In this issue:
- Register today to join us for our January 12 meeting! Hy-Vee veteran employee Roxann Martinek will present, "Customer Service: The Front Line of Public Relations," at the Edgewood Road Hy-Vee Club Room. (Details below).
- The CRPRA Steering Committee is looking for new members! See below to learn more about this opportunity.
- You'll find a quick recap of December's very interesting presentation by Nick Westergaard about using social media as an important part of brand development. We had yet another great turn-out and met several new area communications professionals in December! CRPRA helps you make connections!
- Please consider donating a Door Prize at a future CRPRA Meeting! (More below.)
 
Thursday, January 12, 2012:
“Customer Service: The Front Line of Public Relations” - with Roxann Martinek,
Human Resource Manager,
Edgewood Road Hy-Vee
As marketers, communicators and public relations professionals, we often remind our employers, employees and volunteers that the people 'on the front lines' have a significant role in shaping the perception of a business, organization or brand.
Join us in January as Roxann Martinek, Human Resource Manager for the Edgewood Road Hy-Vee Store in Cedar Rapids, shares her experiences and insights of over 30 years on the front lines and as an employee trainer for one of Iowa's most iconic brands.
About the speaker: Roxann Martinek has been employed by Hy-Vee for over 30 years in a variety of capacities. Roxann started her career at the Oakland Road Drugstore
and was there for 10-1/2 years, working in all facets at that location. She then transferred to the Marion Hy-Vee where she honed her skills over the next 14
years, participating in a special management
training program, achieving the position on Manager of Perishables. Roxann
spent the last seven years at the Marion store as the back-up Human Resource/Payroll
person. Today, Roxann is the Human Resource
Manager for the Edgewood Road Hy-Vee store. In addition to hiring and training employees she can also be found helping out during
special events and promotions. Roxann has done most jobs within
Hy-Vee and enjoys sharing her knowledge with new employees.
Roxann and her husband, Tim, live in Marion and have been involved in many charities over the years,
including the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, local cancer fundraising events
and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). Roxann is involved in planning
the local JDRF walk, JDRF gala and the Ride to Cure Diabetes. She currently
serves on the Eastern Iowa JDRF Board of Directors and has served on the
Greater Iowa JDRF board. Being involved in the community and building
relationships is an important part of her job, as well as a personal focus.
Please join us!
Thursday, January 12, 2012
11:30 AM - 1:00 PM
PLEASE NOTE THE SPECIAL LOCATION FOR THIS MEETING:
The Edgewood Road Hy-Vee in Cedar Rapids
We'll meet in the Club Room on the second floor.
Enter using the exterior door with the 'Club Room' sign above it.
An elevator is located on the south end (deli side)
of the store, if you prefer not to use the stairs.
(map)
Cost: $15.00
Reservations are
required and
are due by
5:00 p.m. on Friday, January 6.
Submit
your reservation for the January meeting
CRPRA meets the 2nd Thursday of each month, September through May.
Mark your calendars!
by Sher Jasperse
December 2011 – “Branding and Social Media: Build it and they will come”
Nick Westergaard, vice president of the brand strategy firm that bears his name, helped us consider the timely topic of using social media to build brand-driven communities for our products or services. Successful such communities always share certain traits, he said. They:
- Are motivated by Maslow (need)
- Motivate people to action
- Are social – both off-line and online
- Help each other
- Share best practices
- Have community value
Lacking a belief, a soul and messages that touch consumers, your brand will be
irrelevant, he warned.
Once defined, your brand message can be delivered and developed using a variety of
social media tools to achieve different purposes, including:
- Community building – through your website, which is the hub to which all traffic is directed
- Creating gathering places – using Facebook
- Sharing promotions and news – using Twitter
- Broadcasting your message – through You Tube, which is like the community movie theater
- Keeping up with groups of other professionals – using Linked In, a virtual Chamber of Commerce
Thanks to social media, he concluded, anyone can be a marketer, but don't forget that
social skills that remain the basis of sound relationships.
THANK YOU to Pratt Audio-Visual & Video Corporation
for the generous donation of video projector rentals for our meetings!
New CRPRA Steering Committee Members Needed!
We are looking for organized, thoughtful individuals to join the CRPRA Steering Committee.
The Steering Committee holds a planning meeting over lunch at an area restaurant from 11:30 to 1:00 on the first Thursday of the month. Costs for the planning lunch and for CRPRA Meetings (second Thursday of the month) are your own. Committee members do not receive discounts for meetings or any monetary compensation. There is, of course, a great deal of satisfaction in preparing and carrying out the group's plans each month!
You, too, may soon be able to include "Steering Committee Member - Cedar Rapids Public Relations Associates" on your resume!
If you, or someone you know, would like to learn more, please contact a current Steering Commitee Member using the contact points below.
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Donate a door prize! 
