PRSA San Francisco Bay Area Announces Second Annual Chapter Awards, The Foggies, with Expanded Categories

Call for Entries Opens June 15

San Francisco, June 15, 2020 – The Public Relations Society of America San Francisco Bay Area Chapter (PRSA-SF), one of the five founding PRSA chapters, has announced the launch of its second annual awards program, The Foggies, with four new categories. The chapter awards recognize the San Francisco Bay Area’s best public relations and communications programs and the brightest professionals who bring them to life. 

Open to all public relations professionals in the San Francisco Bay …

Tell us about yourself and Entech Network Solutions.

Hi, my name is Valerie Haweny, and I am the Managing Partner at Entech. We are a boutique Women Owned Human Resources Consultancy firm specializing in talent acquisition, executive recruitment, business consulting, and career coaching. We have been recruiting in the digital media, marketing, advertising, and technology verticals nationwide since 1999. 

I personally have over 20 years of HR and recruitment experience. I have helped thousands of candidates find new opportunities on both the brand and agency side. Some of our clients include, Lowe’s, RCN, Amazon, GroupM, Omnicom, Ogilvy, Jellyfish, AdTheorent, …

We are deeply saddened and frustrated by the senseless murder of George Floyd and those who have lost their lives to police brutality and systemic racism. The PRSA-SF Chapter stands in solidarity with our black colleagues and friends during this painful time. Diversity and inclusion has long been a key tenet of our chapter and will continue to be long after this current cycle of media attention fades. As communicators, and humans, we have an ethical responsibility to use our voice and stand for truth and justice. We embrace the responsibility and are committed to amplify our voices and continue …

Diversity and Inclusion Must Be Strengthened Amid Pandemic

As we continue navigating our “new normal,” diversity and inclusion will undoubtedly need to be a critical component of any forward-thinking office culture. Perhaps more importantly, cultivating inclusive spaces in the workplace that celebrate our differences and unique skill sets not only makes “business sense,” but “common sense” - simply put, it’s the right thing to do.

Recent developments, none so highly-profiled as the global pandemic, have made this ever more prominent in both our personal and professional lives. The COVID-19 crisis forced many of us to adopt new habits and lifestyle …

By Jennifer Tang, Board Member & Director of Programs, PRSA SF Bay Area Chapter

At last week's #FridayForum, we heard from Porter Novelli’s VP of Marketing Research & Insights Whitney Dailey and EVP / Global Lead of Innovation & Impact Practice Sandy Skees. The duo shared the firm’s newest proprietary COVID-19 Tracker, a benchmark study examining American expectations of companies during the coronavirus pandemic. The Tracker has 1,000+ responses, and it continues to prove that purpose is the path forward, not only during this crisis, but also into the future. 

The study includes many inspiring …

On Friday, 5/8, our eager community of PR and communications professionals gathered to hear insights from esteemed social media experts and consumer behavior specialists — Cindy Waters, a Digital Strategist Consultant, and Sean DallasKidd, Partner and CCO at Demonstrate. Consumer behavior and social media was the weekly COVID-19 topic we tackled in the Friday Forum series from the San Francisco Bay Area and Silicon Valley chapters. 

Both experts have seen drastic changes in consumer and brands’ usage of social media amongst the pandemic, which was expected. In addition to hearing about how to be agile and adaptable, …

Brand new in 2020, we're launching a mentor-mentee program to advance careers in communications. Especially during a global pandemic, we can all use a career cheerleader. Mentorship links mentors and mentees to the community on a deeper level.

First, here are some guidelines:

1. Mentorship period is flexible, and determined by the mentor/mentee. 

2. Age is just a guide. However, we recommend mentors should have 5+ years of experience, with mentees at 0-5 years.

3. Communicate how you like. We suggest either face-to-face or video conferencing within the first month. It's up to pairs to create a schedule.

4. …

By Sarah Grolnic-McClurg, APR

As the saying goes, every crisis is an opportunity in disguise. The COVID-19 pandemic is such a moment for our profession—weirdly put, this is a great time to be a communicator.

Not that I’m happy about the pandemic. No, not at all! Like many of you, I’ve been worried and have had some bad cabin fever. I’ve #wfh for 20 years as a solo PR practitioner and yet have found myself, for the first time ever, feeling, well, somewhat scared and eerily alone.

At the same time, we're all in this together, which makes …

At PRSA-SF Bay Area, our community revolves around our members. As such, the safety and well-being of our community is paramount. During this time of uncertainty with COVID-19, we’ve made the decision to move our upcoming events virtually for the foreseeable future. Please stay tuned via our Golden Gate Insider newsletter and social media channels for the latest updates on our events and resources. 

As communicators, we know you’re guiding brands, organizations, public entities and teams through this global crisis. For local companies, the Bay Area ‘shelter in place’ mandate is no doubt affecting daily operations. During this time of …

To celebrate and shine a light on Black History Month, we wanted to profile a dynamo Bay Area PR leader who specializes in diversity. Naturally, that led us to the impressive Teena Massingill, Director of Corporate Public Affairs & Diversity at Albertsons Companies and Safeway, Inc. This natural-born storyteller started as a journalist before moving into PR at Safeway.

What was your journey to the field of public relations?

I landed in PR because I’m a storyteller at heart, and I’m always looking for the next
story to share with the world. I fervently believe that, when I was …