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OCALA, Fla. (August 21, 2023) – On August 7, Florida Public Relations Association Ocala Chapter President Tammy A. Gantt accepted three President’s Awards for her leadership in membership retention, special events, and financial management from State Association President Jay Morgan-Schleuning, APR, at the annual Presidents’ Luncheon held during the FPRA Annual Conference at the Waldorf Astoria in Orlando, Fla.

During the awards luncheon, Morgan-Schleuning, APR, recognized the accomplishments of chapter presidents in key award categories that enhanced leadership and chapter success while furthering the mission of advancing the public relations profession within the state.

Gantt led the Ocala Chapter to a 98% member retention rate and 30% growth rate, the highest of all 16 statewide chapters.

“While these awards are issued to the president, it takes the dedication of the entire chapter to make them happen,” Gantt said. “The membership goals were achieved thanks to all our members who believed in our purpose and renewed.”

She continued, “I owe a huge thank you to members, Dr. Allison Campbell, APR, CPRC and Lisa Varner, APR, CPRC, who contacted members on the spot when asked. It also meant a lot that our President-Elect Lindsay Tozer and Vice President of Membership Greg Davis collaboratively recruited seven members from Citrus county, and I appreciate their continued recruitment of future members.”

Gantt also accepted the President’s Special Event Award for her leadership as co-chair of the ‘Back to the Roots’ Communications and PR Conference held at the College of Central Florida in Ocala in May. The local chapter partnered with the Association of Florida Colleges for the one-day conference that resulted in $3,000 in sponsorships, 110 attendees, 15 presenters, 14 sessions covering 13 topics, eight pieces of collateral including a 12-page program, eight ‘front porch’ vendors, seven sponsors, six hours of professional development programming, five scholarships awarded, four speakers of diversity, two home-cooked meals by Rashad Jones of Big Lee’s BBQ and Mojo’s, one pre-event mixer at World Equestrian Center, one community service project with the Hispanic Business Council, and one CEU credit for ethics accreditation.

Rachel Cote, fellow FPRA member, AFC board member, and CF manager of web communications, new media, marketing and public relations, also served as co-chair with Gantt and received an FPRA state level Rising Star nomination for her efforts. CF manager of marketing and public relations and FPRA/AFC member Lisa McGinnes also played a key role on the committee.

Gantt additionally accepted the President’s Award for Financial Management. Notable achievements included staying on budget, garnering a record number of sponsors, cutting expenses, increasing fundraisers, developing outreach opportunities for increased funding, and focused on revenue line items, including rebates and media directory sales.

The additional revenue led to an increase in scholarships the Chapter was able to issue to members for leadership programs such as the annual conference, LeadershipFPRA, professional development programs, and membership dues.

Gantt was quick to credit the team effort of Chapter Treasurer Beverly Brown, APR; 2022 Treasurer Kristina Donohue, APR; and Immediate Past President Heather Danenhower, APR, CPRC, who assisted her in creating a budget and fundraising plan for financial success.

FPRA is the oldest public relations association in the country representing 16 professional chapters and 14 student chapters throughout the state. The FPRA Ocala Chapter was established in 1980. For The FPRA Annual Conference is the largest public relations conference of the year within Florida. For more information, visit https://www.fpra.org/. 

Best of Show – End of Year Celebration and Board Installation!!  Learn more and register here: https://www.fpraocala.org/bestofshow/

In 2005, chapter leadership sought a way to further engage seasoned practitioners. The concept of ACES was formed (Advanced Career Enhancement Series). 

ACES is designed to bring together the chapter’s most experienced members in a small, casual setting to discuss current public relations topics and issues.  This time for peer-to-peer dialogue usually consists of discussing current event case studies. Members explore pros and cons of how situations are/were handled and offer insight as to what better strategies could have been employed and what difference it could make in the outcome. Ocala Chapter ACES members have also conducted seminars for non-profit groups as part of the chapter’s community service.

