PRSA SE District Celebrates Successful 2012

District Officers gathered with chapter leaders at the 2012 district leadership rally in Charlotte. (L-R) Loudermilk, Flores, Edwards, Norman, Riechert, Davis.
District Officers gathered with chapter leaders at the 2012 district leadership rally in Charlotte. (L-R) Loudermilk, Flores, Edwards, Norman, Riechert, Davis.
PRSA SE District officers for 2012 are ending a successful year for the Southeast District, and incoming officers for 2013 have exciting plans for the new year. For example, a district leadership rally – for incoming chapter officers throughout the district – is planned for the fall of 2013, to be hosted in Nashville. Chapter officers will share best practices and gain inspiration and skills for effective local chapter leadership.

The district leadership rally held Nov. 2 in Charlotte, N.C., was attended by chapter officers from most chapters in the region. A similar rally was held in Birmingham in 2011 and in Atlanta in 2010. These events include keynote speakers and breakout sessions for chapter presidents, presidents-elect, secretaries, treasurers, ethics officers, accreditation chairs, program chairs, and other committee leaders.

The PRSA Southeast District Conference held in September 2012 in Chattanooga was well received by more than 130 chapter members from throughout the district. The Lookout Chapter hosted the conference, lining up exciting keynote speakers and networking receptions at the Chattanooga Aquarium and the Blue Cross/Blue Shield headquarters.

The next district conference – for all district PRSA members – is planned for spring of 2014 and will be hosted by the Charlotte Chapter in Charlotte, N.C.

A Twitter account was established for @seprsa, and a “Southeast District PRSA” page was added on Facebook.

District officers for 2012 were:
• Chair: Chuck Norman, APR, North Carolina
• Chair-elect: Mitch Edwards, APR, Alabama
• Treasurer: Natalia Flores, APR, Charlotte
• Secretary: Kelly Davis, APR, South Carolina
• Immediate Past Chair: Melanie Davis, APR, Alabama
• Director-at-Large (2-yr term, 2011-12): Kevin Lusk, Lookout
• Director-at-Large (2-yr term, 2011-12): Penny Cothran, APR, South Carolina
• Director-at-Large (1-yr term): Stephen Loudermilk, Georgia
• Director-at-Large (1-yr term): Vickye Hester, APR, Memphis
• Web/E-newsletter: Bonnie Riechert, APR, Fellow, Nashville

Norman is owner/principal at S&A Cherokee, Raleigh-Durham, N.C. Edwards is SVP of marketing, sales and business development at HighGround Solutions, Birmingham. Flores is director at Fusion Communications, Charlotte, N.C. She’s a native of Argentina. Kelly Davis is owner at Davis Public Relations and Marketing, LLC, Columbia, S.C., and is a director-at-large on the national board of directors of PRSA. Melanie Davis is assistant director of communications at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Lusk is communications/membership/development manager at the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Medical Society. Cothran is communications director at SC Bankers Association, Columbia, S.C. Loudermilk is global director of media and analyst relations at LexisNexis, Alpharetta, Ga., and is the incoming chair of the PRSA National Tech Section. Hester is communications specialist at Methodist Bonheur Healthcare, Memphis. Riechert is chair of the department of public relations at Belmont University, Nashville.