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The flip side of the "dark side": Lessons from Journalism to Strategic Communications. We are proud to host an online panel discussion featuring former local print, radio and TV journalists who have made the leap to strategic public relations work (a.k.a. the ‘dark side’). What is the other side of the coin like from the perspective of a journalist? What would they do differently as journalists now that they work with media on the other side? And what do they do as communications professionals now when they work with the media? What are the biggest challenges they faced moving to a career in communications? Join the conversation with Meribeth Burton (former TV journalist, now with BC Health Care OHS), Kyle Donaldson (former radio and TV journalist, now with BC Hydro comms) and Sarah Petrescu (former print journalist, now with Ministry of Attorney General, Homelessness Policy and Partnerships Branch – Engagement). Hear first hand about what it’s like to make the leap and what can be learned from the flipside of the ‘dark side’. Moderated by Andy Watson, Government & Media Relations Manager with WorkSafeBC and CPRS-VI Board member. Date: Thursday, April 28, 2022 Time: 7:00-8:30 pm PDT Platform: virtual on Zoom Cost: Free for members, $20 for everyone else REGISTER TODAY! Learn more about our panelists:

It's been so long....let's get together in person! We've missed you. Please join us for some laughs, a drink and a chance to connect face to face. Thursday, March 24, 2022 5:30-7:30 pm At Moxies Bar and Grill in Victoria, BC This event is free and open to anyone currently in (or interested in being a part of) the communications community. Please RSVP so we know how many people to expect. RSVP!

There are lots of reasons to become a member of CPRS-VI in March. Are you a communications, PR, engagement, or marketing professional on Vancouver Island? Join our community this month! What are the perks to becoming a member this month? CPRS national will waive the $50 initiation fee for NEW members (not students) and the $50 reinstatement fee for lapsed members. All new CPRS members and lapsed members (+3 months) who sign up in March will be entered into a weekly draw for a chance to win one (1) virtual pass to the 2022 CPRS National Conference held on June 5-7, 2022 (option to upgrade to an in-person pass) The CPRS member who refers the most new members who sign up March 1-31, will be entered in a draw to win their one-year complimentary CPRS membership. Types of membership (The costs include both the National CPRS membership and our local society membership.) Full Member: You are employed in public relations/communications; or teach or administer a public relations/communications course; or possess a diploma, certificate or degree in public relations/communications on the day you apply. ($340 + tax) Associate member: You are not employed full time in public relations/communications, or are employed in functions partially related to public relations/communications. ($340 + tax) Emerging Practitioner/Professional: You have been employed full-time for less than two years in public relations or communications. After two years of membership at the Emerging level, you must renew as a full member. ($205 + tax) Student: A national and local membership: $79.00 +tax Just a Vancouver Island local chapter membership: $50 +tax There are many more benefits to being a CPRS member, find out what they are. Join us today!

Let's lift a glass to celebrate the end of the year (virtually)! You can expect some fun at this holiday event! We will get to know one another better, think back on 2021, and move forward into 2022. We will also take you through the making of a special holiday-themed cocktail. Wednesday, December 15, 2021 6:30 – 7:30 p.m PST on Zoom Free but please register to save your spot! We will send you the Zoom info and a cocktail recipe to follow along ahead of the event.

On Nov. 1, 2021, six members of CPRS Vancouver Island met approximately 20 Royal Roads University students in the Bachelor of Arts in Professional Communications program in a speed mentoring event. Student mentees received access to insights from six different professionals from the Greater Victoria area. The session allowed mentors to share career advice, discuss industry trends and speak to the value of the CPRS-VI family and its goal to strengthen the Island’s public relations community through advocacy, networking events, mentorship opportunities, professional development activities and other unique programming. We want to extend a thank you to the mentors for their time - they included Susan Gee, Acting Vice President, Communications and Advancement, Royal Roads University; Maggie Kerr-Southin, Former President, Artemis PR + Design, Community Engagement and Strategic Communications Professional/Communications Consultant; Tara Zajac, Manager of Communications, Township of Esquimalt; and three CPRS-VI board members—president Tatiana Chabeaux-Smith, Director of Communications & External Engagement, Consumer Protection BC; Hannah Mashon, Communications Officer, First Peoples’ Cultural Council; and Andy Watson, Manager of Government and Media Relations, WorkSafeBC. CPRS-VI is now looking to partner with other post-secondary institutions to seek other mentoring opportunities and will be leveraging the CPRS National mentoring system in months to come. For questions or to learn more, or if you’re interested in participating in future sessions, please email Andy at andydkwatson@hotmail.com.

