PRAM

The Public Relations Association of Mississippi (PRAM) has installed its 2009 Board of Directors, including two members of the Mississippi Beach chapter.

Serving as president of the association is Pete Smith, director of communications at the Mississippi Department of Education. Other officers are Caron Blanton, APR, vice president of Programs; Kelly Scrivner, vice president of Awards; Kristie Aylett, APR, vice president of Communications; Meagan Coughlin, secretary; Keith Guillot, treasurer; and Celeste Cade, member-at-large (scholarships); and Jarrod Ravencraft, immediate past president.  

Aylett and Guillot are also members  of PRAM’s Mississippi Beach chapter.

Accreditation coordinators for each region of the state are Kim Collins, APR, North; Lisa Shoemaker, APR, Central; and Kurt Brautigam, APR, South.

John Forde, PhD, APR, and Pam Swain will join Smith, Ravencraft and Aylett to represent Mississippi on the board of the Southern Public Relations Federation (SPRF).

The installation ceremony took place Jan. 23 during the board’s first meeting of 2009. Ravencraft, in his role as the president-elect of the Southern Public Relations Federation, conducted the installation.

PRAM consists of approximately 600 public relations professionals from advertising and public relations agencies, corporations, non-profit organizations, government, education, industries and others throughout the state of Mississippi. PRAM is a source of expertise and inspiration, and a forum for networking with public relations practitioners throughout the state and the region. The association is composed of 11 local chapters geographically located throughout the state’s major population centers. Membership in PRAM includes membership in SPRF, which brings Mississippi public relations practitioner together with others in Alabama, Louisiana, and the Emerald Coast of the Florida Panhandle. For more information about the organization, visit http://pramonline.org.

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April Lollar, communications specialist with Coast Electric Power Association, recently earned the Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) designation. She joins 10 other members of the Mississippi Beach Chapter of the Public Relations Association of Mississippi (PRAM) who are Accredited.

To receive the APR credential, Lollar completed a comprehensive program that included a portfolio presentation before three Accredited public relations professionals and a computer-based examination—both assessing the knowledge, skills and abilities of the public relations profession.

APR, administered nationally by the Universal Accreditation Board, is a mark of distinction for public relations professionals who demonstrate their commitment to the profession and to its ethical practice. The designation is earned based on broad knowledge, strategic perspective and sound professional judgment. Nationwide, approximately 6,000 public relations professionals have achieved Accreditation since the program began in 1964. Among the membership of the Public Relations Association of Mississippi, there are approximately 35 Accredited professionals statewide.

“April is an exemplary professional who has demonstrated a mastery of the knowledge, skills and abilities required for Accreditation,” said Susan Lepoma Perkins, APR, 2008 Accreditation Chair, PRAM-Mississippi Beach Chapter. “As the 2009 Accreditation chair of the PRAM Mississippi Beach Chapter, April will take the lead in mentoring others through the Accreditation process.”

April Lollar has served Coast Electric Power Association and its members as a Communications Specialist since 2005. Prior to her career at Coast Electric, April worked as an Information Services Specialist for InDyne Inc. at Stennis Space Center and was the Associate Editor of Coast Magazine and Coast Business Journal. April received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Mississippi in 2000 where she majored in journalism with an emphasis in magazine service.