Thanks for visiting your district website. We have a lot planned for 2012 and I would like to first thank each of our board members who have volunteered their time to make your district one of the best in country. Click here to see who your district leadership is for the coming year.
Our biggest event of the year is shaping up to be an outstanding professional development opportunity! PRSA members from throughout the Southeast and beyond should be making plans to attend the 2012 Southeast District Conference September 19-21 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The theme of the conference, hosted by the Lookout Chapter, will be “Creating Authentic Relationships in the Age of Me.”
You can find details, including the call for presentations, at http://www.seprsaconference.com/
We are still in the planning stages in regards to the 3rd Annual Southeast District Leadership Rally. I can say that we plan to have an early November event again in 2012 so be on the lookout for dates in the coming months. Please be sure to pass along to your current board members that we’ll be holding this event and get them pumped up about going. We hope that you will also have your 2013 officers selected by then so they can get some great ideas from their counterparts in other chapters.
You may remember that we added a new feature in 2011 that we plan to continue in 2012. Each chapter has a liaison from the SE District Board. Each member of the board is assigned to a chapter to visit with you during the year. You should expect to hear from your district board representative in the first quarter to set up a date for a chapter visit in the second (preferred) or early third quarter of 2012. Below you will see who will visit your Chapter and be your contact for 2012.
Chapter Visits 2012
Alabama Chapter – Steve Loudermilk, APR
Charlotte Chapter – Kelly Davis, APR
Georgia Chapter – Mitch Edwards, APR
Lookout Chapter – Melanie Davis, APR
Memphis Chapter – Bonnie Riechert, APR
Nashville Chapter – Vickye Hester, APR
North Carolina Chapter – Natalia Flores, APR
South Carolina Chapter – Chuck Norman, APR
Tar Heel Chapter – Chuck Norman, APR
Tri-Cities Chapter – Kevin Lusk
Volunteer Chapter – Penny Cothran, APR
Their job is to stay in touch with you every quarter and visit one of your board meetings or other events, preferably in the second quarter. With our monthly calls, unfortunately, we don’t have the time to delve more into the inner workings of your chapter and discuss possible issues and solutions. Having that one on one conversation gives you both more time and builds better relationships.
We had tremendous feedback about our Affinity Calls in 2011 and we are excited that we can provide this service to you as a benefit to you and your chapter again in 2012. Here is a tentative list of dates and topics for 2012.
| Month | Topic |
| January 23 | APR |
| February 27 | Awards |
| March 26 | Sponsorships |
| April 23 | Diversity |
| May 21 | Programming |
| June25 | Websites |
| July 23 | Ethics |
| August 27 | Increase Member Value |
| September 24 | Board engagement |
| October 22 | TBD/Sponsorships |
| November 26 | Recruiting new members |
If you have a topic you would like to see in 2012 that is not listed or if you would like a topic moved up in the scheduel, please email me with ideas cnorman@sacherokee.com or call me at (800) 608-7500. The monthly call number is (218) 844-0850 with pass code 570772#. Please make sure your Chapter board member responsible for the topic has the date of the call on their calendar so they will be able to share this valuable information with your board and members.
I really enjoyed getting to know the chapter leadership I visited in 2011 and I’m excited to visit with Chapters in 2012 as well. As a former president of the North Carolina Chapter, it is interesting and enlightening discussing chapter activities, opportunities and challenges around the district. As we all know, chapters are the heart of our organization. We want to make your chapters even stronger. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to any of us at any time. Remember, we’re here to help, give an outside perspective and be a resource throughout the year.
As always, thank you for the leadership role you have taken on to serve for your chapter. We appreciate all that you do.
Best,
Chuck Norman, APR
District Chair