About Us
The Blue Ridge Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America is a professional association serving Central and Southwest Virginia public relations practitioners. Since 1992, the chapter has strived to bring professionals together to enhance the practice, provide an exchange of experiences and ideals, and promote professional development.
2011 Blue Ridge Chapter Goals
The Chapter goals this year include continued work on the 2010 - 2012 Strategic Plan that was developed last year.
Stabilize membership and begin to grow again. Thanks to the hard work of our former membership chair and current Secretary Melinda Mayo, we saw our membership begin to stabilize in 2010 and ended the year with 90 members. This year, with the guidance of 2008 chapter president and current membership chair Amy Whittaker, we hope to grow a bit in 2011 and hit the 100 member mark that we last saw just a few years ago.
Play a larger role in advocating our profession. Treasurer Heidi Ketler, APR and Professional Development Chair Chuck Lionberger, APR worked hard last year to nominate Ferne Bonomi, APR, Fellow PRSA, for the national Patrick Jackson Award she won at the International PRSA Conference this fall. Their efforts, combined with the work of Immediate Past President Thomas Becher, APR have begun to put the Blue Ridge Chapter "on the map."
This year Thomas will serve as our chapter's Mid-Atlantic District representative. Later this month, our executive board will travel to Northern Virginia to participate in the region's second annual Regional Leadership/Quick Start Training.
Enhance the value of membership. We will continue to demonstrate the value of membership with meaningful and insightful programs, events and services. President-Elect Nancy Simmons has put together an impressive list of speakers for this year's professional development luncheons. We will again host our April event in Blacksburg at the Inn at Virginia Tech and this year will also make the beginning of a new relationship with the Advertising Federation of the Roanoke Valley, with whom we will partner to present a collaborative luncheon each June.
Sincerely,
Laura L. Neff-Henderson, APR
2011 President
Video: The Value of PRSA Blue Ridge Chapter Programming
