, Facebook pages and other forums.

We believe that PR professionals should engage with Wikipedia in a responsible manner that respects the community’s rules and protocols, while also ensuring they act in their clients’ best interests. But the engagement must be a two-way street in which Wikipedia is willing to see and accommodate both sides of the issue.

We have made this position clear in a variety of forums. Recently, I wrote an op-ed for technology news publication, Techdirt, in which I made the case the for PR professionals editing Wikipedia. We have also provided the profession’s perspective in PRWeek, The Financial Times and through a special Facebook group dedicated to this discussion

Nicole Goldman serves as Senior Vice President of Marketing and Publicity at The Jim Henson Company, overseeing the global marketing, promotions and public relations for all sectors of the Company’s business, including corporate, television, consumer products, home entertainment, international, live theater and online.

In her current role, Goldman has been instrumental in the successful launches of key children’s brands, including “Sid the Science Kid™” and “Dinosaur Train™,” both award-winning and critically-acclaimed series currently airing on PBS KIDS®; the web-based animated series for PBS KIDS GO! “Wilson and Ditch: Digging America™,” “Pajanimals” for Sprout, “The Possibility Shop” for Disney online and “Me and My Monsters,” for the BBC. Under the Henson Alternative label, she oversaw the launch of the Game Show Network late night series “Late Night Liars” and the live improvisational puppet show, “Stuffed and Unstrung,” currently touring the U.S.