Best of Show – End of Year Celebration and Board Installation

Best of Show – End of Year Celebration and Board Installation

 

You’re invited to come celebrate with the FPRA Ocala Chapter (serving Citrus & Marion Counties)!! Join us for the Chapter’s annual end-of-year celebration and board installation lunch program. We’re excited to recognize the dedication of our outgoing board of directors, announce the winners of our annual membership awards: including the Toni James, APR, CPRC PACEsetter award, welcome the chapter’s new leaders for the 2023-2024 year, and our past presidents will “pass the gavel” to the incoming 23-24 chapter president Lindsay Tozer, FCRM!. Plus, incoming FPRA state president, Wendy Crites Wacker, APR, CPRC, will share her vision for the year ahead. Registration includes a lunch buffet.

 

Our past president’s gavel ceremony with incoming chapter president Lindsay Tozer, FCRM, new officers’ swearing in, and our annual awards presentation.

Registration for the event is $30 per person. 
Menu includes: Tossed Salad, Lemon Pepper Chicken, Chicken Teriyaki, Stir Fry Vegetables, Fried Rice, and Varied Fruit Tarts.
If you have questions about this event, please contact our current VP of Membership / Incoming President-Elect Greg Davis at (352) 246-2278

Attendee Name

Your generosity inspires: We helped feed 16 Pace Center for Girls families

PACE Center for Girls

PACE Center for GirlsAt our Merry Mixer on Dec. 16, the FPRA Ocala Chapter presented Pace Center for Girls executive director, Carole Savage, APR, CPRC, a check for $820 – exceeding our $500 objective and helping 16 Pace families buy groceries from Publix during the holidays.
 
We hosted the fundraiser as part of the chapter’s community service project and to honor Carole and her John W. Dillin Award, FPRA’s highest honor.

The Pace Center for Girls is a nonprofit organization committed to helping girls and young women have a brighter future through education, counseling, training and advocacy.

During the check presentation, Carole said: “While we were at home with our families with too much to eat, some of my Pace girls would have had nothing to eat. The Ocala Chapter’s contribution made a huge difference in the lives of our girls – and helped us meet our fundraising goals. I can’t thank you enough.”  

Membership Renewal Deadline: Oct. 31

It’s time to renew your Florida Public Relations Association membership.

The renewal deadline is Oct. 31. Our objective this year is to retain 85% of our members and recruit at least five new members.  Can you help us achieve these results by renewing your membership before the deadline?  Plus, renewals received after the deadline are charged a $25 late fee.

Visit https://www.fpra.org/ to renew online today.

Kevin Christian Receives the Doris Fleischman Award From the Florida Public Relations Association

Ponte Vedra, Fla.,  Aug. 7, 2018— Marion County Public Schools Director of Public Relations & Multimedia Productions Kevin Christian, APR, CPRC has been awarded the prestigious Doris Fleischman Award from the Florida Public Relations Association (FPRA).

The Doris Fleischman Award is intended to honor the heretofore-unrecognized contributions an individual FPRA member has made to the public relations profession and/or to FPRA. In essence, this is an “unsung” hero award intended to reward that individual who consistently provides support and assistance to the Association.

FPRA asks each of its 15 chapters to submit nominations for this honor. The Ocala Chapter submitted the following narrative to nominate Christian to receive the recognition based on the characteristics of the award’s namesake, Doris Fleischman.

On behalf of the board of directors for the Ocala Chapter of the Florida Public Relations Association, we proudly nominate Kevin Christian, APR, CPRC for the 2018 Doris Fleischman Award.

Trailblazer– Doris Fleischman may have been behind the scenes, but she took risks when necessary to advance the profession. As president of the Ocala chapter in 2013-14, Kevin Christian, APR, CPRC took a significant risk. The Ocala Chapter website was very outdated and managed completely by code. This made updates challenging and the only member able to manage it was not easily accessible. This was not acceptable to Kevin. He felt as the County’s top communicators, the Ocala Chapter should have a website reflective of the caliber of its members. He led his board through the daunting task of migrating content and developing a new website. The web design fee was a significant investment for the chapter. He, no doubt, had some questioning his judgement. Somewhere amidst all the hustle and bustle–and financial stress of his presidency–Kevin managed to earn his CPRC! The new site was a hit, garnering the  FPRA President’s Award in Communication in 2014. Since that time, his dedication to our chapter has been unwavering.

