Paid Up Members 2011-2012

PAID UP MEMBERS 2011-2012

Members are encouraged to pay annual subscriptions at General Meetings. All queries can be directed to
The President at prsj2009@gmail.com

1. Meris Haughton
2. Claudette Myers
3. Christine Bell
4. Dayner Azzelino 
5. Ellis James Laing
6. Opal Davis
7. Gwyneth Davidson
8. Camille Taylor
9. Khorie Ann Beckford
10. Chris Benjamin
11. Carol Edwards
12. Pat Gillings
13. Tamara Scott Williams
14. Lois Grant
15. Sonia Davidson
16. Beverley Josephs
17. Carlene Edwards

 Associate Member

1. Akilah Maxwell

Life Members

PRSJ 2011 Executive Elected

PRSJ 2011 EXECUTIVE ELECTED

PR Manager of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM), Delmares White, was returned as President of the Public Relations Society of Jamaica (PRSJ) at the Annual General Meeting held on March 28 at Jampro. First Vice President, PR Consultant, Christopher Benjamin was also returned to that post. Joining the executive as Vice President of Finance is Past President of the Society and Founder of Innovative IDEAS, Christine Ann Bell. The new Vice President Membership and Recruitment is the PR Officer at the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) Opal Davis; Vice President Special Events is the Administrative Assistant (External Corporation Management) at the Planning Instutute of Jamaica (PIOJ), Akilah Maxwell.  The PRSJ also welcomes Communications Director at the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Cecil Thoms as the General Secretary.

Past President, Dayner Azzellino has been added as a Trustee of the society.

PRSJ Trustee, the Corporate Communications Manager at LIME, Camille Taylor was Director of Elections.

From left:
Vice President Recruitment and Membership, Opal Davis, NSWMA
Vice President Finance, Christine Ann Bell; Innovative Ideas
Vice President Special Events, Akilah Maxwell, PIOJ
President, Delmares White, ODPEM
First Vice President, Christopher Benjamin, Communications consultant; radio/tv producer

The Society extends its heartfelt appreciation to the outgoing executive members who helped to bring the Society back into currency and who served for the year:

• General Secretary, Cheryl Smith, PR Manager, Min of Finance and the Public Service
• VP Finance, Stephen Shaw, PR and Customer Service Mgr, NWA
• VP Membership and Recruitment, Analisa Downes, PR Manager, SLB
• Assistant Gen Sec, Deborah Hickling, Communications consultant
•  VP Special Events, Shawnette Henry, PR Manager, MIND served for a portion of the last administrative year.

Special appreciation also to head of Jampro corporate communications, Mark Thomas, who facilitated the past two AGMs and most of the General meetings of the Society over the past year.

Candidates for Election 2011-2012

Dear PRSJ Member,
You are invited to put yourself forward to serve on the PRSJ 2011-2012 Executive.

Elections will be held during the Annual General Meeting on March 29, 2010.

The following persons have indicated their willingness to serve
in the posts listed below.

Interested members can write to prsj2009@gmail.com beforehand to indicate their interest
or be nominated from the floor during the meeting.

Information on the responsibilities of each post are at the link below.
Scroll down to appropriate section.
http://agm2010.blogspot.com/2010/01/constitution-of-prsj.html

1. President - President Delmares White
2. First Vice President Christopher Benjamin
3. General Secretary - awaiting nominee
4. Assistant General Secretary - Cecil Thoms
5. Vice President Finance - - awaiting nominee
6. Vice President Recruitment and Membership - Opal Davis
7. Vice President Special Events - awaiting nominee
8. Immediate Past President, Mark Thomas
9. Past President Christine Bell  - Ethics matters

Members can also volunteer to serve as a Trustee.

Current Trustee: Member, Camille Taylor

Past President Dayner Clarke has indicated an interest to serve as a Trustee.

Notice of Annual General Meeting - Tuesday March 29, Jampro

Minutes of 2010 AGM

February 26, 2011

Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Public Relations Society of Jamaica will be held on Tuesday, March 29, 2011 in the Training Room at Jampro, 18 Trafalgar Road, Kingston 10.

Registration begins at 5:30 p.m. The Meeting will end at 8:00p.m.

The membership fees are outlined below:

Full Member…………………………………………… $1,000.00

Associate Member………………………………………$ 750.00

Visiting Member…………………………………………$ 750.00

Student Member………………………………………...$ 500.00

During this meeting, there will be an election to choose seven (7) Officers of the Society. Only paid-up Full, Associate and Overseas members are eligible to vote or can be elected to the Executive Committee.

Payments will be accepted in cash or by cheque. Cheques should be endorsed to The Public Relations Society of Jamaica.

Please direct queries to The Moderator (prsj2009@gmail.com).

Signed,

Delmares White

President, PRSJ

New Members Admitted to the PRSJ - January 2011

New Members Admitted to the PRSJ

The PRSJ is pleased to accept three practitioners as members:
The applications were considered at a meeting of the Executive on January 8.
The new members will be inducted into the Society at the AGM on March 15. Venue for the meeting will be announced shortly.

