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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 …

As part of PRSA’s mission to advance the PR profession and the professional, we bring you our next Meet the Media Q+A profile. In this Q+A, we speak with Salvador (Sal) Rodriguez, Tech Reporter at CNBC.com, to learn more about his work, what PR pros should expect and how he spends his free time. Oh, and if you don't yet follow him on Twitter (@sal19), you're missing some live entertainment.

How did you get into journalism? Tell us about yourself.

I got into journalism while in high school. At the time, I wanted to be …

We're bringing back our series ‘Meet the Board Mondays,' (adjusted for the Presidents' Day holiday this week) that helps you get to know your 2020 Board of Directors. In this edition, we bring you PRSA-SF Bay Area Director of Mentorship, Curie Sevilla, APR. In her day job, she's a business development & communications strategist for Stanford Conferences.

Give us a P-R-S-A!

P: PERSON  

I’m Curie Sevilla, and I’m the business development and communications strategist for Stanford Conferences, the team overseeing conferences at Stanford University. Prior to Stanford, I led a marketing services firm in Asia with clients in financial services, …

This year, we're taking you deeper inside our chapter award program, The Foggies, to learn more about the winners – what makes them tick, how their winning entry came about, how much work went into it, and more. Next up, please meet 2019 Small Agency of the Year & Campaign of the Year winner, Landis Communications. We sat down with President/CEO, David Landis.

Congratulations on your Foggies win! Tell us more about you/your team.

Why, thank you! Landis Communications Inc. (LCI) is so honored to win two inaugural Foggies Awards - for Small Agency of the Year and for Campaign of …