PRAM

ImPRessions newsletter, August 2008

Articles include:

PRAM-MS Beach Chapter celebrates 15th Anniversary at Aug. 18 meeting. Special guests include SPRF President Sabrina McLaughlin, APR, and state PRAM President Jarrod Ravencraft.

MS Beach chapter members bring home awards from SPRF conference.

Thompson and Drum named Senior Practitioners.

Lunch ‘n Learn seminar Aug. 15 focuses on Rebuilding Your Brand.

PRAM Mississippi Beach Chapter is committed to being of service to the Mississippi Gulf Coast community. Through a variety of community service projects, members are given an opportunity to participate in hands-on volunteer activities that range from 5K walks to coast-wide cleanups to food and clothing drives.

Recent community service projects include:

• providing 9-1-1 emergency cell phones to senior citizens and those with disabilities
• collecting books for patients in a children’s hospital
• writing thank you letters and sending them to deployed troops
• participating in a 5K walk to raise awareness and funds to fight breast cancer

 As a chapter, we focus our energies on a few worthy service projects each year and, through the combined efforts of our members, are able to make a difference in the community in which we live.

PRAM Announces Seminar Series

The Mississippi Beach chapter of the Public Relations Association of Mississippi (PRAM) is presenting a special series of seminars this year to expand professional development opportunities for PR students and communications professionals in south Mississippi.

PRAM’s Lunch ‘n Learn series addresses a variety of issues being faced by public relations practitioners, including branding, social media, and evaluation of communications efforts. The sessions use presentations recorded at an international conference on public relations last year. 

Tulane University’s School of Continuing Studies is co-sponsoring the series, and all sessions will take place at its Biloxi campus located in Edgewater Mall.  Each seminar will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on a Friday.  The seminars are provided free of charge to PRAM members and Tulane students. The fee for non-members is $5.00. Participants are welcome to bring a lunch to the seminar. 

The next seminar, “The Importance of Protecting Your Brand,” will be held Friday, March 28.  Presenter Teresa Rivera, APR, from the U.S. Department of the Interior, will provide practical tips that can be put to use immediately to protect one’s brand.

The series began Feb. 22, with a session on “Connecting with Nexters.”

Future sessions will be held:

• May 2 — New Media, New Metrics: How to Survive in the New Consumer-Driven Media World
• June 27 – Building Leadership Style
• August 15 — From Surviving to Thriving: Restoring Your Brand and Reputation in a Media-Centric World
• September 19 — ROI and Proof-of-Performance Metrics That Demonstrate Success
• November 21 — Social and Cause Marketing: Creating Value, Building Relationships

Nearly 100 area public relations professionals are members of the Mississippi Beach chapter of PRAM.  The group offers numerous networking and professional development opportunities.  Its next monthly chapter meeting will be at noon on Monday, April 7, at the Great Southern Club in downtown Gulfport. 

Tulane University’s School of Continuing Studies offers bachelor’s degrees, associate’s degrees, pre-and post-baccalaureate certificates, and the master of liberal arts degree. For information, visit the school’s Web site at http://www.scs.tulane.edu/ or call 228-388-5769.

For more information on PRAM, visit the chapter Web site at prambeach.org or call 2008 president Kristie Aylett, APR at 228-826-5650.

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