Skilled– Immediate Past President is supposed to be the easy role, right?  He was an anchor and solid support for the president following in his footsteps. That could have been his time to quietly slip out and take a break. Instead, he stepped up to chair the Advanced Communicator Enrichment Series (ACES) program. During that year, the president moved, pushing the president-elect, his former treasurer, into the presidency six months early. Kevin agreed to remain in his role as immediate past president on the board for another term (2015-16), while coordinating 12 monthly, ACES programs that year. He ran ACES like a charm with engaging roundtable conversations, out-of-town guests and thought provoking current event topics of the day, Kevin was certain to include tremendous opportunities for our seasoned members in all sessions. During the fabulous 2016 Mid-Florida Local Image Awards held at the Reilly Arts Center, Kevin’s emcee skills were over-shadowed by his musical talents behind the exquisite baby grand on the stage. The prelude for guests entering was as if they were coming in to Carnegie Hall. Music during dinner was captivating. Despite performing, Kevin humbly bowed credit to the beauty of the stage and the baby grand he said he was honored to play.

Committed– During the 2016-17 year, Kevin served as our chapter’s chair of Accreditation, a role in which he currently serves and has just agreed to serve in that capacity for yet a third term for 2018-19. It was a challenging time as to serve the Ocala Chapter’s accreditation bench was pretty deep. He persisted with leadership, guidance, and study sessions, despite no APRs that year. This year one Ocala APR and a Lake County member he mentored have received their APR and he currently has several others in the process of sitting for their exams as well.

When the UAB reached out to APRs to participate in item-writing and technical reviews for the APR Examination, Kevin jumped at the chance. He wrote questions and participated in the review process, which are both critical to the integrity of the accreditation process.

Additionally, this year, Kevin served as the co-chair for the Chapter’s Wilton F. Martin Communicator of the Year awards. Now in the 13th year, Kevin was the second recipient of the honor in 2006, before he was an FPRA member.

Humble– Kevin has continued to grow his involvement and commitment to FPRA. He encourages and mentors others to do the same. The spirit of Doris Fleischman was one of being in the background, not getting much attention for the work she did to ensure her husband’s PR success. Kevin Christian, APR, CPRC is a gentleman, humbly operating behind the scenes for our chapter. Yet, when called upon, without hesitation, he will come out from behind the curtain to take the stage, not for his glory, but for the good of the chapter. We are honored to nominate Kevin for this honor he so richly deserves.

The Ocala Chapter meets the third Friday of each month at 11:45 in the teleconference room of the Ewers Century Center at the College of Central Florida. For additional information on the Ocala Chapter Name of FPRA please call Ocala Chapter Communications Director Ginger Broslat, APR, CPRC at 352-861-0252.

The Florida Public Relations Association is dedicated to developing public relations practitioners who, through ethical and standardized practices, enhance the public relations profession in Florida. The organization’s 15 professional and 12 student chapters provide professional development, networking and recognition opportunities for nearly 1,200 members across the state. FPRA is the nation’s oldest public relations organization, established by Lt. Col. John Dillin, APR, CPRC in 1938. For more information, visit www.fpra.org.

Local Public Relations Professionals Win Golden Image Awards

Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., Aug. 8, 2018— Six members of the Ocala Chapter of the Florida Public Relations Association (FPRA) were presented with Golden Image Awards for excellence in public relations programming at the Association’s annual banquet and conference held recently at the Sawgrass Marriott Golf Resort in Ponte Vedra, Fla.

 

 

 

Among the winners and awards were:

In Division A, Public Relations Programs:

Devon Chestnut, APR, CPRC, Cox Southeast Region and Cox One Team, Internal category, Golden Image Award, CoxOne Launch Campaign

 

 

 

 

 

Ginger Broslat Communications, KSC Incorporated, Digital Fury and Neptune Advertising, Promotional Marketing category, Award of Distinction,

 

 

 

 

 

In Division B, Printed Tools of Public Relations:

JJ Fields, Allison Campbell, APR, CPRC, Lauren DeIorio and Public Education Foundation of Marion County, Division B, Other category, Award of Distinction, Coupons for Education

 

 

 

 

 

Kevin Christian, APR, CPRC,Award of Distinction for the school district’s annual calendar

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Division C, Digital Tools of Public Relations:

Marc Rice of Digital Fury and Ginger Broslat, APR, CPRC, Judges’ Award and Award of Distinction, Ocala Police Department recruitment video,

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kevin Christian, APR, CPRC, Golden Image Award and Judges Award for the school district’s ALICE protocol video

 

 

 

 

Marc Rice of Digital Fury and Ginger Broslat, APR, CPRC, Golden Image Award for the 2017 FPRA Annual Conference video.

 

 

 

 

 


As former VPs of Golden Image, Tina Banner, APR, CPRC and Toni James, APR, CPRC were invited to present awards for Division B.

