T he Lubbock Professional Chap-ter was well represented at the AWC National Conference in

Kansas City. Kaley Daniel, Michelle Stephens, Briana Vela, and I along with TTU student chapter officers Bethany Alexander and Alyssa McCoy attended.

Our chapter received numerous awards — more awards than any other chapter! Awards received were Best Special Event (for our Celebrity Lun-cheon), Most Innovative Professional Development Activity or Special Event (for the PR Workshop), Most Creative Chapter Programming and 2014-2015

Chapter Excellence Award. From the six chapters receiving Chapter Excel-lence Awards, two chapters were selected to win the Outstanding Chapter, one small and one large chapter. I’m thrilled that our Lubbock Profession-al Chapter won this category as the large chapter Outstanding Chapter!

These awards are shared by all our members and demonstrate the ex-cellence of the 2014-2015 board led by Kaley Daniel. In addition to these chapter awards, Alyssa Kitten was given a 2015 Chapter Star Award. She certainly deserves this! As the Beth Pratt Communicator of the Year recip-ient, Alyssa is automatically nominated for the Chapter Star Award.

I have attended several conferences through the years and observed National Boards during this time. I have to say I am impressed with this National Board. They have done an excellent job recruiting younger board members who seem to have a grasp of chapter challenges.

One change you may soon notice – Club Management, owned and operated by Jean Harmison out of Springfield, MO, will soon be the new management company for AWC. We are told there will be little to no interruption of regular business. Members will still be able to contact the national office at members@womcom.org or any of our national board members with questions or needs. I was advised there will be increased benefits with less cost. This change is scheduled to take place Dec. 1.

Most of all, I want each of you to know that you made me proud! We are blessed with a great chapter!

Diane Harlan, president

President’s LetterMission

Provide professional development and networking for members and enhance the lives of local

communications students through scholarships.

Who we areAWC Lubbock began in 1955 as Theta Sigma Phi

Alumnae Club, founded by the late Louise Allen, who was a widely known journalism instructor at Texas

Tech University.

The chapter meets twice a month. The first meet-ing is to discuss business and hear officer reporters from the board of directors. The second meeting

features a renowned speaker who contributes to the personal and professional development of members.

Other chapter events include membership mixers, an annual planning retreat, the annual Celebrity Lun-

cheon, and a biennial national conference.

A portion of all funds raised from our events support a scholarship fund for local communications stu-

dents and support professional development oppor-tunities for AWC Lubbock members.

How to joinMembership is open to many different career paths, from marketing to journalism, design to writing, and

photography to public relations.

AWC Lubbock does not charge local dues. Members pay only the cost of meals for monthly business and program meetings and annual membership dues to the National Chapter of the Association for Women

in Communications.

Contact awclubbockchapter@gmail.com for more information on joining AWC.

2015-2016 AWC Board of DirectorsPresidentDiane Harlan

President-ElectMichelle Stephens

VP For ProgramsGlenys Young

VP For FundraisingAllyson Sherrill/ Robbye Appling

VP For External MembershipAshley Harder

VP For Internal MembershipLaura Webb

VP For Student AffairsJo Grant

VP For CommunicationsBriana Vela

VP For DevelopmentSherry Saffle

SecretaryLindsay Grannan

TreasurerYvonne Limon

E-Mail/RSVP Heidi Toth

HistorianMary Ann Edwards

Past President/Bylaws Kaley Daniel

AWC Student Chapter Liaisons (TTU)Mary Ann Edwards/ Cameron Skoczlas

Upcoming ProgramsDec. 8: Dustin Garrett, Holiday Entertainment Dustin Garrett is the entertain-ment director at the Cactus Theater. He will play holi-day music on acoustic guitar throughout our December program lunch. We will have party games with the chance for winners to take home some fun prizes. All attendees are asked to bring children’s books or toys for ages 15 months to 18 years, which we will donate to the Children’s Home of Lubbock. Jan. 12: Allison Matherly, AnalyticsAs the Coordinator for Digital Engagement, Allison Matherly acts as social media coordina-tor and community manager of the Texas Tech social media channels. She also handles the Emergency Communications Center and TechA!ert system, and develops content for the campus’ various web presences. She enjoys learning about social media and how it is changing the world of com-munications as a whole. The Sugar Land native is an avid Twitter and Facebook user, ex-plores other social networking websites and also writes a blog.

