Meeting Minutes

Meeting Called to order at 3:00pm

Present: Jerami, Shannon, Christine, Megan, Anna Marie, Jasmine, Ron and 1 guest

Next meeting will be our last for the semester. We can make a potluck if anyone is interested.

We will nominate and vote in new officers and talk a little more about the upcoming semester.
UAA has unveiled the portal, and I have already set up our PRSSA group. Please join if you can. If you can’t I will have to figure out how to invite you. It should be better than our yahoo group because everyone at UAA will see it every time they search for a group. I put ours under social group category.

Here are some points we discussed today.
Happy Birthday PRSSA
Problems with communications – email doesnt always work…make followup calls
Projects – will be taking one major outside project and focusing on smaller projects to gain interest
Recruitment – putting together brochures and membership packets. They are almost complete.
We can make the informational packet and new member packets separate
Keep talking to people about PRSSA to get more members for fall.

Weekly Task List

OK I know It’s late in the semester, so I hope you are still with me. I think you all have been waiting for something like this – sign up for the tasks you KNOW you can handle – write it in the comments section below the post or email me when you start and finish. I will cross them off as we complete them.

Note-We may have canceled the JPC Speed Networking event, but since we have already reserved the Wolf Den, we can still plan a party 18 days out and invite alumni and PRSA. If they dont come, oh well, we can still have fun for a couple hours. I will write up a report about everything we did, or tried to do this semester, what we accomplished and what we hope to accomplish. We can have a mocktail party, potluck or pizza party.
Members Present:

Jerami, Christine. Megan came early and left before we got there.
(*) = priority tasks tonight, to be complete by tomorrow.

Recruitment Tasks:

• General PRSSA flyer/poster – Megan is working on it.
• Info Brochure : Christine’s working on trifold
• Talk to other clubs, jpc classes, high school freshmen
• New Member packet

• Blue folder with recruitment CD
• information sheet with job descriptions
• calendar
• pen/notepad
• business cards
• New Member Brochure (national)
• dues form
• T-shirt
• Sticker/logos
• Donated (goods, goody bag)

Research Tasks

1. list of all pr students and contact info – Christine will ask Erin
2. list of alumi (contact info, work info, achievements and mailing address)
3. list of past events PRSSA participated for new member brochure (check files)
4. list of member and alumni achievements and positions held

Design Tasks

1. New T-shirt Logo

2. Label Stickers, color & B/W

3. Chapter Logo

4. Start adding designs and photos to graphix folder on yahoo group

President’s/Vice President’s Tasks

1. Work flow and job descriptions

2. Motivate members, trusting them to do the work

3. Inform members to whats going on

4. Initiate task assignment and agenda for meetings

5. Approve work, make suggestions, give advice, listen to problems

6. Make decisions, execute and analyze afterward (as a team)

Writing Tasks

1. *Create and send out PRSSA birthday party invitations to PRSA and alumni.

2. *Pizza & food donations for PRSSA Birthday

3. Snack/bake sale donations

4. Fundraiser/Garage Sale Donations

5. *Goodie donations

• • Notepads, pens, calendars
  • Blockbuster Cards
  • Kaladi Bro’s Cards
  • Movie Tickets
  • Bear’s, Moose’s tooth
  • Day Spa, hair and nails

PRSSA Belated Birthday Party Tasks (If all in favor instead of JPC Speed Networking Event)

• Who: Alumni, PRSA, PRSSA
• What: Past, present and future (take a look at what we did, what we learned
• what: we can do better
• When: April 18, 7-10 pm
• Where: Wolf Den
• Why: Socialize with peers , eat, drink, have fun
• Make goodie Bags (must write letters for dontations)

• Pens/pencils
• Prssa sticker/logos
• Calendar
• Kaladi bros cards
• Blockbuster cards
• Hair, nail, spa stuff

PRSSA Birthday Party Tasks

• Get PRSA and alumni information for invitations to be sent to
• Make invitation, mail & eVite
• Post to website

Website Tasks

• upload minutes every meeting
• upload images and event information
• upload images of past events
• update all info at least monthly and as needed

March 30, 2007 Minutes.

President’s Message:

During this last part of the semester, days and weeks seem shorter. It’s going to go by in a flash. We are up to our eyeballs in work and the truth is we aren’t getting enough done. I feel that I could have done better to assemble the tribe every week with a more solid outline for the task details.

The truth is that by the time I get around to calling you guys, it’s too late. So what do I do? I try to get things done the only way I know how, I do it myself. Since that isn’t the right way to be a team member, I want to say that I will do better to get a hold of you guys WAY in advance, but you have to come through and do the things you say you want and can do.

