Giving thanks to you and yours!

As your national president, I have been given a unique perspective on both our communications profession and the challenges our members face in their efforts to make a difference through their work and volunteerism each and every day.  And that they do.  One of the standouts for me is witnessing the personal dedication of all of our volunteers across the country and it truly is what they do that makes the Canadian Public Relations Society the strong organization it is. 

With the upcoming Thanksgiving holidays in mind, I’d like to thank each and every one of you for your time, extraordinary efforts and commitment in support of CPRS.  Please know that your selfless dedication makes a huge difference to both our organization and our profession.  On behalf of the National Board of Directors, a heartfelt thank you for your drive in helping move our communications profession to new standards. 

As always, we have many professional development opportunities and October is no exception.  Take advantage of everything CPRS has to offer including catching a member-only webinar or two for example. Our next is PR in the Micro-Moment on Oct. 23 with Martin Waxman, APR. It should be a great presentation, so be sure to register for it at cprs.ca/learn today.

I’m already looking forward to another great conference in Edmonton next June and hope you’re holding the time in your calendars to join in what’s shaping up to be a significant speaker line up.  Just a reminder that if you have some leading-edge insights or programs you’d like to share with our membership, the Evolving Expectations speaker program is filling up fast so get your workshop proposal in for consideration.  Workshop proposals are being accepted until Oct. 17, so if you’d like to help us surpass our delegates’ expectations once again, make sure to send in your ideas.

Finally, a special shout out to our accreditation graders, who this month will be busy marking the oral and written exams of this year’s prospective APRs. This is an enormous amount of work that these individuals do each and every year so thanks in advance for your enormous contributions. To the APR candidates, you’re almost there so best of luck! For those of you who want to be part of next year’s APR cohort, get started on your applications soon because the new cycle starts Dec. 1.

When the CPRS first began in 1948, it was led by passionate communicators who were committed to the highest standards, and we’re proud that seven decades later we’re still growing strong!

Thanks again for your being a member of this very special organization.  #CPRSproud

Dana Dean, APR, FCPRS LM
CPRS National president