Social Media Crisis:

Just blame the intern. That was Donald Trump’s plan after a recent tweet disparaging Iowan voters was retweeted on his account after Ben Carson

moved past Trump in the polls. When Iowans were outraged, Trump responded with this tweet: “The young intern who accidentally did a retweet apologizes.”It’s too soon to know if this is “the one” bad thing that will do in Trump’s campaign the way other “the ones” have not, but any good communicator would agree: the key to successful crisis management is not to blame the intern or brush off the issue. What are some good (and not so good) ways to handle a crisis, particularly on social me-dia?

Do sound sincere when you apologize. Did you know KitchenAid tweeted out something very insensitive about President Obama and his grandmother who had just died? I didn’t either. It was sup-posed to go to an employee’s personal account but ended up on @KitchenAidUSA, who today has close to 70,000 followers. However, someone noticed it and had it down within 15 minutes, and the CEO used Twitter to explain and apologize. She addressed that someone was responsible and had been dealt with but also took responsibility. The crisis was barely a blip. (Our Social Times: http://oursocialtimes.com/6-examples-of-social-media-crises-what-can-we-learn/)

Do respond quickly and directly. In yet another mistaken Twitter identity, in February 2011 someone with the American Red Cross tweeted a comment full of bad English, fourpacks of beer and “#gettngslizzerd”. In addition to deleting the tweet and explaining the error from a company standpoint, the Red Cross tweeted, “We’ve deleted the rogue tweet but rest assured the Red Cross is sober and we’ve confiscated the keys.” The employee even confessed on her personal account. (Spinweb: http://blog.spinweb.net/3-great-exam-ples-of-crisis-management-on-social-media)Humor doesn’t always work and it has to be done well. (See Airb-nb’s advertising campaign in San Francisco right now. No one is laughing: http://news.yahoo.com/airbnb-battles-hostile-ballot-mea-sure-san-francisco-143834190.html) It can help in the right situa-tion.

Do check if you’re on your personal or professional account before you send something out on social media.

It’s Not Your Intern’s Problemby Heidi Toth

Don’t get defensive. We all remember a couple of years ago when Applebee’s fired a server for posting a picture of a receipt that crossed out the tip amount but did include a note that read, “I give God 10%; why do you get 18?” Store management said she violated customer privacy. Applebee’s tried to explain their position; they got 10,000 comments, none of which agreed with them. Instead of leaving it alone, someone at Applebee’s tried responding to all of the Facebook comments. When has arguing with someone on Facebook ever worked? It didn’t for Applebee’s either. (Our Social Times)

Don’t lose the password to your social media accounts. Our Social Times also highlighted a British

retailer who laid off staff members but didn’t change the passwords to their Twitter and Facebook account before firing their social media team. Someone used the opportunity to live-tweet the layoffs, including a manager she overheard asking, “How do I shut down Twitter?” The employee actually had to help the still-hired staff change the passwords and remove her as an administrator, because none of them knew how to access the accounts.

Don’t blame an intern unless it actually was an in-tern’s fault, and even then realize interns are low- or no-paid and usually college students who should be overseen by a higher-up. Accepting responsibility has in many cases helped brands weather the storm or recover after a crisis.

Chapter Awards Session:

The Chapter Awards Session is one of my favor-ites throughout the National Conference. It is where we recognize chapters who have excelled

over the past year as well as chapter leaders who have display exemplary leadership and service to advance our mission within their own chapter.

Our first award was the Most Creative Chapter Programming Award. This award is for the chapter’s overall regular programming for the last year. We were pleased to announce the Lubbock Professional Chap-ter for this award. Program topics included work/life balance, marketing in a real-time world and avoiding burnout. The programs benefitted members profes-sionally and personally and they provided a survey to members at year-end as an evaluation method.

