April 14, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Adam Kelley (adam.kelley@chsys.org), 205/558-2947

PRCA to host Media Relations and Crisis Communications seminar JUNE 3RD featuring jeff braun  AND Bill Todd

BIRMINGHAM – The Birmingham Chapter of the Public Relations Council of Alabama (PRCA) will host a Media Relations and Crisis Communications seminar from 1:15 till 3:45 p.m., on Thursday, June 3, at the Lakeshore Foundation. PRCA’s regular monthly luncheon will precede the seminar.

The seminar will be led by noted communication consultants Jeff Braun of Texas-based The Ammerman Experience and Bill Todd of Birmingham’s O2 Ideas and focus on the speakers’ differing perspectives and experiences with regard to training spokespersons to communicate for public consumption, preparing organizations to respond quickly and effectively in a crisis and evaluating PR planning and  performance.

The PRCA luncheon will serve as the first of three joint meetings of the local chapters of IABC, PRSA and PRCA (www.prca-b.com). Working with the Media is the luncheon topic and will include a media panel featuring Braun and Todd as well as J. Holland of WERC (960-AM), Betsy Butgereit of The Birmingham News and Rick Journey of Fox-6 (WBRC-TV).

The luncheon will begin at 11:45 a.m. and conclude at 1 p.m. Both the luncheon and the seminar will be held at the Lakeshore Foundation Fitness and Education Facility (4000 Ridgeway Drive in Homewood, just off Lakeshore Drive and the Old Montgomery Highway).

Both events are open to the public and will be of high interest to public relations practitioners, communicators and other interested business professionals. The cost for the seminar and luncheon is $35 members (IABC, PRSA, PRCA); $45 non-members and $20 students. The cost for the luncheon alone is $12 members (IABC, PRSA, PRCA); $17 non-members and $10 students. All prices include snacks and all materials. To register for either event, contact Nan Baldwin (nan@mdb.org) at 205/592-5964.

Braun is vice president and general manager of The Ammerman Experience, a communications skills development firm, teaches businesses and individuals how to effectively and confidently reach and influence others through the spoken word.  He also is an award-winning journalist who spent nearly 25 years in the broadcast news industry before joining the firm and was involved in creating the nation's first regional satellite newsgathering network for CBS News.

Since 2001, Todd has been president of the public relations division for O2 Ideas’, the largest multicultural marketing firm in the U.S.  O2 handles advertising, brand planning, public relations and planning for such noted clients as Bruno’s, Verizon, Books-A-Million and Alabama State University. Todd, who is accredited in public relations, is the former finance manager of BellSouth's regional profit center and served as the company's chief media strategist for Alabama from 1994-2000.

PRCA is the state's oldest and largest group of public relations practitioners. The organization exists to further the professional and networking interests of today's public relations and communication professional in private, public and nonprofit businesses and organizations and meets monthly at various locations throughout the metropolitan Birmingham area.

For more information, visit PRCA (www.prca-b.com).

-PRCA-