Welcome to the PRSA Volunteer Chapter blog. We hope that you find relevant, timely and useful information about professional communications here.
The posts you’ll find here in the coming months will be written by our members — among them, longtime communicators and public relations professionals as well as recent graduates or those transitioning to PR from another field. Our members bring diverse viewpoints and expertise to their jobs, to the Volunteer Chapter and to our community.
The viewpoints of our individual members may not necessarily reflect the views of the Volunteer Chapter, but all of our members — as well as our Chapter — are devoted to openness, honesty and ethical behavior in communications.
If you have questions, drop us a line.
In honor of APR month, we got to know more about our chapter’s APR Chair, Jenny Fowler, APR Education/Certifications: MBA, Marketing, UTK; BA, Biology, UTK; APR Employment: Self-employed and principal consultant with Cathey Communications Why did you choose public relations as a career? A career in PR offered me a way to use my writing… Read More
April is APR Month! “Does having your APR help you get a promotion or a better job?” That’s a question I hear frequently from young public relations professionals who are contemplating earning their Accreditation in Public Relations. My answer—“No, not really”—almost always elicits surprised looks, especially when you consider my role as APR Chair for… Read More
In recent months of sexual harassment protests and the resulting #MeToo movement, certain key points often get lost in the mix of controversial media coverage. One key issue that’s often overlooked is the degree to which women can feel – because of long-standing gender imbalances in certain professions – outnumbered, unwelcome or at an automatic disadvantage… Read More
According to a November 2017 Newsweek report, the term “fake news” was declared the official Collins Dictionary Word of the Year for 2017. Citations of the term spiked 365 percent since 2016 when it burst into the public vernacular – replete with hashtag – during the hotly contested presidential campaign and its equally contested aftermath.… Read More
The recent Rocky Top Revolution is proof positive that social media ignites online fury and stokes offline uprisings. Read More
Equal work? Then equal pay. It doesn’t seem like too much to ask, but it’s a concept that continues to befuddle far too many management cultures. According to the American Association of University Women report, “The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap,” as of 2015, “women working full-time in the United States typically were paid… Read More
“Don’t take me off the list!” I can’t tell you how many times I hear folks say that. As anyone in public relations can tell you, our profession plans dozens of events every year for our own firms and for our clients. Every one of these, of course, has a guest list. When people say,… Read More
As media continues to mutate, podcasts are emerging as the new talk radio. Well, sort of. Read More
In the last several years, the transportation industry has rolled out technological advancements at an unprecedented rate. Instead of slowing down, industry analysts expect much more to come in the near future, especially from automated vehicle technology. The way we move from place to place 20 years from now may look very different from how we commute in 2017. Read More
Conventional marketing wisdom has long said that females hold the purse strings and wield the purchasing power on behalf of their families. But there’s a new breed of men called “millennial dads,” and they’re not afraid to get in touch with their feminine side when it comes to buying stuff. In fact, 80 percent of… Read More