Territorial acknowledgments are an important way that we can demonstrate our commitment to Indigenous communities across Turtle Island. Territorial acknowledgements are crucial to recognizing the local Nations and stewards of these lands that have cared for our land for thousands and thousands of years. But where do we start, and how do we respectfully do this for ourselves and our organizations? During this virtual lunchtime session, you will build your understanding of land acknowledgements and feel empowered to deliver an acknowledgement that is personal and authentic and demonstrates a relationship to the land. This learning will also help you to champion a meaningful land acknowledgement for your company or organization. Our speaker: Hannah Mashon, Communications Officer with First Peoples' Cultural Council. Friday, November 26, 2021 Noon-1pm PST Free for all CPRS members. $20 for non-members. Please register so we can send you the Zoom link prior to the event.

Dear CPRS-VI members, In 2019, our Board of Directors started something new. We got together to talk about how we wanted to work together as a Board, how to support one another as a team, and to create a set of guiding principles to serve our membership. This was above and beyond our chapter's mission and values. Jump to today. We have a number of new board members, with diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences. This is a wonderful thing! It also means that it was important for this new group to work together to validate and update our guiding principles. Because doing this thinking and having these discussions helps us connect authentically with one another and builds trust. We have finished our work on our guiding principles and we want to share them with you. You will note the addition of "diversity" as one of our principles and what that means to us. This year, using these guiding principles as our foundation, we will work to retain our chapter's membership levels, continue to add value to you for your investment in our professional association, and we will begin to build a mentorship program. Thank you for trusting us to lead CPRS-VI and we are so proud to be a part of our local communications community with you! Tatiana Chabeaux-Smith CPRS-VI President

It's been a while since we've spent time together. We know September is busy so this event is only one hour long and is all about reconnecting, replenishing our cup, and having some laughs. Join us with something that makes you happy - a glass of wine, a cup of tea, a beer, chocolate, your cat, whatever! We will reconnect and play a fun game. Wednesday, September 29, 2021 6:30 - 7:30 pm (PST) Any communications pro can join us. This event is free for everyone. Bring a friend so they can see what a great community we are! Please register so that we can send you the Zoom link. We look forward to hanging out with you!

Each year, one recipient is chosen from all applicants for the Denis Racine Bursary. This year, Alli Boyd, has been awarded the $1,000 bursary towards her education. She tells us what this means to her: Being the recipient of the Denis Racine Bursary fills me with pride and gratitude and I want to extend my thank you to the family of Denis Racine. I am inspired by Mr. Racine’s history of service and his professional legacy and how he fulfilled the Canadian Public Relations Society's values of belonging, learning, service, and professionalism. I try to impart these values into my professional life and the volunteering that I do with CPRS-VI. Last fall, I left my career in health care and was beginning the Bachelor of Arts in Professional Communication program at Royal Roads University. Changing careers is often daunting, but particularly so during a global pandemic so I decided to join CPRS-VI to help me forge connections in my new field. Shortly after joining, I saw that CPRS-VI needed a social media volunteer so I jumped at the chance to deepen my connection to CPRS-VI and improve my social media skills along the way. Becoming a volunteer with CPRS-VI allowed me to deepen my connection to the Society as well as enrich my learning experience. I was able to use data from my work at CPRS-VI for assignments and completed my practicum for Royal Roads University at CPRS-VI which was an incredible experience. I particularly appreciate the mentorship provided by chapter President, Tatiana Chabeaux-Smith who met with me regularly to ensure that I had the resources and information I needed to be successful. We collaborated on presentations for students at Royal Roads University and came up with ideas for membership month content that was both engaging and fun to create. This bursary is much appreciated will assist me with achieving my educational goals. After I complete my bachelor’s degree, I will be entering the Master of Arts in Professional Communication program this fall. I plan to enter my career to serve and empower creativity in others. Success to me is measured by not only my accomplishments but how I can impact the world around me and I plan to make a big impact! Thank you, Alli

