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Let's reconnect at our first mixer of 2020! Join us at this fun, casual event for a drink and some free appetizers. It's really relaxed, we promise! Tuesday February 11, 2020 5:30 - 7:30 pm Moxie's Grill & Bar on Yates Street, Victoria Free for members and their guests Please register: https://conta.cc/2TZQtww If you are interested, this mixer will also give you the chance to chat with our Accreditation Chair about the Public Relations Knowledge (PRK) exam. The PRK certification is for PR/comms practitioners who have 1-5 years experience and it's a great way to bolster your resume to demonstrate your PR knowledge.

Join us for our second Lunch & Learn! Bring your lunch, listen and then ask questions. This event is for CPRS-VI members only. Topic: The Art of Podcasting. Speaker: Richard Davies, PR, Content and Communications Manager with AbeBooks. Date: Tuesday January 28, 2020 Time: 12:15 - 1:00 pm Location: Victoria City Hall, Songhees Room. 1 Centennial Square. Cost: Free. Reserve your spot now: https://conta.cc/35noTMB. Limited spots available.

Earlier this Fall, the new CPRS VI Board got together to discuss how to work together as a team, how to support one another as individuals and to agree on a set of guiding principles to serve our membership. As half of our Board this year was new, it was important to us to create a culture of trust and caring, to make our time a fun and meaningful experience, and to build a solid foundation to serve you, our members. We all came to the team with different views and perspectives and noted we all share many of the same values and reasons for volunteering. We had a fruitful discussion that resulted in four principles that will guide us in our work for the chapter: caring, integrity, belonging and service. (See the infographic below for a breakdown of each of those intentions.) Our goals this year are to offer fun and useful events for you and to bolster our membership. We believe that means offering value, absolutely, but also a sense of connection. We want our members to enjoy being a part of our community, to relate to us (check out our social platforms!) and to get to know the Board as people. We are so proud to be a part of our local communications community with you! Let us know what you would like to see as part of this chapter and we look forward to seeing you at our next event.

Let's celebrate the end of the year together! Enjoy free appies, a cash bar, a photo booth and good conversation! This is a great opportunity to hang out with your local communications community. Join us - it's going to be fun! Tuesday December 3, 2019 5:30-7:30 pm at the Bard and Banker Pub in Victoria, BC Free for CPRS members. $7 for non-members/guests Please register to let us know how many spots we need to reserve: https://bit.ly/2QeGxgG

Join a panel of experts and your PR community in a lively analysis and discussion around the communications highlights from the election. The panel will analyse what worked, what didn’t, and highlight what we can learn as communications practitioners. Our expert panelists span political affairs, academia, media and communications and will discuss the main themes from the 2019 election. Our discussion will provide practical tips and tools on how we can leverage learning from the election strategies to break through the noise with our own campaigns in a busy media and digital environment. Monday, November 4, 2019 5:30 pm: reception, appies & cash bar 6:00 - 7:00 pm: panel discussion The Fairfield Room, Coast Victoria Harbourside Hotel Our panelists: Dr. David Black is a renowned commentator on political affairs and communications and is an associate professor in the School of Communication and Culture at Royal Roads University. Les Leyne is a well known political affairs journalist on the island. He has been part of the Legislature bureau since 1985 and writes four days a week for the Times Colonist. He is the recipient of many awards, including two Jack Webster Awards and was nominated for a National newspaper Award for column writing in 2008. Maclean Kay spent five years as a speechwriter for former Premier Christy Clark. Maclean’s work as a journalist has appeared in the National Post and the Globe and Mail. He is currently the editor and founder of online political blog, The Orca. This event is open to CPRS members and the public. Special rates apply for CPRS members affiliated with a local chapter and CPRS students. Buy your tickets now: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/politics-communications-lessons-learned-from-the-federal-election-tickets-75594006709

Are you thinking of adding the letters APR behind your name? Join our Accreditation Chair, Jonathan Dyck, APR, at this interactive session to start preparing to apply to enter the CPRS accreditation program. This is your chance to find out more about the process from APRs on Vancouver Island.Discuss possible work samples, learn about all the support systems and ask all your questions! Tuesday, October 8, 2019 Moxies Bar and Grill 5:30 - 7:30 pm Please register here.

You see the value in joining a local professional association but sometimes it can take a little convincing to get financial support from your organization. Here are 5 practical benefits to leverage when trying to get support to join CPRS-VI: 1. Professional development that is free for members. This includes some local in-person events as well access to webinars from CPRS National. You also get discounted rates to all other CPRS-VI events. 2. Free networking opportunities with other PR/Comm professionals in our community. We host mixers for members & their guests. Meeting new people and learning about what others are doing in your field is important as a professional. It helps to stay current and connected. Plus our mixers are casual and really fun! 3. Broaden the scope of your expertise. We are an incredibly supportive community. If you need a resource or the answer to a communications problem, all you have to do is reach out to another member. We help each other. We've seen it happen time and time again. 4. Access to accreditation & credentials. There are a number of accreditation options for CPRS members. These boost both your career & your confidence. 5. There's so much more! Pick one more benefit that resonates with your boss - access to bursaries, awards and scholarships; mentorship opportunities; a formal commitment to our industry's standards and ethics; an annual national conference (the next one is in May 2020 in Quebec City!)...the list goes on. A CPRS-VI membership is an investment in your personal and professional growth. Join our community today or email our Membership Chair to schedule an in-person chat.

