PRSA-LA PRism Awards Recap  

 

Region's Most Prestigious Industry Event Sees Record Attendance in 47th Year    

PRSA Los Angeles' PRism Awards Show, now in its 47th year, continues to grow and become more successful.

More than 400 guests attended the sold out show at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel on November 9, 2011.

A total of 59 PRisms were awarded to agencies, corporations and non-profit organizations for outstanding achievements in public relations. Honorees hailed from numerous organizations specializing in automotive, healthcare, travel, entertainment and non-profit public relations.

In addition, a special award was given for Best-In-Show, as determined by the judges, to West Basin Municipal Water District for their Water Reliability 2020 Program; and the coveted President's Award for the most awards won during the evening was bestowed upon GolinHarris, which received a total of 13 awards.

 

This year's event was produced and directed by Michael Seel, producer/director of the Hollywood Awards and American Cinema Editors Awards.  Special presenters included actor Joel McHale, star of the popular television program "Community" who presented the PRism for PR Team of the Year to the NBC entertainment team, publicity division; and Tim Leiweke, president & CEO of AEG, who presented the PRism for PR Professional of the Year to Michael Roth, vice president, communications, AEG.

December Membership Promotion: 

 

Act by December 31 to Lock in Your 2011 Membership Dues Rate!    

 

In January, 2012, PRSA national will implement a membership dues increase of $30. But now and through the end of this month, PRSA members can prepay their 2012 dues and claim expanded membership benefits while locking in 2011 membership rates. PRSA members will also get more for their money in 2012, with expanded member benefits:


Benefits of PRSA National membership:

• Webinars are now free with PRSA membership. PRSA will offer its entire catalogue of professional development webinars to members -- for free -- starting in 2012. This represents nearly $2,000 in annual savings for members who participate in one PRSA webinar per month.

• New member loyalty programs are in the works. In 2012, PRSA will introduce new loyalty programs to reward the Society's most-involved members. These cross-channel programs will improve the value proposition of your PRSA membership even further.

Benefits of PRSA-LA Chapter membership:

• Access to regional job bank 

• APR accreditation preparation 

• Monthly At Breakfast With... series featuring local, trade and national journalists 

• Monthly programs, mixers and professional development workshops 

• Annual PRism Awards

• Annual community service scholarship & grant 

A printed membership renewal notice will arrive in your mailbox soon, but that's no reason for delay.  Secure a great rate by renewing online today via your MyPRSA account or:

• Phone a Member Services rep. at 212.460.1400.

• Mail your forthcoming renewal form to:

PRSA

P.O. Box 5940

New York, NY 10087-5940

 

A Taste of What You Missed

    

"The New Face of Facebook" Reveals Tips for Success When Using the Ever-Evolving Social Media Site 

 

   

Have you ever attended a meeting of PRSA-LA's Independent Practitioners Alliance (IPA)? If not, you should start, otherwise you'll continue to miss out on some of the chapter's most valuable monthly programming.

Attendees of the "New Face of Facebook" IPA event on October 27 were treated to an information-packed talk by guest expert Serena Ehrlich. Ehrlich, who serves as L.A. Executive Director of New York-based social media agency Attention, provided up-to-the-minute details of Facebook's recent and upcoming functionality changes, as well as concrete suggestions about how to effectively use the social media site for consumer PR campaigns.

PRSA-LA member Andrew Hindes, president and founder of The In-House Writer, attended the event at the Universal CityWalk Hard Rock Café and offers these highlights:

• All posts are not created equal when it comes to prominence in Facebook news feeds. The site's current algorithm favors photos, followed by videos, engaging questions and lastly, text statements.

• One of the hottest new social media marketing trends is branded Facebook apps. One reason: Apps that automatically post user's lifestyle activities to their wall (think: Spotify) are now weighted heavily by Facebook.

• Implementing contests on Facebook has never been easier, thanks to cheap, off-the-shelf apps from OfferPop, Wildfire and others. But beware: contests must still adhere to legal requirements, including posting contest rules.

• Facebook's new "Page Insights" offer a wealth of detailed metrics for business page owners. Data including number of "Likes," "Shares" and "People Talking About This," make it easy to evaluate which types of posts are getting your client the most attention.

• Think twice before deleting negative comments on a brand page. (Chapstick recently learned this the hard way.) Better to let your fans fight your battle for you.

• When in doubt, use a picture of a puppy.