I realize clients don’t always get back with you on projects, so you can see it from my point of view. It’s a lot of work. You have to be proactive and pursue the things you need to accomplish your tasks. So how do we accomplish this? We take on less tasks, so we can do a better job.
This is a review of what we were walking into this semester:

When you were 15, Anchorage Museum, US Alpine Skiing Championships.

As it stands, we should have dropped one or two of these projects with the amount of people we have, honestly. We should have immediately focused our efforts to internal functions and recruitment.

We took on the JPC End of Year Social/Formal, the Professional Development and Speed Networking as internal development without dropping the other commitments first. So now we have opted to direct our attention by focusing on the End of Year formal, which I will refer to as the JPC Spring Chicken Dinner Thing, until someone comes up with a name for it.
We now need to focus internal to the Chapter to get things rolling for fall. I have started to divide the tasks out for the rest of the semester. We still have too much to do. We have to drop or postpone one more project so we can get the essentials done.
That includes recruitment, recruitment, recruitment….need I say more? All of us will work at this while we build what has slowly been weathered away.
Majority present has voted to postpone both the speed networking event and professional development workshops until next semester.
We will now focus on:
Museum Project & JPC Spring Chicken Dinner Thing.
Recruitment Committee:
We need to target younger students and educate the highschoolers. We need to have everything in place by the time they get here in the fall. We have to plan the previews as well. That means getting all of our pubs in a row.

• graphics and written information
• mailouts
• flyers
• posters
• new member packets

Fundraising Committee

Brainstorm fundraising ideas

maintain store with bake sale items instead of snacks to increase profit, all sales will be equipped with PRSSA labels, signage and brochures

tshirts

request letters

Webmaster and assistant-

keep publics up-to-date using blog, social media and website

-writer/editor

-design/technical

Media Specialist

print & design

photography & videography

editor

Administrative Officer

maintain officer binder

minutes

-scheduling & calendar

-keeping people up-to-date using email

President & Vice President

maintain officer binder

-delegate regular tasks

-coordinate project chairs & report status

-set deadlines and agenda

-generate status reports

-representative at club council

-submit event requests

Treasury

maintain officer binder

keep logs of all transactions

submit finance requests

purchase items

keep inventory

Semester Projects

JPC Speed Networking Project – Schedule for 2008
1 Major outside project for ACVB

Fundraising
-bake sale (with PRSSA labels and brochures)

tshirts

JPC Speed-Networking Social

If you are a student in the University of Alaska Journalism and Public Communications Program, seeking local media and communications companies for possible internships or careers:
In fall 2007, the Public Relations Student Society of America will host the Journalism and Public Communications Speed-Networking Social.

Representatives from local companies will be present to discuss internship and job opportunities with juniors, seniors and graduates.

Bring at least 15 copies of your resume. Be prepared to discuss your career interest quickly and efficiently, show off portfolios and ask questions. A list of representatives will be posted to our web site a week prior to the event.

Web-Pioneer Aliza Sherman Risdahl to Speak at UAA

Anchorage, Alaska, March 28, 2007–Web pioneer Aliza Sherman Risdahl visits the University of Alaska Anchorage on Friday, March 30, 2007 to share her experiences and insights as the first woman to start a full-service Internet company in the 1990s. Her half-hour presentation is free and open to the public and will be followed by an open-floor discussion and book signing. The event will take place at UAA’s Consortium Library, Room 307, starting at 5:30 p.m.In 1995, Sherman founded Cybergrrl, Inc. in New York City’s “Silicon Alley.” She also started the first women’s Internet organization, Webgrrls International, and developed the first searchable directory of female-friendly sites, Femina.com. Her efforts to educate women around the globe about the Internet garnered awards and recognition including being named by Newsweek magazine as one of the “Top 50 People Who Matter Most on the Internet.”

Sherman is also the author of seven books including “The Everything Blogging Book,” “Cybergrrl: A Woman’s Guide to the World Wide Web” and “Power Tools for Women in Business.” She relocated to Alaska from Wyoming in 2005 with her husband Greg, a wildlife biologist.