The Best Special Event Award recognizes a chapter for outstanding fundraising, recognition and/or awards event. We present this award to one small and one large chapter. With their Celebrity Luncheon, the Lub-bock Professional Chapter received the large chapter Best Special Event Award. The chapter worked tire-lessly to secure local businesses to sponsor and present the awards at the event. This was a great way to get community engagement. The chapter developed high quality and creative materials to support the event and professionalism of the chapter.

We also recognized the Lubbock Professional Chapter for the Most Innovative Professional Chapter Development Activity Award. This award recogniz-es a chapter for an outstanding special event and/or activity related to professional development and career services. The Lubbock Chapter held a half-day PR Workshop seminar. The event had four sessions rang-ing from PR on a budget to crisis communications. It was highly attended by chapter members and those in the community.

The Chapter Excellence Award recognizes chapters that have gone above and beyond in several categories. Some of those include holding a chapter leadership event, increasing membership by 10 percent and hav-

ing one program devoted to an AWC issue, to name a few.

Our chapter excellence awards went to the Lubbock Professional Chapter; the Oklahoma City Professional Chapter; the San Antonio Professional Chapter; the Seattle Professional Chapter; the Springfield, Missou-ri, Professional Chapter; and the Tulsa Professional Chapter.

Out of those recipients, the Outstanding Chapter for the 2014-2015 year was selected. It was a very diffi-cult decision and every chapter had many notable

National Conferenceby Kristin Van Nort, AWC national membership committee chair

accomplishments, however, I was honored to present Lubbock as the 2014-2015 Outstanding Chapter in the large chapter category. Congratulations.

The Chapter Star Award honors outstanding local chapter members who have made a significant contribution to the chapter through service and leadership. These award winners were nominated by their chapters and throughout the applications, held one thing in common. They each have a love for AWC and dedication see that the chapter thrives and is successful. Alyssa Kitten is the winner from the Lubbock Professional Chapter.

Congratulations to all the winners!

Professional Chapter Awards Most Creative Chapter Programming Award: Lubbock

Most Innovative Membership Recruitment/Retention Activity Award: Tulsa

The Best Special Event Award: small chapter, Oklahoma City; large chapter, Lubbock

Outstanding Work Benefiting Students: Tulsa

Most Innovative Professional Chapter Development Activity Award: Lubbock

Outstanding Communications Award: Tulsa

Chapter Excellence Award: Lubbock; Oklahoma City; San Antonio; Seattle; Springfield, Missouri; Tulsa

Outstanding Chapter for 2014-2015: small chapter, Springfield, Missouri; large chapter, Lubbock

Chapter Star Award: Jackie Langhoff, Bloomington- Normal; Laura Oliveto, Detroit;

Alyssa Kitten, Lubbock; Ginger H. Carnes, San Antonio; Christy Broccardo, Springfield, Illinois; Anjanette

LaBellarte-Gilbert, Springfield, Missouri

Five Things to Know About Graphic Design

by Yvonne Limon

In today’s world, we are bom-barded with thousands of images every day. With more than half

of the population identifying them-selves as visual learners, the success of a business is often contingent upon the strength of its brand; espe-cially their logo. Visual communica-tion is a vital and often underutilized medium. Below is a list of five things everyone should know about graphic design—the vanguard of communi-cation.

1. Looks matter. A recent 2015 study conducted by Microsoft showed that the average attention span of humans is eight seconds, seven of which are used to formulate a first impression. Whether it is a logo, flyer or in-formational piece, every component of your brand is someone’s first impression of your company.

2. Perfect the principles. Just like fashion, graphic design goes through fads — some are better than others! Consider the principles of design your “little black dress.” We all remember the days when every-thing was written in either Papyrus or Comic Sans font. Whether it is an evolution in technology, or the implementation of a trending font, the one thing a graphic designer can rely on is their knowledge of design principles. Take time to learn things like color theory, negative space and the rule-of-thirds. These principles have stood the test of time and remain the strong foundation necessary for the fast-paced, digital world we live in.

