No one’s perfect, but everyone can be awesome. International Day of Awesomeness, celebrated on March 10 every year, is a day where anybody, no matter who they are, may celebrate their awesomeness. Yes, we all possess qualities that make us awesome in some way. By definition, being awesome causes inspiration in others. Whatever you do, make it extraordinary because the mundane will not do on International Day of Awesomeness.
There are a few things to highlight for the Chapter this month:
- In addition to being awesome, March is “let’s prep for Golden Image submission” month! Friendly reminder – as previously communicated, there will not be local image awards anywhere in the State. The State Executive Committee voted in November 2023 and approved to only have Golden Image awards. We have two scheduled Golden Image related events this month.
- Monday, March 18, 12pm – 1pm eastern, we will be hosting our FREE member-benefit monthly Zoom webinar with Jen Houser. A multi local and Golden Image award winner, Jen is a creative and leader with strong communication skills. She has the ability to drive domestic and international projects, build strong relationships with diverse groups and exceed expectations for any project. She loves working in fast paced environments and is known for complementary skills in driving results while maintaining solid relationships through a growth mindset and being a servant leader. As a pre-cursor to our professional development on March 22nd, Jen will present “Everything Golden Image”. The Golden Image Awards have become a standard of excellence in the state of Florida. Winners demonstrate the very best examples of innovation, planning and design
- Attend our March Professional Development meeting on Friday, March 22nd with State VP of Golden Image Lindsay Hudock, APR, CPRC to explore the new Golden Image submission process. For additional information and to register, please click here.
- Every chapter throughout the State is diligently working on changing the “it’s always been done this way” mentality and is providing multiple avenues to continue developing member engagement, re-engagement and recruitment. As we continue to explore options to be inclusive of everyone’s needs, through forward thinking and listening to member feedback both in person and from surveys, our chapter has already implemented several ideas that have been discussed at the State level;
- alternate communication channels (Slack, FB chapter group, etc.);
- offering professional development opportunities on different days/times of the week to meet chapter members at times that are flexible and to attempt to accommodate everyone’s schedules so that everyone has an opportunity to participate;
- different opportunities to meet up: socials, coffees, etc.;
- recognizing that there are several ways to bridge the gaps;
- issuing member surveys to identify all the different ways chapter members are engaging with FPRA both locally and statewide (counselor’s network, statewide mixers, statewide webinars, online study sessions, etc);
- and I know there’s more that I just can’t think of at the moment…. 🙂
- We will be having our 1-day annual local COMMference this year on Friday, April 26th at the College of Central Florida in Ocala. This will be an all-day event and will be our April professional development for the month. Greg has worked tirelessly at securing keynote speakers and break-out session speakers. There will be 3 main speaker sessions (opening, lunch, and closing), and then 2 breakout sessions in-between with 2 different options. One of those breakout sessions Greg is working with UAB to secure someone to teach the ethics session required for ongoing APR and CPRC certification.
All that said, we are halfway through this chapter year, which means I am halfway through my term as president. I want to take a moment to thank each and every one of you. Every chapter member has demonstrated, in one way or another, exceptional efforts that have propelled us forward with commitment, resilience, and innovative thinking. For those we haven’t seen in awhile, we miss you! And hope to see you soon at one of the many monthly opportunities we have to connect.
Yours in service
Lindsay