Are you interested in a volunteer opportunity for our annual chapter conference? Please contact us for further information. 

In June, we returned to in-person professional development meetings at the College of Central Florida for the first time in more than a year.

Natalie Asorey, lecturer and associate director at the University of Florida’s The Agency, presented “How to connect with Latinx communities in Florida.”

The 5 takeaways from her presentation include:

1. Language is important, but translation is not enough. To connect on a deeper level, look beyond translation to see what is universally true.
2. If you are confused about whether to use the term “Hispanic” or “Latino,” you’re not alone. “Hispanic” describes the language whereas “Latino” describes geographic origin, i.e., Latin America. Neither term describes identity or culture – and it’s best to use more specific descriptions, such as Puerto Rican, Mexican, Cuban, etc.
3. Most Latino adults have never heard the term Latinx.
4. Immerse yourself in different cultures and unlearn assumptions.
5. Understand how and why Latinos consume media. Latinos spend more than 30 hours a week on smartphones and more than 12 hours a week listening to radio.

At July’s professional development meeting, Myiah Hutchens, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Public Relations at the University of Florida, presented: “How communication functions in democratic processes.”

The 5 takeaways from her presentation include:

1. Though counterintuitive, research shows Facebook does not appear to be facilitating filter bubbles or making polarization worse. Exposure to incivility does not in and of itself lead to negative outcomes.
2. Our relationship between two things is never static. Social media amplifies the caricature of opposing views. Using names, identities and avatars of real people reduces this perspective.
3. Calling out misbehavior, such as name calling, on social media within your own group decreases polarization. Yelling at the other side doesn’t do anything. Instead, ask for the behavior you want and reinforce shared identities, but remember, changing opinions is super rare.
4. Disagreement can have positive effects. When we access the other side, we are less polarized over time because our views become less extreme. We are more likely to seek out disagreeable views online because it’s safer and (mostly) anonymous.
5. Face-to-face discussions are still most effective; it’s a lot harder to be a jerk to someone’s face.

Public relations practitioners understand the ways in which we communicate with our audiences have evolved exponentially. Those of us who once relied on traditional vehicles to reach our audiences have had to learn to navigate in the digital marketing sphere over the last decade ­– usually through trial and error. 

Because more children and youth audiences are spending more time online, it’s important to include a digital strategy into a business’s marketing plan. During Lisa O’Keefe’s discussion, she stressed the importance for all marketers to understand how children and youth markets are interacting with the digital platforms from which they are seeking content.

Here are 5 takeaways about digital strategies to implement in marketing from Lisa O’Keefe’s presentation,  “How MTV and Nickelodeon Networks connect brands to millennials, Gen Y and Gen Z.”

1. Fragmentation:  Children and youth have moved away from linear formats like television and radio, and have migrated to digital platforms such as YouTube. Because this demographic has become so fragmented, it is more challenging for marketers to reach them. 
2. Programmatic Marketing:  The evolution of programmatic marketing has created new opportunities for marketers. This technology utilizes data sets with supply-side platforms and demand-side platforms. Programmatic advertising offers greater transparency, as compared to traditional advertising. Through programmatic advertising, advertisers can track what sites their advertisements are reaching, the type of customer looking at their ad, and any costs associated with the advertisement. The benefit is that this can be done in real-time and changed to augment the strategy or campaign effectiveness.
3. Digital Platforms: There are now many new evolving platforms to reach the children and youth market such as podcasts, audio, gaming and social media.
4. Messaging within Digital Platforms: It’s important for marketers to know the benefits of each digital platform available to the children and youth market and how content is created and consumed by each. Messages and content should be tailored to each platform.
5. Buying Cycle:  It’s important for all marketers to know where each of their messages is in the buying cycle. For example, when a marketer creates an advertisement for television or radio, it’s in the upper funnel of the buying cycle as brand awareness. Targeted digital ads, such as an email with a coupon would be down the funnel of the buying cycle as consumer activation.