Broaden your communications perspective with judging

One of the benefits of IABC is the opportunity to judge communications entries from chapters around the country, and one such opportunity has arrived!

Who: All members of IABC/Brazos Valley

What: Are invited to help judge entries from the Nashville chapter. The categories include
*Marketing, self-promotion, direct mail
*Multimedia, Web/Internet
*Writing
*Audiovisual, video production/VNR and audio
*Benefits and employee communication
*Newsletter
*Media relations

When: Tuesday, Aug. 5, from 5 to 9 p.m. It’s a come-and-go session, so even if you can only give an hour of your time, that will be a big help and much appreciated. (Please RSVP to to let us know to expect you.)

Where: Margarita Rocks, 1601 Texas Ave. S. in College Station in the Culpepper Plaza shopping area

Why: IABC chapters around the country judge our communications entries for Brazos Bravo, and it’s time for us to give back. Judging can help you broaden your perspective about what makes for great communications, and what better way to learn than to see communications in action? In addition, learning how to judge IABC awards programs will give you insights into how to submit an award-winning entry yourself. It’s a win-win, for you and for our chapter. You’ll get to network with your fellow chapter members, and we’ll also throw in some appetizers to sweeten the deal.

Each entry must be judged twice, so we hope for a good turnout. If you’ve never judged before or haven’t judged in a while, or judge all the time for IABC, we’ll tell you what you need to know before you begin. This is a great opportunity to see what other communicators are doing, how they do what they do, best practices, etc. Who knows what ideas might spark for you?

So please join us after work Aug. 5 at Margarita Rocks. We will provide some appetizers if you’ll provide a little bit of your time and a lot of your expertise. Please e-mail Awards chair Lesley Kriewald for more information.

Click here to RSVP!

See you there!

Caught doing good

Our member Ann Kellett is making a donation to U.S. troops overseas at the B/CS Jaycees donation center on 26 July 2008. The Eagle, photographer Gabriel Chmielewski.

Fame and Shame: The Lighter Side of News

We all love to poke fun at gaffes in the media. Come hear two of the Brazos Valley’s broadcast gurus take the lead in a professional development event at IABC/Brazos Valley.

Mike Wright, general manager of KBTX Media, and Ben Downs, vice president and general manager of Bryan Broadcasting Corporation, will take us behind-the scenes and talk about lessons learned. But don’t think it’s going to be all serious — be prepared to laugh at the fame and shame.

Download the PDF flyer to learn more or to share with others.

Admission at the door is $15 for IABC members and $20 for nonmembers. You can also pay in advance with a credit card by using the Google Checkout link found on the RSVP page, but please note that there is an additional $1/person surcharge. Also, please take a few moments to familiarize yourself with the cancellation and refund policy.

RSVP today.

Texas A&M Has Gone Gold

Did you know that IABC offers corporate memberships? All you need to qualify are at least 5 members from the same company, and you too can reap the benefits of discounted membership and other resources. It turns out that Texas A&M had a few more than 5 members, and this year it became an official corporate member! We want to thank the following members, who jumped through some extra bureaucratic hoops to renew their memberships under the corporate banner. Our "Gold Rush" resulted in 35 membership renewals. We also want to give a big round of applause to the 13 new members in the list who joined IABC-BV as a result of the corporate membership drive. Finally, Kelli Levey deserves a huge thanks for leading the initiative that made this possible.

Kelli Levey
Ann Kellett
Tura King
Summer Morgan
Tim Schnettler
Gene Charleton
Pam Wiley
Chrystal Houston
Lori Ciano-Colvin
Sommer Hamilton
Kathy DiSanto
Leanne South
Sondra White
Rachel Dohmann
Terri Parker
Lindsay Gasek
Rhonda Gray
Peggy Samson
Susan Wolff
Tiffany Inbody
John Holder
J.P. Beato
Bob Beals
Angela Clendenin
Katherine Teel
Doug Starr
Sharon McCord
Marilyn Grossman
Brenda Chaloupka
Jon Carpenter
Deana Totzke
Nancy Sawtelle
Charlene Clark
Jean Wulfson
Scot Walker
Stephanie Jeter
Olga West
Kim Miller
Diane McDonald
Brian Wright
Stacey Rugh
Carol Trono
Patricia Speed
Janet Frye
Nicholas Roznovsky
Krystan Coates-Porter
Cathy Cashio
Scott Maier

As corporate members, these individuals get a 10% discount on membership, a 10% discount to IABC’s annual International Conference, and a 10% discount on IABC knowledge resources such as research reports, books, and manuals. If you think you qualify for corporate membership, visit the IABC website for more information How to Start the IABC Corporate Package Process.