Ocala Chapter member Laura Byrnes, APR, CPRC served as the 2017-2018 vice president of Golden Image on the Association’s state executive committee. She led local Image chairs through the 10 local ceremonies prior to the statewide competition.

The Golden Image Awards have become a standard of public relations excellence in the State of Florida. Winners demonstrate the very best examples of innovation, planning and design. The awards competition includes four categories: Public Relations Programs, Printed Tools of Public Relations, Audio/Visual Tools of Public Relations, and Student Projects in Public Relations. More than 250 Golden Image entries were received in the statewide competition.

 

The Ocala Chapter meets the third Friday of each month at 11:45 in the teleconference room of the Ewers Century Center at the College of Central Florida. For additional information on the Ocala Chapter Name of FPRA please call Ocala Chapter Communications Director Ginger Broslat, APR, CPRC at 352-861-0252.

The Florida Public Relations Association is dedicated to developing public relations practitioners who, through ethical and standardized practices, enhance the public relations profession in Florida. The organization’s 15 professional and 12 student chapters provide professional development, networking and recognition opportunities for nearly 1,200 members across the state. FPRA is the nation’s oldest public relations organization, established by Lt. Col. John Dillin, APR, CPRC in 1938. For more information, visit www.fpra.org.

 

FPRA Ocala Earns Statewide Recognition from FPRA for Chapter of the Year and Strengthening the FPRA Brand

Ponte Vedra, Fla., Aug. 6, 2018— The Florida Public Relations Association (FPRA) recently recognized the Ocala Chapter for two awards at the President’s Luncheon at the 80thFPRA Annual Conference.

FPRA State President Ryan Gerds, APR, CPRC first recognized the Ocala Chapter for strengthening the FPRA brand in the community. Gerds mentioned how the chapter further informed community members about the statewide association through the Mid-Florida Local Image Awards and Wilton F. Martin Communicator of the Year program, Monthly Mixers, regular communication as well as through the chapter’s annual Toolkit for Success seminar.

Culminating the President’s Luncheon, the Ocala Chapter was announced as Chapter of the Year among the Association’s 15 statewide chapters.

“The Ocala Chapter has a rich heritage of leadership for FPRA locally, as well as on the State Association’s executive committee,” said FPRA Ocala Chapter President Lisa Varner, APR, CPRC of Ocala Brodcasting. “It’s been my honor to serve as president this year. It’s easy to lead an organization when you have such a deep bench of seasoned professionals who remain committed on the local level. When you team that with newer members with great enthusiasm and a vision for the future, it’s a game plan for success.”

The Ocala Chapter meets the third Friday of each month at 11:45 in the teleconference room of the Ewers Century Center at the College of Central Florida. For additional information on the Ocala Chapter Name of FPRA please call Ocala Chapter Communications Director Ginger Broslat, APR, CPRC at 352-861-0252.

The Florida Public Relations Association is dedicated to developing public relations practitioners who, through ethical and standardized practices, enhance the public relations profession in Florida. The organization’s 15 professional and 12 student chapters provide professional development, networking and recognition opportunities for nearly 1,200 members across the state. FPRA is the nation’s oldest public relations organization, established by Lt. Col. John Dillin, APR, CPRC in 1938. For more information, visit www.fpra.org.

Katie Hunicutt Inducted to 2018 Joe Curley Rising Leader Class

Ponte Vedra, Fla.,  Aug. 7, 2018— Ocala Health Marketing and Communications Manager Lauren Debick graduated from Leadership FPRA at the Florida Public Relations Association (FPRA) Annual Conference recently.

The Joe Curley Rising Leader Award is intended to identify and honor up-and-coming individual FPRA members that demonstrate emerging leadership traits along with dedicated active involvement in FPRA Chapter activities, programs, functions and events.

The goal of the award is to help recognize personal dedication and engagement of members with two to five years of membership, and to help build a healthy leadership stream at the local chapter level.Each class member participated in LeadershipFPRA orientation the day prior to the start of the 2017 Annual Conference, followed by five seminar-styled leadership training classes from a faculty of some of the most accomplished professionals in the state. The curriculum is challenging, and participants are required to attend the orientation, graduation and four of the five independent classes of the program instruction.

The Ocala Chapter meets the third Friday of each month at 11:45 in the teleconference room of the Ewers Century Center at the College of Central Florida. For additional information on the Ocala Chapter Name of FPRA please call Ocala Chapter Communications Director Ginger Broslat, APR, CPRC at 352-861-0252.

The Florida Public Relations Association is dedicated to developing public relations practitioners who, through ethical and standardized practices, enhance the public relations profession in Florida. The organization’s 15 professional and 12 student chapters provide professional development, networking and recognition opportunities for nearly 1,200 members across the state. FPRA is the nation’s oldest public relations organization, established by Lt. Col. John Dillin, APR, CPRC in 1938. For more information, visit www.fpra.org.

