CPRS Ottawa-Gatineau is pleased to announce the 2008 PuRe Elements Communications Excellence Awards, Changing the Capital’s PR landscape.

This exciting new recognition program is open to all communicators - individuals and teams - in the Ottawa-Gatineau region who work in profit and non-profit organizations such as government, PR firms, agencies and NGO teams.

Four awards will be presented: Earth: Communication fundamentals); Water: Crisis Communication; Air: Communication campaigns and Fire: Recognizing an individual’s contribution to forwarding communication across our region.

Join us at our Annual General Meeting, June 4, 2008 at the Courtyard Restaurant, Byward Market to find out more about our new awards program that will take place on Thursday, November 13th. Additional information will be posted on the CPRS Ottawa-Gatineau website after the AGM for details on submission criteria and more.

Wednesday, June 4th, 2008
11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

The Courtyard Restaurant
The McArthur Room
21 George St, Ottawa

Call for Board Candidates

A light lunch will be served

There is no charge to attend this event; however,  please RSVP for each attendee.

RSVP by no later than Friday, May 30th 2008:

• By email to info@cprsottawa.com  
• By fax to 843-0151
• By phone at 843-0150

**Please include your contact information including; name, organization, member or non-member, phone number and email address. When registering multiple attendees, please include each individual’s information as well. Space is limited, therefore please register early to assure your seat.

Le mercredi 4 juin 2008
11 h 30 à 13 h 30

The Courtyard Restaurant
21, Rue George, Ottawa
Salle McArthur
un dîner sera servi

Appel de candidatures au conseil

Il n’y a aucun coût pour assister à cet événement, toutefois vous devez confirmer votre présence.

Veuillez confirmer votre présence d’ici vendredi le 30 mai:

• Par courriel au info@cprsottawa.com 
• Par télécopieur au (613) 843-0151
• Par téléphone au (613) 843-0150

**Veuillez inclure vos coordonnées, incluant; votre nom, votre employeur, indiquer si vous êtes membre ou non, numéro de téléphone et adresse courriel.  Si vous confirmer la présence de plusieurs personnes, veuillez inclure ces renseignements pour chacun.  Le nombre de participants est limité donc enregistrez-vous tôt pour vous assurer une place.

At our conference last Friday, CPRS Ottawa/Gatineau members and friends had an opportunity to record a video greeting for CPRS’s 60th anniversary.  Therefore, we will no longer be meeting on March 13th.  Thanks for your interest!

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À notre conférence vendredi dernier, les membres et amis de la SCRP d’Ottawa/Gatineau ont eu la chance d’enregistrer un message vidéo pour commémorer le 60ième anniversaire de la SCRP.  Donc, l’événement prévu pour le 13 mars est annulé.  Merci de votre intérêt!

As part of CPRS’s 60th anniversary, CPRS National is producing a commemorative video, which will portray some of CPRS’s history and look at where the profession is heading.  CPRS Ottawa/Gatineau has been asked to be part of the video by sending a greeting which will be incorporated in the presentation.  This will be a 5 to 10 second televised/electronic anniversary greeting which can be simple as “Happy 60th anniversary CPRS”. 

Members and friends of CPRS Ottawa/Gatineau are invited to join us for the shooting of the video - this will take place on the Rideau Canal on March 13 at 7:30am with a backdrop of Parliament Hill.  If you’d like to join us for this taping, please email me at: acuerrier@yahoo.com.  Thanks and see you there!

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Pour célébrer le 60ième anniversaire de la SCRP, la SCRP nationale va produire un vidéo commémoratif.  La SCRP d’Ottawa-Gatineau a été invitée à prendre part à cette initiative en envoyant ses salutations, qui seront incorporées dans la présentation.  Ceci sera un message d’environ 5 à 10 secondes qui peut être aussi simple que “Joyeux 60ième anniversaire à la SCRP”. 

Les membres et les amis de la SCRP d’Ottawa-Gatineau sont invités à nous joindre pour enregistrer notre message - l’enregistrement aura lieu sur le canal Rideau le 13 mars à 19 h 30 avec une vue sur la Colline parlementaire.  Si vous voulez vous joindre à nous pour l’enregistrement, veuillez m’envoyer un courriel à : acuerrier@yahoo.com.  Merci et à bientôt!

Communication Chairperson, Osteoporosis Canada

Area of Involvement: Resource Development     
Accountability:  Chapter Executive    

Description of Job Placement
The Communication Chairperson is an Executive member who chairs the Communication Committee of a Chapter and who, in conjunction with the Executive, develops a strategy for enhancing the existing portfolio of communication development activities, capitalizing on new opportunities for growth, in the context of Osteoporosis Canada’s strategic plan.

Desired Qualifications (Qualities)

• Basic understanding of Osteoporosis Canada, with the ability to communicate this to others
• Good communication skills
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Imaginative/ enterprising
• Marketing and public relations experience
• Experience working with the media
• Good writing and editing skills
• Leadership skills
• Osteoporosis Canada member in good standing
• Bilingualism is an asset
• Able to work independently

Responsibilities

• Develops and manages communication plans, strategy and materials relating to the Osteoporosis Canada’s initiatives
• Responsible for media relations and prepares correspondence for the media
• Chairs meetings of the Chapter’s Communication Committee – develops communication plans, delegates tasks, assigns a minute taker and ensures accurate minutes
• Ensures that the Communication Committee reviews the status of the Chapter’s communication programs on an annual basis, and suggests areas for improvement and revision to Chapter executive
• Investigates communication possibilities within the community; develops partnerships/ relationships
• Keeps up-to-date on activities conducted by other local non-profit groups
• Recruits members to the Communication Committee
• Works closely with the Chapter’s Volunteer and Fundraising Coordinators, and will orient, train and supervise communication volunteers once they are recruited
• Works closely with appropriate Osteoporosis Canada’s staff around the implementation of communication development activities
• Provides an update at every Chapter Executive meeting on activities and progress

Outcomes or Goals (how will the volunteer know when he or she is successful?)