Come mix and mingle with other communications and public relations students in your community! Welcome to a new school year! The Canadian Public Relations Society Vancouver Island is hosting a student mixer to celebrate communications and public relations students on Vancouver Island. This event is a great opportunity to meet communications and public relations students on Vancouver Island while enjoying free appies! It's also a chance for you to meet the CPRS-VI Board of Directors, and for the Board to meet you. The event is free for CPRS student members and $6 for non-members. An AWESOME bonus: Members get free professional head-shots taken. Become a CPRS-VI member. If you have any questions, email us at cprs.vi.education@gmail.com We can't wait to meet you all!

Bring your lunch, learn and engage! Thursday September 19, 2019 from 12:15 to 1:00 pm at the Consumer Protection BC office. TOPIC: Revitalize your Social Strategy using Data, Creativity & your Instincts. SPEAKER: Tatiana Chabeaux-Smith, Manager of Corporate Communications & Marketing with Consumer Protection BC. WHAT YOU WILL LEARN: After almost a decade on social (and with a Facebook community of over 55,000 people), it was time for Consumer Protection BC to re-write their social strategy. Hear how they refreshed all their platforms and convinced their Leadership Team that a provincial regulator could be successful on Instagram. (A regulator on Instagram? Seems like it wouldn't be a thing....but it is!) This free event is limited to 15 people and is for CPRS members only. To register: https://conta.cc/2ZryW3D Location: 321-3600 Uptown Blvd Victoria BC

As our minds turn to back to school and the new academic year, let's reconnect with our professional community at Moxie's on Yates for our CPRS-VI Happy Hour. Your new board is planning events for next year, so come meet us, connect and share what you would like to see for the coming year! Please RSVP here so we have an idea of how many seats to reserve! This is your opportunity to connect and grow within Vancouver Island’s community of practice. When: Tuesday, Aug. 27 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Where: Moxie's Bar and Grill Cost: Members and their guests - free!

CPRS-VI President Elect Catherine Dooner presented Joan Yates APR with Life Membership at the CPRS-VI AGM on June 11, 2019. CPRS member societies grant Life Membership to people who have made outstanding contributions to the advancement of the national and local societies, and to public relations in general. Joan is Vice President of Student Experience at Camosun College in Victoria, and has served CPRS both locally and nationally. It was an honour for the CPRS-VI board to be able to recognize Joan. She is an inspiration for many, and has contributed significantly to CPRS and to the practice of public relations in Canada. Her many contributions include: - Nine years of service on the local society board. - National President of CPRS. - Receiving the CPRS Outstanding Achievement Award in 1996, which recognizes a single, major contribution made by a Society member, which has resulted in the betterment of CPRS through the enhancement of its image in the eyes of other Canadians, or the world-at-large. - Receiving the CPRS Lamp of Service award in 2004, as part of the governance review task force. Recipients of the Lamp of Service have given distinguished and dedicated service to CPRS. It is awarded to a member whose personal activities, leadership and dedication have resulted in a striking illustration of the Society’s principles or a notable advancement in the prestige of the Canadian Public Relations Society. - Leading the development of the Pathways to the Profession program while on the National Education Council. - Developing some of Canada’s leading PR education programs at the University of Victoria (Diploma in PR) and Royal Roads University (Masters of PR & Graduate Certificate In PR Management). - Developing courses and teaching hundreds of post-secondary students from across Canada on PR for over 20 years.

Genevieve Racine presented Paula Duncan with the Denis Racine Bursary at the CPRS-VI AGM on June 11, 2019. Paula is sharing the following blog post with us so we can get to know her a little better, as advances her education in public relations. I am pleased to be this year’s recipient of the Denis Racine Bursary. I'll use this bursary towards gaining formal credential as I am currently completing the Diploma in Public Relations through the University of Victoria’s Division of Continuing Studies. I began the diploma program in January 2018 and expect to graduate in 2020. My interest in communications began while I was completing my undergraduate degree. I started out in Geography and Environmental Studies then explored a few different concentrations before deciding on an English major. Although I’d always loved reading and writing in school, I began to doubt my choice a few semesters after the switch. Then I enrolled in a Technical Writing course, which counted towards my major’s requirements and also towards the Professional Writing minor. I didn’t even know what Professional Writing was but for the first time in my English degree I found the learning relevant and a good fit for me. Completing the Professional Writing minor helped me learn practical skills from inspiring and supportive industry professionals. The courses improved my writing and exposed me to the world of communications. One of my mentors and I have kept in close contact as well, which is quite special. After graduating from the University of Victoria in 2014, I trained as a teacher in Wales. I then taught in England for two years before returning to Canada. I sought out full-time teaching work, which took me to northern British Columbia—a definite contrast to living on the outskirts of London. Since graduating from teaching, I kept thinking about communications as an alternative career path. Knowing it would be a long winter in the north, I applied to UVic's online PR diploma program and completed my first PR course at the beginning of 2018. As I work my way through each of the program requirements, my confidence in my ability to work in the industry grows. The PW minor was a great introduction to communications, and the PR courses have not only consolidated the skills I learned previously but also extended my understanding. I have picked out similarities between PR and teaching. Building relationships through good stakeholder engagement, working collaboratively to achieve intended outcomes and communicating effectively are examples of such parallels. The process of planning, implementing and evaluating a campaign closely aligns with curriculum development. I am excited to continue my learning, so thank you to both Denis Racine's family for this bursary and CRPS-VI for its encouragement. I am very grateful. - Paula Duncan