Dear Volunteer Chapter PRSA Colleagues,

Thank you to all who attended the 38^th annual “V” Awards on April 25 at The Square Room. Congratulations to the 12 organizations that won Awards of Excellence and to Blackberry Farm for taking home the J. Carroll Bateman Award of Excellence – Best of Show! Please see the article below for the complete list of organizations and individuals who took home awards, as well as a list of our amazing sponsors. 

At the event, the Volunteer Chapter made a very special donation to the Sammie Lynn Puett Chapter PRSSA in honor of late members Jeannine McKamey, APR, and Lorna Norwood, APR. Because of Jeannine and Lorna's commitment to professional development and their service to our chapter and profession, the Volunteer Chapter felt it most fitting to support PRSSA students’ attendance at the national conference through this donation.

On behalf of the chapter, I would like to thank those who judged the 70 entries from Orange County Chapter PRSA last week. I hope it was a valuable experience as well as a window into the types of campaigns being produced from organizations across the country.

Be sure to RSVP to Kristin Alm by May 13 for our May 16 meeting in the Conference Room at Café 4. Bill Dockery with the University of Tennessee will share his experience of handling crisis communications surrounding the fatal shooting at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in 2008.

Please contact the Volunteer Chapter Board of Directors if we can be of service. I hope to see you May 16!

Chelsey Riemann, APR
2013 Volunteer Chapter PRSA President 

The Volunteer Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) hosted its 38th annual awards event – The “V” Awards – on Thursday, April 25, 2013, at The Square Room at Café 4. These awards recognize excellence in public relations programs, products and individual achievements in the East Tennessee region. It was a great evening, and we are grateful to John Becker with WBIR, who served as our guest emcee for the second year in a row.

The Volunteer Chapter PRSA presented 66 Awards of Excellence, Awards of Quality and Awards of Merit in 44 public relations program and product categories. Award entries were judged by members of the Orange County, Calif., chapter of PRSA.

2013 Award of Excellence winners include the American Cancer Society, B&W Technical Services Y-12, Blackberry Farm, Dalton Dupes Agency, East Tennessee Children’s Hospital, Helen Ross McNabb Center, Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Tennessee Valley Authority, The Tombras Group, University of Tennessee Knoxville and University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture. The 2013 J. Carroll Bateman Award of Excellence – the Volunteer Chapter’s “Best of Show” award – was given to Blackberry Farm.

In addition, the Volunteer Chapter honored five outstanding individuals or organizations for excellence in a specific role they play in the community. This year’s individual award winners are: Lifetime Achievement Award – Gail Rymer, APR, Fellow PRSA, with Tennessee Valley Authority; Harvey I. Cobert Award – Melissa Ogden, Knox County Schools; Executive of the Year – Dr. Jim McIntyre, Superintendent of the Knox County Schools; Community Service Award – Tennessee Farm Bureau Insurance; and Rising Young Professional Award – Taylor Griffin, The Tombras Group.

View the complete list of winners and photos from the event (password: "vawards").

The Volunteer Chapter of PRSA also presented a $500 donation to the University of Tennessee Sammie Lynn Puett Chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) in memory of PRSA members Jeannine McKamey, APR and Lorna Norwood, APR, who both passed away in 2012. The donation will assist PRSSA students to attend the annual PRSSA national conference.

Presenting Sponsor
Gold Sponsor
Silver Sponsors

On July 27, 2008, a politically motivated shooting took place during a youth musical performance at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville, killing two and injuring several others. Longtime church member Bill Dockery, who serves as the research communication coordinator at the University of Tennessee’s Office of Research, stepped in to handle the crisis communications surrounding the event.

With an extensive background in journalism, research, publications and PR, Dockery adeptly managed the communications surrounding the crisis in the days, weeks – and even years – that followed. He describes the effort as some of his life’s “most profound work experience.”

At the PRSA Volunteer Chapter May luncheon, Dockery will recount the tragic experience and offer his learnings from the incident that carried “significant public relations implications.”

• When: Thursday, May 16 (networking at 11:30 a.m.; meeting begins at noon)
• Where: The Conference Room at Café 4 in Market Square (located on the 3^rd floor – please take the elevator) **Parking is available for a fee in the Market Square Garage at the corner of Wall Avenue and Walnut Street (map).
• Cost: $20 for members, $25 for non-members and $15 for students (new rate this year!)
  NOTE: In addition to your cash and personal and corporate checks, the Chapter now also accepts MasterCard, Visa, American Express and Discover debit and credit cards!
• RSVP: Contact Kristin Alm by Monday, May 13. To cover our costs,  no-shows will be billed.

The American Red Cross is seeking people with public relations/communications/public affairs skills to make a significant impact on the East Tennessee regional communications effort. 

Key responsibilities include:

• Write news releases, human interest stories and social media postings to report what the Red Cross is doing in the local community.
• Occasionally design posters, flyers, invitations and brochures using Red Cross branding standards.
• Actively post updates to Facebook and Twitter, either as assigned or independently.
• Take photographs at events as needed, distribute to appropriate audiences, post to Facebook and/or distribute to media.
• Other opportunities may be available in Disaster Public Affairs.

Volunteers will be expected to register, attend an orientation and submit to a background check. For information, please contact Stan Gibert, Red Cross Regional Director of Communications. 

Mary Beth West, APR, will present “Burning Down the House: Crisis Response Demands More Than Good Talking Heads” at the May 15 Knoxville Chamber’s Bright Ideas meeting.

On Sept. 10, 2012, Mary Beth West Communications, LLC -- a strategic public relations and marketing communications firm that routinely advises clients on crisis preparedness and response -- suffered a crisis of its own when its office building in Maryville burned. The Law Building fire in downtown Maryville caused catastrophic structural, smoke and water damage to the firm's immediate office space and loss of all contents, including computer systems. 

Thanks to a strong cloud-based IT system and remote access for the MBWC team to continue work, business continuity resumed the next day. And thanks to a communications effort of informing employees, clients and the media, the disaster was not without some silver linings. However, a host of lessons were learned in the face of the recovery effort that can benefit any company's or organization's management team. 

The presentation will be from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Knoxville Chamber’s office (17 Market Square, Suite 201) on Wednesday, May 15. To register, visit the Chamber's event page (chamber member cost is $25; non-chamber member cost is $35). Parking is available in the Market Square Parking Garage, located at the corner of Wall and Walnut Streets; the Chamber will validate parking for up to two hours.

PRSSA graduates receive FREE professional section membership in May! Will you soon be a PRSSA graduate? Or were you a PRSSA member who graduated within the past two years? If you join PRSA in May as an Associate Member, PRSSA Graduate ($60 annual dues), you will receive a FREE New Professionals Section membership with promo code AM13. Chapter and other Section dues are not included. Not available for Regular and current members. To learn more about membership in PRSA, contact Volunteer Chapter Membership Chair Melanie Staten.