::NSPRA 2009 Comes to San Francisco
By Cindy Sabato, past CalSPRA President and CalSPRA eNewsletter Committee Chair
Have you left your heart in San Francisco? Did you go there with a flower in your hair? Then it’s time for you to join the CalSPRA crew in hosting the NSPRA Annual Seminar in 2009. As the veterans of 2002’s San Diego conference can tell (warn) you, there’s no such thing as starting too early. And in exchange for all the hard work we put into the 2002 conference, we got back at least twice as much fun!

So join us at the Sac Summit where we’ll be brainstorming ideas for our theme. (Remember Sandi Aygo?) NSPRA gives the formal conference portion of the seminar a serious theme, and it’s up to the local host chapter (that’s us) to put the fun into the social part of the seminar. Put on your thinking caps and get those creative juices flowing. And if you can’t make it to Sacramento, don’t feel left out, you can send ideas through the grapevine and we’ll be holding planning sessions at every conference for the next two years—plenty of time and plenty of ways to get involved.

We’ll need CalSPRA crew members to help with (read “be responsible for”) logo development, a web page, video/print production, the welcome event, the big social event, and getting corporate sponsors (somebody’s got to pay for all this fun). An addition, during the 2008 Washington, DC seminar, CalSPRA will host a promotional display booth and be responsible for creative activities to entice attendance for 2009.

Some of the activities that will take place during the San Francisco seminar include hosting a hospitality booth, throwing an unforgettable welcome reception, escorting groups for sign-up dinners, and organizing an “evening out” social event.

Don’t be shy! If you are interested in enlisting for the CalSPRA Crew, please contact Joan “Ski” at 925.942.3400 or jski@cccoe.k12.ca.us. We’re opening up our golden gate of opportunity to everyone.

:: October’s Issues in Education Conference was a Huge Success
If you missed CalSPRA’s first Issues in Education Conference in October, you missed a great time and an amazing amount of valuable information! Over 50 people, including school PR professionals, school board members and superintendents, gathered together at the Doubletree Hotel in Anaheim for the opportunity to participate in up to 12 sessions that motivated, inspired and informed us about issues ranging from crisis management and media relations to navigating nasty negotiations and marketing our schools in an era of school choice.

We all extend a huge “thank you” to Kelly Avants (Clovis USD and CalSPRA president-elect) for coordinating such a great professional development opportunity. Thank you also to our fantastic presenters, several of whom traveled hundreds of miles to be with us and share their talents and expertise:

• Steve Knagg,  Director of Communications, Garland Independent School District, Garland, Texas
• Gary Aungst, Director of Marketing and Communications, Tempe Elementary Schools, Tempe, Arizona
• Our very own Tom DeLapp, President, Communication Resources for Schools
• Mimi Donaldson, motivational speaker and co-author of “Negotiating for Dummies”
• Frank Kwan, Director of Communications, Los Angeles County Office of Education
• Johanna Zavala, Public Affairs Supervisor, Orange County Chapter of the American Red Cross
• Susan Bedi, Community Relations Officer and Pete Summers, Executive Director of the Office of Prevention and Intervention, Fresno Unified School District
• Dianne Pavia, and our own CalSPRA Board of Directors!