Brazos Bravo winners are in!

Results are in for our annual communicator’s award, equivalent to the Bronze Quill in other IABC chapters. We celebrated 9 total winners of the coveted top award, the Brazos Bravo. Click "more" to see the winners in our 12 categories.

We’ll post photos with Elvis from the Viva, Brazos Bravo! gala soon.

Continue reading »

Hook the Media

As a communicator, the task of getting your organization’s news to key media outlets is a very important task. But it’s only half the battle.

What do reporters and journalists at local and national print and broadcast outlets look for when making decisions on what to report on? What catches their eye, and what materials or methods are more likely to help land your news in a print publication or newscast?

Join Anne Deuermeyer, account executive with Business Wire, at our meeting on May 15 as she shares helpful hints that both local and national news reporters have passed on to her. She will discuss:

• Tips for writing a press release that will stand out to both traditional and new media (print/broadcast v. online search engines)
• Best practices for getting your news to the media (wire services - the big bang)
• Best methods for following up with individual reporters

Anne Deuermeyer joined Business Wire’s Houston office as an account executive in December 2005. She consults daily with public relations, investor relations, marketing and communications professionals to assist them in getting their organization’s news to the media and the financial and investment communities. Deuermeyer graduated magna cum laude with a B.S. in psychology and a minor in business from Texas A&M University in 2005.

Don’t forget: after you RSVP, come back and pay in advance using your credit card!

Last Chance for Brazos Bravo

Don’t forget that Viva! Brazos Bravo is this week. We’ve extended registration until Tuesday, just for you procrastinators. Sign up now for an evening showcasing the best communications in the Brazos Valley… and Elvis! You can even save time at check-in by paying in advance by credit card. At the door we’ll be taking cash or checks only, so take advantage of the convenience while you can.

Viva, Brazos Bravo!

RSVP now for the Viva, Brazos Bravo! celebration, from 6 to 9 p.m. April 17 at the University Club on the 11th floor of Rudder Tower on the Texas A&M University campus.

Gather with colleagues and friends to enjoy the lights of College Station and meet special guest Elvis Presley. Don’t worry, we don’t think Elvis lives round here… but we do love his communication style and his white jumpsuits. And he’ll be there to serenade our supper, just like his famous Vegas dinner shows.

Viva is IABC/Brazos Valley’s 22nd annual Brazos Bravo awards. Judges from across the nation have examined local work in everything from podcasts and Web sites to magazines, brochures and communication campaigns. Come celebrate the first-class communications work of Brazos Valley writers, editors, designers, marketers, photographers, Web gurus and business communicators.

Please take a moment to RSVP. Note that this year you can visit the same page to pay online by credit card! However, please be aware that paying and RSVPing are two completely separate processes. Please RSVP so that we have an accurate head count.

Social Media Homework

Want to look like a big brain when you attend Matt Herzberger’s talk on PR in an era of Social Media on March 20th? Spend the next 10 minutes reading about Social Media Press Releases from the Publishing Talk website. For bonus points, check out the website PR Squared, where the author offered up a "beta" social media press release template (PDF). What are the pros and cons of using such a template? If you really want to stir the disucssion, read about how Google News lets the subject of news items publicly respond to inaccuracies in news articles. Read up, form your opinion, register, and let’s have a great discussion on March 20th.

Press Release 2.0: News Releases in the Social Media Era

We have all done the same old press releases:

Insert headline, byline, body

Join Matt Herzberger, Web designer for Texas A&M Engineering Communications and a social media evangelist, as we explore how to, as Emeril would say, "Kick it up a notch." We will talk about how to create a press release that will draw in users and address the changing needs of the end consumer and increasing ease of use for the media. It’s important for us to adjust our message format and delivery to respond to the needs of today’s web-savvy audience. 

Sign up today for this session March 20 at 11:30 a.m. at the Briarcrest Country Club. Sign up today!

For more information about Matt, visit his personal blog or BlogHighEd, which he co-founded.