The CRPRA 2007-2008 season is winding down and we are in the planning stages for our 2008-2009 season.  Help us continue to provide fun, informative and timely presentations by submitting your suggestions for topics and speakers for the upcoming season!  Send your ideas to any Steering Committee member today!

If you are having trouble viewing the images associated with this message, you may view this message on our Website.

 

"Fifteen in 5 Update"
with Lee Clancy, CR Chamber of Commerce
& Dan Baldwin, Greater CR Community Foundation

Thursday, May 8, 2008  
11:30 AM - 1:00 PM, Clark Alumni House, Coe College (Map)
Cost: $15.00
Reservations are required and due by Noon on Friday, May 2.
The meeting will conclude at approximately 1 p.m.

***This is our last meeting of the 2007-2008 Season.***

Reservations are mandatory and
are due by Noon on Friday, May 2.  

 Submit your reservation online or you may call Carol Myers at 393-1781 ext. 249.

View 2007-2008 Meeting Schedule


 

"Fifteen in 5 Update" - Thursday, May 8, 2008
with Lee Clancy, CR Chamber of Commerce
& Dan Baldwin, Greater CR Community Foundation

The mission of the Fifteen in 5 Community Planning Process was to create a discussion about what kind of place we want our community to be. From education to employment, culture to recreation and beyond, the Fifteen in 5 plan asked residents of Linn County - from all perspectives, beliefs and backgrounds - to identify what is important for the long-term success of our community and how we can make those dreams become a reality.

Through a series of community forums, a long list of ideas was narrowed to 15, and further community discussion, investigation and action have followed. Join us as our guests discuss the current state of the Fifteen in 5 initiative and what it means to the Cedar Rapids Community.


Lee Clancy has been the President & Chief Executive Officer of the Cedar Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce since 2005. In this role, she is responsible for carrying out the mission of the Chamber through the support of the Board of Directors and staff.  Clancy is in charge of a wide range of Chamber initiatives and activities related to community development.  In addition, she has responsibility for organizational and fiscal management, long-range planning, membership development and coordination with local economic development groups.

Dan Baldwin is President/CEO of The Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation (GCRCF) in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the largest community foundation in Eastern Iowa. He was a 15-year museum professional before coming to the GCRCF in 2002. Most recently, from 1996-2002, he was President/CEO of the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library in Cedar Rapids. The Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation serves donors and non-profits by facilitating philanthropy, making grants, and being a technical and programmatic resource. In 2004, the GCRCF partnered with the Cedar Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce to lead the Fifteen in 5 community planning initiative.

 

Join us on Thursday, May 8, for this presentation!

Reservations are due by Noon, Friday, May 2.
 

 
        by Sher Jasperse

April meeting: "Growing Your Small Business or Organization: An Entrepreneurial Primer"

Anne King, long-time marketing professional and business lecturer at Mount Mercy College, challenged us to step outside our business or organization and probe the ultimate question: What is your strategic fit? Instead of focusing on your competition and how you can beat them, she said, find your own "blue ocean" - your distinctive piece of the market - and focus on the value and innovation that you alone can offer.

Citing successful enterprises such as Cirque du Soleil and Starbucks ("the company that turned brown water into an experience"), Anne offered advice in the form of "tribal truths" that drive entrepreneurial success, including 1. make the common uncommon, and 2. needs are rational, wants are aspirational.*

Know the behaviors of your audience (based on demographic and psychographic information), and identify secondary and even tertiary markets for your product or service. Don't neglect the ever-important SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis, and always return to questions of strategic fit: why will customers purchase what you have to offer and how does your product/service satisfy the market?

(*from Tribal Knowledge: Business Wisdom Brewed from the Grounds of Starbucks Corporate Culture. N.p.: Kaplan Business, 2006) .

 

"I know you believe you understand what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant."
- Richard M. Nixon
 

Please email member
news to Kandi Behnke at:
kbehnke@bradleyriley.com
 

Are you looking for a great way to meet other area Marketing, Communications and Public Relations professionals and learn about exciting programs and people in Eastern Iowa? Then CRPRA is for you!

Cedar Rapids Public Relations Associates is an informal organization of professionals dedicated to sharing information on effective practices and future trends affecting the public relations field.

Want some free PR? Donate a door prize! Door prizes can be any items such as coffee mugs, notebooks, candles, the ever-popular food items (especially chocolate!), etc.

We'll draw names each month and hand out the door prizes and spotlight the businesses and individuals who donated. It's a win-win situation for everyone! To donate an item, please contact any CRPRA steering committee member, and thank you in advance for helping us celebrate 32 years of CRPRA!

If you have a suggestion for a guest speaker or topic you would like to see offered at a future meeting, or have any questions about CRPRA, please contact any of the Steering Committee members listed below.

You may use the online email form or call the numbers listed.

Warren Byerly, Moneymaster, Visual Images Productions, 360-7567
Kandi Behnke, Newslettermaster, Executive Administrator,
Bradley and Riley Law Firm, 363-0101
Connie Fullmer Dunkin, Peoplemaster, Dunkin One, 396-0185
Sher Jasperse, Wordmaster, Writer/Editor, 364-2535
Carol Myers, Printmaster, J&A Printing Inc., 393-1781 ext. 249
Amber O'Connor, Businessmaster, Erb's Business Machines Inc.,
364-5159 ext. 126
Debra Salz, Preventionmaster,
Prevention Services & Strategies, 378-4640
Wilma Shadle, Retirementmaster, Retired Communications Professional,
363-6254
Eric Wylie, Webmaster, Eric Wylie Productions, 832-2916

 
 

Cedar Rapids Public Relations Associates is an informal organization
of professionals dedicated to sharing information on effective practices
 and future trends affecting the public relations field.

Find more information online at www.crpra.com

Copyright 2007-2008 - Cedar Rapids Public Relations Associates

Reflections is distributed monthly via email from September through May.

If you wish to be removed from the CRPRA mailing list, please reply to this message with "REMOVE" as the subject.