Hi and welcome! I hope you are all excited for this semester and prepared for another great year. After hosting National Conference in the fall, co-sponsoring the Social Learning Summit in the spring and having great speakers and professional development sessions throughout last year, we have a great record and a lot of momentum to build off. I want to use this post to update everyone on what eboard has been working on and how you can get involved.
This website, as well as our Facebook and Twitter pages, will be updated frequently with chapter news and events. If you have not already, please take this survey so you can let us know what you want out of the chapter this year. Throughout the summer Diana Loevner has been planning several fundraisers for October’s National Conference in Orlando and our membership initiation dinner at the beginning of November. She will definitely need volunteers and help planning these events, so please email her at fundraising@auprssa.org if you’re interested.
Speaking of conferences, the deadline to register for National Conference is fast approaching so get your ticket before September 12. The Conference is a great opportunity to meet PRSSA members from across the country and get involved with the organization on a national level. At the National Conference, AU PRSSA will be placing a bid to hold a regional conference in the spring. Kent Hiebel is heading up the bid process and I highly encourage signing up to help him as this is a wonderful opportunity to make national and DC connections, expand your resume and become involved with the chapter. Email him at regionalconference@auprssa.org for more information.
For new members, visit our membership page and download a membership form. Fill it out and submit it with your dues to any eboard member at a chapter meeting, or leave it in our mailbox in MGC 300. Membership dues go to National Headquarters and pay for services such as PRSSA’s jobline, daily emails and events. Julie Sheiber is in charge of membership services, so please do not hesitate to reach out at membership@auprssa.org. She’s a fantastic resource for all things PRSSA and can help current members become even more involved in the chapter.
I am happy to let everyone know that we have Gemma Puglisi as our faculty advisor again this year and Josh Funk as our professional advisor. These two are fantastic and I encourage you to get to know them and seek their advice throughout the year. Josh works at the National Press club, where we will participate in some of their events this year and even host our own. AU PRSSA will be attending several of their luncheons with speakers such as Arianna Huffington and Ken Burns.
I cannot fit all of PRSSA’s exciting news into this one post, but stay tuned for our newsletter and attend our first meetings where members will work on a case study workshop and select their committees.
Can’t wait to see you at our first meeting,
Morgan Gress, President
P.S. Do you have a blog post to share? Something about your great internship or a look at a new social media tool? Write a blog post and send it to publicity@auprssa.org so we can get it up.