More about Aliza:

Wikipedia
Blogger.com
Scoutblogging.com
Mediaegg
Babyfruit
Moonbow Productions
Witi.com

Amazon.com

January 14, 2007 Minutes

Minutes for Executive Session January 14, 2006

Major projects coming up for spring semester were discussed:

->When you were 15 campaign (Kathy Day)- chair is Shannon Orley
->Alpine Ski Championships (Nance Larsen)- chair is ….
->Museum outreach to youth campaign (Rebecca …..) -chair is Anna Marie

More follow up is needed, projects will need to be presented at first
meeting (January ??). Not planning on taking on any other projects for the
semester (focus on doing a quality job and not spreading ourselves too
thinly)

Smaller projects for spring semester:

->Speed networking event (lead up workshops include dress/ettiquitte, resume
building, interview skills)
->PR for other clubs in club council as a paid service
->Promotional materials for our club (to be handed out @ Feb 16th event)
->”Little black book” of JPC or similar idea (tri-fold brochure) to be
included with other JPC info packets
->PR for JPC senior gala (still need to talk to Erin or Pearce)
Possible sale of food items in upstairs lobby as a fundraiser (need to check
on permissions & finances)

Ideas to recruit:

->Talking to JPC classes (need to talk to professors about times that work
for them)
->Clubs Brown Bag??
->Ads in classified section of Northern Lights
->Get events on NL calendar, in Green and Gold, on our bulletin board
->Candy with labels that say PRSSA and contact info

Ideas to improve retention:

->Better group communication (establish some sort of group online– yahoo
group?)
->Mandatory letter of thanks to each participating member required for any
services rendered to an organization we help out (requirement will be
included in proposal)
->Form for members to request a letter of reccomendation from “PRSSA” for
specific things
->Twice a semester socials (maybe one for PRSSA’a birthday?)

New Paperwork for this semester:

-> A written proposal for involvement on each project we do will be
submitted to the project coordinator as well as the executive board to be
kept on file. Proposal will establish upfront that the organization will be
required to submit a letter of thanks to each active committe member
involved with the project. Proposal will also include name and contact
information for each committee member. (VP will collect and store)
-> Each semester we will now update and distribute a phone/ address/ e-mail
list for members (secretary responsibility)

Proposed meetings are Thursday nights from 6pm to 7pm (2nd and 4th of
month). Meetings will be in Campus center, still not sure where (South
cafeteria? Lyla Richards Room? Leadership Lab?)

Dates so far:

January
14th executive session at barnes and noble
15th work session at Shannon’s house
16th school starts
25th first meeting, also workshop on dress and ettiquitte
February
8th meeting
22nd meeting, also workshop on interview skills
March
8th meeting, also workshop on resume building
22nd (no meeting due to spring break)
28th speed networking event
April
12th meeting
26th meeting

Tomorrow night (Monday Janury 15th) there will be a work session from 5pm
til 9pm to work on a variety of written projects. It’s at Shannon’s house
and there’s wireless internet, so bring your laptops if you have them. There
will be food, so come to work on crap for the upcoming semester. The house
is at 114 Beaufort Circle if you wanna mapquest it.

Go south on new seward, take O’Malley exit. Turn right (west) on Omalley,
then turn left (south) on Old Seward Traffic light), then turn right (west)
on Klatt Road (traffic light), then turn left (south) on John’s Road (street
sign, no light), go to end of John’s and take a right on Pacific View
(little street), take first street on left Beaufort Circle and we are the
first driveway on your left (two decks on front of house, truck in
driveway). Call Shannon at 345-8307 or 351-2298 if you get lost.

Things we are going to work on tomorrow: template for letters of
reccomendation, poster advertising workshops and speed networking, calendar
for semester, establishment of yahoo group, update of contact list,
promotional materials for PRSSA, little black book brochures, letter to
faculty about speed networking, letter to clubs offering our services,
letter to alumni, establishment of chairs and who will be in each of
them….. etc.

See you all there, it’s going to be a super-sweet semester!

PRSSA 2006 National Conference

Anchorage, Alaska (November 29, 2006) – Three UAA journalism and public communications students traveled to Salt Lake City on Nov. 10th through the 14th to represent the Alaska “Seawolf” Chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America at the 2006 PRSSA National Conference. Chapter President, Anna Marie Roedl, Vice President Jerami Marsh and Historian Shannon Orley returned on the 14th with a fresh outlook to lead their Chapter and plan to present their experiences to fellow students in the upcoming weeks.

The annual Conference featured four days of professional workshops and social events that members may use to as an edge in their future communications careers.
Over 800 students from around the country attended sessions geared to help Chapter members develop their leadership, recruitment, fundraising, networking and professional communications skills.

“We are just taking advantage of opportunities now because public relations is a competitive field, especially in a market as small as Anchorage.” President Roedl said. “The experience we gain and the networks we build in the community play an important role in what happens to us from now on. These skills could help pretty much any professional career.”

