What’s The Latest On Chapter News: Why Your Chapter Should Submit
You are probably wondering what is so valuable about Chapter News and more importantly, why your Chapter should submit a release? Chapter News is not only underutilized but unfortunately often undervalued and goes unnoticed on the behalf of students. Many students are often unaware of the fact that they have the opportunity to submit their Chapter’s latest news.
With the transition in leadership each year, Chapter News is not generally the first action item on the list of things Chapter leaders think to mention to their predecessors. Often, students are eager and understand the benefit of writing for our sister publications (i.e. Progressions and FORUM) but forget about our Chapter News section. Each publication is different and intended to serve a unique purpose, however. So what exactly is Chapter News anyways?
Simply put, Chapter News is one of the many streams of press releases written and published on the PRSSA National website. Chapter News highlights the key events occurring within our Chapters. This publication is written solely by students, predominantly for students. There is truly no greater way to reach students than hearing from Chapters who face the same hurdles and triumphs as you.
This is an effective means of relaying the various events and happenings within your Chapter to the remainder of the Society and essentially anyone who comes in contact with the PRSSA website. With over 300 Chapters and nearly 11,000 members, it is unimaginably hard to engage all of our membership with one another; however, this is a great start. Allow peers who may not have known your Chapter existed, to know the great things your Chapter has accomplished.
Has your Chapter taken part in an exciting event recently? How about receiving recognition for some amazing initiative members of your Chapter took? These are prime reasons to submit a release and keep the Society updated on your Chapter’s successes. Even if your Chapter did not have what you believe to be a seemingly special event, submit anyways. Chapter News is anything from a special event to an award, an extraordinary guest speaker or even a community or campus initiative. That is just it–Chapter News is whatever YOU as Chapter leaders make of it. Share those special moments that peers beyond your Chapter otherwise would know nothing about. Chapter News is all about taking pride in the accomplishments of your Chapter and managing to motivate other Chapters toward this same model of excellence whether you realize it or not.
You are probably now wondering how exactly you go about submitting Chapter News, right? Wondering whether or not your Chapter meets the criteria to have Chapter News published? The thing is across the entire span of the Society there is no one who meets the criteria. That is simply because there is none. That is right—any active Chapter is eligible to submit a release for publication on ANY subject of your choosing. As the National Vice President of Digital Communications, I review, edit and post all received releases with approval from our Headquarters. As long as your release is appropriate, grammatically intact and relates to the Society in some manner, it will be published on the PRSSA National Website.
What better reason to submit your writing to be published across a national platform, all while bringing exposure to your Chapter and highlighting its accomplishments. Interested Chapter leaders can submit Chapter news to chapternews@prsa.organd can contact me with any questions at vpdigitalcomm@prssa.org.
For information on how you can begin submitting your Chapter’s News or to see submissions from other Chapters, visit the Chapter News section of the PRSSA website: http://prssa.prsa.org/publications-media/chapter-news/submit-your-chapter-news/
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Briana Spears is the 2018-2019 vice president of digital communication for PRSSA National.