Local Public Relations Professionals Recognized for Service on the FPRA State Executive Committee

Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., Aug. 7, 2018— Seven members of the Ocala Chapter of the Florida Public Relations Association (FPRA) were recognized for their year of service as executive committee members of the Association’s Board of Directors at its recent annual conference in Ponte Vedra, Fla.

The following members were recognized by FPRA State President Ryan Gerds, APR, CPRC as outstanding leaders for the statewide association.

Lauren DeIorio of the Community Foundation for Ocala Marion County served as VP of Finance.  Tina Banner, APR, CPRC of the College of Central Florida served as the chair of the FPRA Education Foundation. Ginger Broslat, APR, CPRC of Ginger Broslat Communications served as VP of accreditation and certification and will continue in that role for 2018-2019. Laura Byrnes, APR, CPRC served as VP of Golden Image and was installed as VP of professional development for 2018-2019. Allison Campbell of A&A Campbell Group served as VP of student services. Devon Chestnut, APR, CPRC of Cox Communications served as VP of member services. Carole Savage, APR, CPRC completed her two-year term as the Association’s first VP of Leadership FPRA.

Tina Banner Announces Record Year for FPRAEF Fundraising

As chair of the Florida Public Relations Association Education Foundation, Tina Banner, APR, CPRC announced a milestone gain for the Foundation. Banner announced more than $10,500 had been donated by members and chapters across the state. This amount exceeded Banner’s fundraising goal for the year by 68 percent.

Banner, who serves as the College of Central Florida PR/Marketing manager, was especially pleased to introduce to attendees one of the two college students who received scholarships from the Foundation.

“I’ve always had a passion for professional development and pursuing education goals,” says Banner. “After joining the staff at the College of Central Florida, that passion has grown as I see first-hand the excitement of students preparing for their careers. The timing of my job change and serving as the chair of the FPRA Education Foundation this year was a bit of serendipity to bring two areas of my career together in a meaningful way.”

 

Nick Zoller Receives APR Credential

Ponte Vedra, Fla (Aug. 6, 2018) — Nick Zoller was presented his professional accreditation in public relations, and received the designation of Accredited in Public Relations (APR) at The Associations 80thAnnual Conference. Zoller now joins the more than 5,000 professionals nationally that represent an elite group of highly skilled public relations professionals committed to practicing with exemplary ethical standards.

Nick Zoller is the public relations director for Marion County and a member of the county’s senior management team. He joined Marion County in 2016, bringing a decade of communications leadership and media relations experience to his role.

Zoller oversees strategic messaging, branding, marketing and long-range communications planning, facilitating the county’s relationship building with internal and external customers and the media. Since joining Marion County, Zoller has endeavored to highlight the county’s strategies and vision for the community now and in the future with customers, residents, partners and stakeholders.

Zoller graduated from Florida International University in 2016, earning his master of science in mass communication. He completed undergraduate coursework in public administration at St. Petersburg College and is currently serving his third term as a college president-appointed member of the program’s advisory board. Zoller obtained Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) in 2018.

Previously, he served as public information officer in Pinellas County, where his focus on two-way communication with customers and residents regarding public infrastructure departments led to increased transparency and positive community feedback. Prior to that, he spent 6 years providing communications and media relations consulting services to political and issue advocacy organizations.The examination is administered by the Universal Accreditation Board (UAB), which is an alliance of eight national and statewide professional associations dedicated to furthering the field of public relations and the development of public relations professionals.  The Florida Public Relations Association is a member of the UAB.

Lt. Col. John Dillin, APR, CPRC, established FPRA in 1938 for the purpose of helping public relations practitioners do their jobs better.  As the oldest public relations organization in the country, FPRA is dedicated to developing public relations practitioners, who, through ethical and standardized practices, enhance the public relations profession in Florida.  FPRA is comprised of 13 professional and nine student chapters throughout the state, providing professional development, networking and professional recognition opportunities.

        Zoller was recognized at the conference by FPRA VP of Accreditation and Certification Ginger Broslat, APR, CPRC. Broslat, a member of the Ocala Chapter of FPRA, recognized a record number of 17 members earning the APR credential. Broslat also coached senior level practitioners seeking the Certified Public Relations Counselor credential. The CPRC, unique to FPRA recognizes the highest level of professionalism and advanced consultation skills in the practice of public relations. Broslat presented  13 newly confirmed CPRCs at the same ceremony.

For additional information on FPRA, please visit www.fpra.orgor contact the Association’s state office at (941) 365-2135 or e-mail [email protected].