October 2017
Communication Leadership Awards
Nomination Period Closes Friday, October 13
The Greater Spokane PRSA Communications Leadership Awards are back! And even looking a little different. We’ve listened! The nomination forms have been simplified to streamline the process for nominators and the timeline has been extended for submitting nominations.

This year, we will recognize four outstanding leaders in the following categories. Additional information and nomination forms for these awards may be found on the  PRSA Spokane website.

  • Communications Professional of the Year
  • Rising PR Star of the Year
  • Executive Communicator of the Year
  • Degerness Award for Excellence in Public Relations

This year we have added a category for Outstanding Public Relations Campaign recognizing a PR campaign that occurred between October 2016 – October 2017. Click here to learn more about this award and submit an entry!

Don't forget - nominations close this Friday, October 13 !

And please plan to join us for the actual celebration:

Greater Spokane Communication Leadership Awards Breakfast
Thursday, November 2, 2017 | 7:30 – 9:00 a.m.
$20 single ticket | $110 table of six
Barrister Winery | 1213 West Railroad Avenue, Spokane, WA 99201

Join us for a delicious breakfast made with love from Beacon Hill at Barrister Winery downtown. You will also enjoy:

  • Networking with fellow communicators.
  • Introductions of our incoming chapter board members.
  • A short chapter update and sneak peek at what the board has lined up for you next year.
  • Recognition of the outstanding communications professionals in the Greater Spokane community.
Do you love supporting home-grown, local communications excellence? Consider sponsoring this event!
Contact our PRSA sponsorship chair, Jennifer Ferrero at [email protected] . 
Coming Up
Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture
2316 W 1st Ave, Spokane, WA 99201
 
Cost:
$10 PRSA members; $15 Non-PRSA members
$5 PRSSA students; $10 for Non-PRSSA students
Parking is free. Lunch is included.
 
Join us Wednesday, October 18 , at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture in Spokane for lunch and conversation with Bruce Pinkleton, Ph.D., from the Washington State University Murrow College of Communication . Dr. Pinkleton will give a brief presentation on using research to inform your PR campaign.
 
Pinkleton is the interim dean and a professor of communication in the Murrow College of Communication. His research program focuses on the motivations and information source use—including traditional and digital media—in individuals’ decision-making processes in health and public affairs. As part of this program of research, he examines ways to increase message effectiveness and conducts evaluations of communication campaigns directed to targeted audiences such as adolescents.
 
He is coauthor of Strategic Public Relations Management, now in its third edition, and is widely published in peer-reviewed journals. At WSU, he teaches topics including principles of public relations, PR campaign design and management, and quantitative research methods.
 
Pinkleton has been a member of PRSA for 28 years. He is a past recipient of the Educator of the Year Award, recognized jointly through the PRSA Greater Spokane Chapter and the Spokane Regional MarCom Association. He holds a total of eight top-paper awards from the International Communication Association or the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.
Special thanks to our sponsor for this event:
Rock the Vote!
voting_people.jpg

We still need a few more members to vote in our slate of directors for the 2018 calendar year to meet our quorum requirement.

If you are a current PRSA member and have not yet placed your vote to elect Tim Osborn, Laura Bracken and Taylor McGill to the Board of Directors and Jennifer Ferrero as President and Katy Wagnon as President-Elect, please take a minute to do so today!
President's Message
Lori Maricle, APR
President
Greater Spokane
Chapter PRSA

Did you miss our September program on re-branding?

We sat down with Harry Sladich, executive vice president of hotel operations and global sales for Red Lion Hotels, to talk brand transformation and lessons learned from the re-branding of the Hotel RL here in Spokane.

Hotel RL’s new brand statement relies on strong Pacific Northwest elements like technology, the outdoors, and coffee. Here are some key takeaways on how they transformed the northwest casual, creative and welcoming face of Hotel RL:

  • Technology integration. New processes means a learning curve for customers too. The hotel is targeting an emerging generation of professional travelers who are apt to conduct business from the cloud and be first to test new technology. However, Sladich pointed out their existing customer base has not changed and many loyal customers needed extra help transitioning to new features including mobile check-in, self-serve restaurant ordering and the elimination of the traditional “front desk.”
  • Emphasis on training to create brand ambassadors. “No one has enough training dollars,” admits Sladich. But encouraging and listening to employee feedback is an important element for Hotel RL to find and integrate better ideas. Training employees on how to not only provide excellent customer service, but to also educate customers on the rationale behind the re-brand and how to take full advantage of the new hotel features are what will ultimately make the re-brand successful.
  • Flexibility is the key to success. Recognizing that some elements of the rebrand would not work for select groups and being flexible to accommodate customer needs was critical to keeping loyal customers happy, said Sladich. 

Don't miss our next event with Dr. Bruce Pinkleton from WSU! It will be a good one!
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