Articles

Northeast District News Update

Bobbi Lonobile and Michelle Cometa

The big news on the PRSA Northeast District front is that a date has been set for the next district conference, hosted by PRSA Boston: Monday, June 13, 2016 is the day. UMass is the place! 

Conference committee members are gearing up for what is expected to be another great Northeast District day-long professional development event. Efforts to secure sponsorships and keynote speakers are already well underway. Stay tuned for information on how you can be involved in planning. In the meantime, if you are interested in taking part by joining one of the Rochester planning subcommittees, please contact Northeast steering committee member 

In other news, the Northeast District slate of officers for 2016 was voted and includes Rochester Chapter Assembly Delegate Michelle Cometa as treasurer. Also serving as officers for 2016 are: Crystal DeStefano, Chair, Central New York Chapter; Scott Fraser, Chair Elect, Southeastern New England; Jackie Lustig, Secretary, Boston; and Jane Law, Immediate Past Chair, Yankee.

Assembly Delegate News
Rochester Chapter Assembly Delegates Michelle Cometa and Bobbi Lonobile recently returned from PRSA’s annual leadership assembly in Atlanta. The daylong meeting took place on Saturday November 7, the day before the annual International Conference began.

Proposed changes to two bylaws, discussed in the last issue of this newsletter were both passed. One is related to associate membership designed to help newer professionals more easily afford membership as they begin their careers in PR and will hopefully increase membership retention among the Society’s newest members. The other addresses management of current membership dues increases by allowing the national board more latitude in adopting dues increases. Please note—there is no dues increase for 2016.

The new slate of officers approved by the assembly includes several members from chapters within the Northeast District, giving our region good representation. These include: Chair Elect Mark McClennan, Boston Chapter; Member at Large Jo Ann LeSage Nelson, Capital Region (Albany); Treasurer Deborah Silverman, Buffalo; and Secretary Tony D’Angelo, Central New York.

Highlights from presentations by members of the national board and PRSA’s CEO Joe Truncale include:
- Treasurer’s Report indicated that the Society is in good shape financially and there will be no dues increase for 2016.
- Development of a new strategic plan is in progress.
- Efforts to overhaul the website is underway and at lease a glimpse of what’s to come should be available during the first quarter.
- Two new benefits coming soon are “SmartBrief,” offering PR-related news briefs in e-newsletter form (see an example here: www.smartbrief.com), and a print on demand service allowing chapters to order pre-designed customizable collateral material.
- The beginning of a re-branding effort for PRSA is underway. This is in an early stage. Please look for more news on this in the future.

In addition to attending the assembly, Michelle and Bobbi were able to network with colleagues from the chapters throughout the district and around the country. The PRSSA annual conference also took place in Atlanta during the same weekend at the same venue—a rarity. This offered the opportunity to network with PR educators and students from many different colleges and universities.

For more detailed information about the assembly, please contact Michelle Cometa or Bobbi Lonobile.