The new members are:

Associate Membership

• Nicole Morrison, Public Relations Manager, The Broadcasting Commission

Full Membership

• Cindy Allman, Marketing Coordinator, Microsoft Jamaica
• Khorie Ann Beckford, Public Relations Manager, Headline Entertainment.

Minutes, General Meeting, January 18, 2011

MINUTES 

GENERAL MEETING

JANUARY 18, 2011

Jamaica Trade and Invest / JAMPRO

Present 

Vice President                    Christopher Benjamin, Consultant

Vice President Finance       Stephen Shaw, NWA

General Secretary              Cheryl Smith, Min of Finance and the Public Service

Past President                    Mark Thomas, JAMPRO

Past President                    Blossom Laidlaw, UWI CARIMAC

Past President                    Beverley Josephs, UTECH

Member                            Gwyneth Davidson, OPM

Member                            Gerry Mc Daniel, Local representative, Elsevier Publishing

Member                            Opal Davis, NSWMA 

Member                            Claudette Myers, PIOJ

Guests

Dr Lyndon Brown, Head Earthquake Unit, UWI

Shelly Ann Harris, Women's Resource Outreach Centre

Farah Lovley, UWI Arts and Humanities Faculty

Apologies

Delmares White, President

Marie Stewart

Michael Bryce

Lorna Clarke

Dayner Azzellino Clarke

Jean Lowrie Chin 

Keith Brown

Collin Campbell

The meeting was called to order by DW at 6:00 by Christopher Benjamin. Apologies were said for President Delmares White who was on assignment.

Head of the Earthquake Unit, UWI, Dr Lyndon Brown says that buildings in Jamaica are, by large, constructed with the expectation that there will be earthquakes. Dr Brown said that journalists and other writers use the old term, "Richter Scale" in reference to earthquakes. The internationally accepted term now used by siesmologists is "magnitude". Practitioners urged Dr Brown to write directly to newsrooms to advise them of the change.

Presentation by research Fellow and Head, The Earthquake Unit, UWI

Head of the Earthquake Unit, UWI, Mr Lyndon Brown made a detailed presentations on earthquakes and the island of Jamaica. He updated practitioners on current working terms used in the discipline including the fact that earthquakes are measured by magnitude and no longer use Richter Scale, which is considered to be outdated. Practitioners suggested that the Unit write to individual heads of news departments asking that news stories use the correct modern term.

Dr Brown noted that earthquakes are an unavoidable part of life in Jamaica and showed maps that detailed the major faults right across the island. He said that on average, Jamaica experienced 200 earthquakes each year.

He urged practitioners to promote safe placement of furniture and other objects in rooms and the adoption of the safest manoeuvre "duck, cover, hold" in case of significant earth movements.

He assured practitioners that the local construction industry already factored earth movements in design and construction, which some persons might consider to be "overbuilding".

Dr Brown was presented with a copy of the the coffee table picture book Jamaica Absolutely. Presentation was made by C Smith and C Benjamin.

PR Takeout

• Correct use of technical terms
• Promotion of correct earthquake safety precautions and action during and after an earthquake in home and workplace
• Jamaica's building practices anticipate ongoing earth movement

Membership

Members were reminded that dues would be due in February. A date is to be set for the AGM.

Launch of Newsletter

Gwyneth Davidson made a short presentation on the Society's monthly online newsletter, PR Brief, that was launched a few days before.

Its goal is to:

• Encourage, in various ways, professional development
• Facilitate peer recognition. 

PR Brief will be distributed by email and will be available on the Society's website.

Feedback and content is welcome to prsj2009@gmail.com

The motion to adjourn the meeting was moved at 8:00p.m. by C Smith and and seconded by M Thomas.

Let's Make 2011 The Most Successful Year For The Society

Delmares White
President

Dear Colleagues,


Let me take this opportunity to wish you all a happy and prosperous New Year.

On behalf of the PRSJ Executives, I would also like to pass on thanks and appreciation to Mark Thomas, Past President and Gwyneth Davidson, Moderator for their continued support and generosity in helping to facilitate all our meetings and help guide the strategic focus of the PRSJ.

Despite the challenges of 2010, we have had many positive impacts on the public relations profession through our monthly meetings and our communications blogs. The focus now is, on strategic planning and repositioning of the PRSJ and its flag ship Awards Ceremony scheduled to be reintroduced in 2011.

The challenge of course is that the strategic planning process and the planning of the PRSJ Annual Awards Ceremony are easy to present, but they are sometimes difficult to realize, particularly when there are considerable economic, financial and human resource considerations that act as a restraint. We recognize that the challenges are not for one person to deliver but through the help of members, colleagues and volunteers, we can create the conditions for success.

We are in the process of drafting a strategic plan, the details of which we will share with at our next meeting in January 2011. At the meeting we will look at what we do and how we do it? How do we best advance the interests of our members? How can we build a dynamic community of practitioners and experts, online and offline? Do we have a voice on the most important issues affecting our members and the profession?

Your input, ideas and feedback are of great value and we will make every effort to ensure that the PRSJ members and the profession find new ways to engage and collaborate in 2011.

Let’s make 2011 the most successful year for the Society.

Regards,

Delmares White
President
PRSJ