Please take a look at our latest Annual Report to read about the fantastic year CPRS Manitoba had.
President’s Report
Our goal for the year was to demonstrate that CPRS Manitoba is the leading organization for public relations and communications professionals in the province. We always aim to foster the professional interests of our members, while promoting and advocating for our profession as a whole. The principal ways we have aimed to achieve our goal are by delivering value to our members through quality professional development events, good member communications, and by promoting the added value of being members of a national organization.
In 2012, two Manitoba chapter members successfully completed Accreditation; we congratulate Lorne Kletke, APR and Daniel Hurley, APR on their accomplishment. Accreditation identifies practitioners who have the depth of experience and competence in the professional practice of public relations, and establishes standards for professional practice.
Our chapter ran a highly successful and well-attended series of luncheons and networking events throughout the year, with a wide array of topics important to communicators. We also awarded our 6th Manitoba Communicator of the Year Award to Bill Peters of the St-Boniface Hospital Research Centre at a gala luncheon in April. The MCOY continues to be a great way to recognize the best in our profession while promoting CPRS and public relations in general.
Fees for the luncheon speaker series were raised this year, as they had not been raised in several years and were no longer covering the costs of the luncheons. We know that we are still providing great value for the cost, and are still charging less than other organizations for similar events in Manitoba.
In addition to our regular luncheons and evening networking events, we provided value to our members by partnering with local businesses and offering discounts to our members. It is an initiative we hope grows every year.
This past year we further developed CPRS Manitoba’s website and online presence in the social media sphere. There was a 55% increase in Twitter followers, and the transition from a Facebook group to a page. Social media allowed for members and PR professionals to engage with the CPRS regarding upcoming events, job opportunities and local communications related news.
We reach out to Red River College and the University of Winnipeg by providing scholarships to each program’s top PR student. We also invite PR students to sit on our board of directors and act as liaison between their schools and CPRS, and to provide insight into how we can better serve our student members. Students from Canadian Mennonite University’s newer Communications & Media program are also directly invited to CPRS events and activities. Student liaisons Amy and Taylor ran a great student-focused event on the topic of networking this year
The volunteer board accomplished quite a few things this past year, and each of them should be proud of what we accomplished. We aim to keep building on these accomplishments in the years to follow.
Jason Permanand
President, CPRS Manitoba