PRAM

The Southern Public Relations Federation (SPRF) honored two members of the PRAM Mississippi Beach chapter among its 2008 class of 21 professionals named “Senior Practitioners.” They are Lauren Thompson and Kevin Drum.
The Class of 2008 was announced during SPRF’s annual conference July 27-29, 2008, in Sandestin, Fla.
Lauren Thompson joined the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources as its Public Relations Director in June 2000. She is responsible for public information, media relations, community relations, educational outreach and special events. Lauren holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, is a past president of the Rotary Club of Edgewater Sunrisers and has 25 years of combined experience as a journalist and public relations professional. She is the 2008 Community Service Chair for the PRAM MS Beach Chapter.
Under her direction, the DMR Public Affairs Bureau has received 17 public relations awards: nine awards from Southern Public Relations Federation Lantern Awards competition, including a Lantern Award in 2006 for the DMR’s 2007 Marine Information Calendar and one in 2004 for the 2003 Mississippi Coastal Cleanup event, and eight awards from the National Association of Government Communicators’ Blue Pencil Awards Competition.
Kevin Drum has been in public relations for over 20 years, specializing in Golf Destination Marketing. After attending Newberry College and the University of South Carolina, he was recruited for a “once in a lifetime position” at the 1984 Olympics and became the PR representative for Tenneco Corporation on site in Los Angeles for the games.
After four years of developing successful marketing, public relations and sales programs for Tenneco, he started his own firm – Drum Marketing & PR – and moved back to Pinehurst, N.C. His company worked for some of the top golf brands and the top golf resorts and destinations in the country. In 2001, the Mississippi Gulf Coast Golf Association asked Kevin to help it create a strong public relations and marketing program to increase golf tourism and promote the area’s great golf, coastal climate and gaming. Shortly afterward, the Golf Association hired him full-time to serve as its first executive director.
Kevin has received 10 SPRF Awards, eight PRAM Awards, and three ADDY Awards for his work, and one project was honored as the “Tourism Promotion of the Year” by Governor Barbour and MTA in 2005. He also served on the board of the PRAM MS Beach chapter in 2007.
With these new honorees, PRAM MS Beach now counts 19 Senior Practitioners among its membership.
SPRF established the senior practitioner designation to recognize its members as veteran public relations professionals with high ethical standing. Nomination and selection is made by each local chapter based on criteria set by SPRF.
To receive the Senior Pracitioner designation, a recipient must qualify in three of the following four criteria: have 15 years of full-time public relations experience; hold the Accredited in Public Relations (APR) designation by the Universal Accreditation Board; serve or served as an officer or board member at the chapter, state and/or SPRF level; and/or receive recognition of professionalism as evidenced by a SPRF Lantern Award, practitioner of the year award, or similar peer-reviewed, competitively selected, public relations-related recognition or honor.