3. Strive for cohesiveness, not conformity. Graphic designers are visual storytellers. It is our job to lis-ten to your story and bring your vision to life. All great stories, whether written or conveyed through an image, have the perfect balance of relatability and

innovation. Be inspired by your surroundings and take risks, but always remain true to your brand. It is easy to become so inspired by a piece that your goal becomes strictly to emulate their aesthetic. This can confuse your consumers and can change the overall perception of your business. The brand identity of a successful company (i.e. Coca-Cola, McDonalds, Apple) shows a natural progression that is prevalent due to the foundational cohesiveness it was built upon.

4. Copying is NOT a crime. True creativity is a compilation of your

interpretation of what has already been done. I cannot tell you how many hours I wasted trying to reinvent the wheel. Designer Christian Eres, contributing au-thor of “The Pocketbook: 120 Tips For Being A Suc-cessful Graphic Designer,” says it best: “You’re the sum of your influences.” One of my earliest works — which is probably my favorite to date — has the color scheme of a Picasso painting and the font style of a Strawberry Fanta can! As cliché as it sounds, find and appreciate the beauty in everything. Take pictures, keep a swatch of that wrapping paper you love, and put on a mood board or in an inspiration folder. You may not use it right away, but who knows, it could be the future muse for something spectacular.

5. YOU are your No. 1 brand. Although graphic de-sign is all about bringing other people’s visions to life, never lose sight of your own. They chose you for a rea-son! If you don’t ask questions and make suggestions you will not only do them a disservice, but yourself as well. It is true, the customer is always right. However, they hire you to be the expert advisor. Collaboratively both brands can evolve and grow — which remains the true purpose of graphic design.

Speakers Sought for AWC WebinarsAWC Professional Devel-opment (ProDev) is seeking AWC chapter members with extensive or unique commu-nication experience to serve as ProDev series speakers.

This year, AWC Nationals will offer a renewed, regu-lar series of ProDev events through webinar. Please email Diane Harlan at dhar-lan@kcbd.com if you are in-terested in contributing your skills, talents and knowledge as a possible ProDev speak-er.

Member NewsMichelle Stephens is the new marketing director for the Lubbock Entertainment/Performing Arts Association. Laura Webb has replaced Lynne Duncan as the VP for Internal Membership. Alyssa Kitten won the 2015 Chapter Star Award at the AWC National Conference in Kansas City. Kaley Daniel has been nominated for membership on the national board. Vote at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/AWC2015elections

Four Ways to Generate Great Content

by Amanda McAfee

No matter what your platform, who your audience is, or what you are communicating, content will always be queen. Creating engaging content spreads your message further and builds your

brand. Here are four ways to create great content:

1. Be relevant. Create content connected to your brand and your audience. At the Volunteer Center, our audience wants us to talk about volunteer-ism, nonprofit development, and the community. It does not make sense for the Volunteer Center to put out content about the latest Kardashian break-up unless we can tie it back in a relevant way. (By the way, we can’t!)

2. Be interesting. Create engaging content that tells a story. If you don’t have something to say, it’s better to say nothing. Don’t waste tweets wish-ing your followers a “happy Monday.” Instead, tell them a 140 character story about how your brand is making an impact on Monday, e.g. a new product being launched.

3. Use images. Use photos and pictures to tell your story. Our brains pro-cess images faster than text, so a high-quality photo with your Facebook post will catch a browser’s eye. But be sure to use the right size and shape for the medium. You’d hate for that great picture of your CEO shaking hands with a presidential candidate to show up on Twitter as a crotch shot. Social Media Examiner has a helpful sizing guide.

4. Proofread. Always edit your content. You’re human. You will miss some-thing from time to time, but inevitably someone in your audience will catch your mistake. Don’t damage your credibility or the quality of your content with a simple proofreading mistake. Always ask someone else to edit your work before you hit send. Grammarly.com offers a free grammar checker which is a great tool to catch those mistakes.

New MembersCindy GilstrapSherri MuddBevin HensonSherri ChandlerSummer BurkholderMary MyersKinsey PhelpsMariah Henson