Key discussion topics included using technological advancements such as blogging, vlogging, social bookmarking and podcasting in communications strategies, media influences and interaction, sports promotion, international opportunities in public relations, advocacy, resume and career enhancement.

Keynote and general session speakers included top executives of major companies such as Richard Edelman from Edelman Public Relations Worldwide and Newsweek managing editor, Jon Meacham. Tavis Smiley, of Public Radio International, delivered a sermonesque message that nailed the importance of stopping public relations spin, adding values to add message value, to better relate to our people and stopping the “spin” in order to build a nation that is as good as its promise.

About UAA’s PRSSA

PRSSA members have worked with local organizations to coordinate public events such as the 2006 Arctic Winter Games and Veterans Wheelchair Games last summer. Members have written press releases, templates, communications plans, websites and advertisements for local groups such as the Anchorage Conventions and Visitors Bureau, the Red Cross of Alaska, Habitat for Humanity, the Emergency Operations Center and the Aviation Heritage Museum.

Current officers are strengthening the Chapter by recruiting other UAA students who want to get involved in communications or similar pre-professional careers.

For more information call Jerami Marsh: 907-952-1154.
More chapter information will be available on our website: prssa.uaa.alaska.edu
For national information: www.prssa.org

Travel and funding

Quick note,

Liisa Morrison said today that any time we travel outside the vicinity that includes anything from Knik River to Girdwood, we have to file a travel packet. This is mainly for our safety as it includes emergency contact information.

It also includes financial information. We are supposed to include any funding that we will collect to use for our trip. We are allowed to use any funding that we have available in our account as we see fit, but the U no longer provides funding for club travel EXCEPT in the form of a grant. Grants are awarded on an individual basis and can be as high as $500 per student. They only cover airfare and registration though…for Alaskans, 500 is only enough for a ticket -if we’re lucky.

Every bit of information is available on the website though, so any time we make a move, we need to be reading the regs and stressing that newcomers get to know them too.

I have an appointment with the vice chancellor of Advancement on Thursday.  I asked her if she would talk to me about how their office handles student relations. As a student, we are entitle to information about what is available to help us succeed in our college career. As a club, we have the right to know what resources we have available.

As a PRSSA member, we should also take every opportunity to learn more about it if we plan to continue in public relations.

MEL AND I: A Tagteam Approach to Continuity

One cycle that I really want to break is the lack of continuity. It seems that every year our officers graduate, leaving behind no experience to manage the Chapter. Those that are left struggling to learn what they are doing and how they want to do it. By the time they figure it out, they are ready to graduate and have not had the time to train anyone or create a continuity binder.

One of the things I would like to strengthen is our standard of continuity. It has three tiers: mentorship, experience and leadership. If I were to surrender to the common practice of acronym usage, I might call it MEL. MEL is cool.

In the first stage-mentorship-a student is initiated into PRSSA, paired with a mentor and taught their role as a pre-professional public relations student. At this point, they learn to crawl. They may be given a few simple tasks or responsibilities until they become more familiar with the Chapter routine. Most importantly, they discover what they strive to accomplish in PRSSA.

The second stage is experience. The public relations student becomes confident of their skill and PRSSA knowledge. They are allowed to take on greater roles in our projects. They may still be under mentorship, but gradually progress into leadership positions.

The last stage-leadership-should occur naturally for most public relations personality types. They take on the management of accounts and inter-organizational projects, and they are elected into officer positions or subcommitees. They should be adopted by a PRSA professional mentor to help them complete the transition into the “real world” of public relations.

Finally, leaders begin to realize what it takes to be a successful professional, and who might be willing and able to fufill its duties. A leader will take on an understudy who seeks knowledge and is gaining experience, to teach and condition them to become a future Chapter leader.

Throughout the three phases, public relations students should to log their experiences, keep track of projects and hours spent volunteering, working and learning. By the time they graduate, they will have more than enough material to contribute to their own continuity binder. One is needed for every officer position and for long term projects such as the website.

Jerami Marsh
Vice President
Public Relations Student Society of America
Seawolf Chapter

Artisan Trade Show

Over the past month, I have been talking to local artists and inquiring about their concerns for publicity. After meeting with a few who do not consider themselves artists, I have to include applied art and trade skills.

The idea I have now, that each artist or tradesman will donate a piece of work to display at a public venue,can be hosted by PRSSA. The event will actually be a silent auction, as well as an opportunity for media to come meet original creators and for buyers to get autographs or place more orders.

PRSSA will accept donations and split the proceeds with the creators of each piece sold. A portion of the proceeds could also go to benefit a local guild or non-profit proponent of the art community.