Since 2001, CPRS-VI has made it easier for members to stay current in their field. CPRS-VI provides one or more grants to members to support attendance at the CPRS national conference. This year, the conference grant will cover the cost of up to five (5) member registrations to Cultivate - the 2021 virtual CPRS national conference, held from September 20-23, 2021. To be eligible, you must be a member in good standing (national, affiliate, or student). Selection criteria include: (1) interest in accreditation, (2) volunteer experience, (3) anticipated professional and personal benefit, (4) local society benefit. The deadline to apply is August 22, 2021. Apply today! The successful applicant(s) will be required to provide a blog post on key learnings from the conference following the event.

At our AGM on June 17, 2021, we said goodbye to three of our wonderful Board members, Catherine Dooner (Past-President), Celia Sollows APR (VP/Treasurer), and Michelle Collyer (Secretary). Thank you so much for everything you have given to our communication community! Tatiana Chabeaux-Smith, CPRS-VI President, and Gaëlle van Erp, Membership Co-Chair, remain on the Board and are joined by Erin Coulson, as VP/Treasurer, Sabina Sarah Singh, as Secretary, Hannah Mashon, as Membership Co-Chair, and Eric Berndt APR and Andy Watson as directors at large. Meet our new Board members:

A message from the CPRS-Vancouver Island Board of Directors: On behalf of the 2020-2021 Board, I invite you to read our 2020-2021 Annual Report. As current and prospective members of our CPRS chapter, your professional and personal spirit was our priority this past year. We felt strongly that you needed community more than ever (because we sure did!) and we wanted to be both a leader and your biggest supporter. That meant offering events and connection points that focused on emotional wellness, our collective desire for a better world, acknowledgment of the exhaustion required to adapt to change, and the need for a safe space where we could all allow ourselves to be real. And all this sprinkled with a dose of laughter. In a year of pandemic-induced unknowns and general struggle, there has also been opportunity. Our chapter has collaborated with CPRS chapters across Canada in a way that we never have before. Virtual events meant that members could access professional development offered in any province, and gave each of us the chance to build and foster relationships with our peers. In the summer, the CPRS National Board of Directors made a commitment to supporting anti-racism through diversity, equity, and inclusion, saying that CPRS has not done a good enough job in reflecting the diversity of our nation or our profession. At the local level, we at CPRS-VI echo the sentiment that we must do better. We’ve taken some steps - through conversations, learning at the Board level, and by hosting an impactful event in the fall entitled Thoughts on reconciliation and decolonization: a conversation with Kamala Todd. There is still much to be done and we will continue to do the work required to influence change and foster an inclusive and representative association and profession. With a volunteer organization, anything really great happens because of great people. I’m so grateful to have the chance to work on the Board with such a competent, reliable, creative, and loving team. I reluctantly say goodbye to Catherine Dooner, our past president, Celia Sollows APR, our treasurer, and Michelle Collyer, our secretary, as they move on towards new adventures. I wish them everything wonderful - because they deserve it, and I take comfort in knowing that they will look back fondly at their time on our Board and will speak highly of their experience with us. This is how we will bring new talent and forge ahead in new ways as a chapter. We truly have been in this together this year and I thank each of you for being part of what makes CPRS-VI the warm and generous community that it is. Sincerely, Tatiana Chabeaux-Smith President, CPRS-Vancouver Island