• Initially, reviewing of Chapter’s communication plans and strategy; then an increase in amount and effectiveness of communication activities.
• Solid, mutually beneficial relationships developed with community and media.
• Rise in the amount of Osteoporosis Canada’s awareness within the community.

Time Commitment

• Dependent on the maturity, number and scope of communication development activities in your area (approximately 2 –3 hours a week – although more time to be spent in the lead up to events).
• A two-year placement with the Chapter (renewable).
• Elected/ appointed from amongst Communication Committee members.
• Attendance at all Chapter Executive meetings.
• Call/attend regular Communication Committee meetings.

Training Required

• General orientation to Osteoporosis Canada.
• Become familiar with Osteoporosis Canada’s policies and procedures regarding communication and media relation.

Benefits

• Sharpen communication skills.
• Form/solidify relationships for the Chapter in the community.
• Chance to develop/sharpen skill sets (marketing and public relations).
• Develop managerial skills.
• Enhance planning and organizational skills.

Volunteer for the CPRS Ottawa/Gatineau February 29th Forum! No job is too small! Call Danielle Côté at 613-565-5600 or email dfcote@bkthealth.com.

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Devenez bénévole pour la séminaire de la SCRP Ottawa/Gatineau du 29 février! N’hesitez-pas! Communiquez avec Danielle Cote au 613-565-5600 ou au dfcote@bkthealth.com.

Application Deadline December 31; CyberAlert to Award $25,000

Stratford, CT — CyberAlert, Inc., the online media monitoring and measurement service, today announced that the company will award a minimum of 12 public relations grants to not-for-profit organizations. Each grant consists of one full year of free news monitoring / press clipping services, ranging in value from $2,700 to $3,900. The aggregate value of the grants is expected to total at least $25,000.

All not-for-profit, educational and charitable organizations in the United States and Canada are eligible to apply for the grants, except previous grant recipients. CyberAlert is accepting grant applications until December 31 and will announce the grant recipients in January. A simple and secure grant application is available online at https://secure.cyberalert.com/grants.html.

Since starting the PR Grants program in 2004, CyberAlert has awarded a total of 74 grants with a retail value of more than $125,000.

In January 2007, CyberAlert awarded PR grants to 24 organizations in the U.S. and Canada with a total value of $65,000. The award-winners included 100 Black Men of America, Inc.; ALS Society of Canada; C3: Colorectal Cancer Coalition; Center for Constitutional Rights; Environmental Defence (Canada); Family Literacy Foundation; Guttmacher Institute; Keep America Beautiful; Lance Armstrong Foundation; The Medicare Rights Foundation; and National Philanthropic Trust.

The 16 CyberAlert PR Grant award-winners in 2006 included included the Alliance for Consumer Education, Canada’s National History Society, FishAmerica Foundation, Global Fund for Women, JA Worldwide (Junior Achievement), Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (NCADP), National Rural Health Association (NRHA), Oklahoma City National Memorial, Partnership Against Domestic Violence, and Relief International.

In 2005, CyberAlert awarded PR grants to 16 not-for-profit organizations including the American Jewish World Service, Common Cause Education Fund, Islamic Society of North America, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (Canada), National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, and National Network to End Domestic Violence. In 2004, PR grant winners included Alzheimer’s Foundation of America, American Association of Poison Control Centers, Earthwatch Institute, La Leche League, Lutheran World Relief, and RespectED program of the Canadian Red Cross.

“The PR grant program is one way for CyberAlert to assist not-for-profit organizations and to give back to the public relations profession that has helped our business grow and expand successfully over the past seven years,” stated William J. Comcowich, CEO of CyberAlert.

Founded in 1999, CyberAlert (http://www.cyberalert.com/) is a worldwide press clipping, media monitoring, broadcast monitoring and media measurement service. Its CyberAlert® 4.0 worldwide news monitoring service monitors over 25,000 online news sources each day in 25+ languages. The company’s TV broadcast monitoring service monitors the closed caption text of over 2,100 news programs on over 500 TV stations in the Top 100 markets in the United States. To monitor consumer discussion (online word-of-mouth), its NetPinions™ service monitors over 100,000 Web message boards and UseNet news groups for consumer insight about companies, products, key issues and trends and its BlogSquirrel™ service monitors over 5 million blog postings each day from a total of 25+ million blogs worldwide. CyberAlert EdCals is an editorial calendars service covering over 3,000 publications with over 300,000 editorial opportunities.

Additional information about CyberAlert services is available at http://www.cyberalert.com

Contact:
William J. Comcowich
CyberAlert, Inc.
Phone: 800-461-7353

Torchia Scholarship in Public Relations and Communications

Torchia bourse d’études en relations publiques et communications

Recognized by both public and private sectors, Sprott’s Business Communication Management Certificate Program begins on October 15th. Take your career to the next level with a professional certification that comes with insights, practice and individual coaching.

You will learn to ensure that your organization’s internal and external messages are compelling, targeted and heard.  Boost your company’s value… and yours… with Carleton University’s Sprott School of Business.  CPRS members enjoy a 10% discount.