ECD Chapter Spotlight: Central Ohio
PRSA East Central District members are back in the spotlight with the revival of the ECD Chapter Spotlight campaign for 2015. Each month, we will profile one of our 15 ECD chapters with social media infographics and blog posts. We begin PRSA Central Ohio – a fitting choice to lead the way since Central Ohio is again the gracious host of the Friday, Sept. 12 ECD mixer event in Dublin, helping kick off the Saturday Sept. 13 East Central District Conference at the International Center for Creativity.
COPRSA has 238 members including an impressive roster of 44 APRs. Public relations disciplines represented in the membership includes agency, corporate, non-profit, government, education, and students.
Christa Dickey is chapter president for 2025, ECD Director Alissa Agozzino is past president, Colin Wylie is present-elect, and Joshua Tice serves as treasurer. Many thanks to Christa for telling us about her chapter.
OUR BIGGEST PROJECT AND MOST NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENT:
The Central Ohio PRSA excels in programming and communications, but one of the highlights of our work as a professional association is our annual awards. The PRism awards are widely considered the most prestigious regional recognitions for communication professionals. Entries are consistently high, particularly among the audiences who may not regularly engage with the Chapter. COPRSA has also transformed the PRisms in recent years by investing in the event. Hosted in a premier event space in downtown Columbus, PRisms bring together professionals and agencies for a special night of celebration and camaraderie, honoring the significance of their work.
A LITTLE-KNOWN ‘FUN FACT’ ABOUT OUR CHAPTER:
COPRSA cares! The Chapter has consistently appropriated resources on the Board to honor ethics in the profession, as well as issues that matter to us all. Mental Health Awareness and Pride Month were recent highlights on our social channels. Notably, COPRSA’s Treasurer Joshua Tice shared a personal perspective on last June’s Pride Month. While we all interact closely in our professional lives, opportunities like this remind us the value of knowing the person behind the volunteer. Read it HERE.
OUR SECRETS TO A HAPPY CHAPTER:
The Person Behind the Professional | Serving on a Chapter Board of Directors is a commitment; you are most likely a working Board member. Take the time to get to know your fellow members to make the most of the time you’ll spend together on calls and at programming. It may seem simple, but we often get so good at networking we forget to get to know the person behind the professional. We do this each year by hosting a Leadership Rally, usually followed by a Happy Hour. The best long-term professional relationships have often come from sharing a little about our families, our hobbies and maybe our favorite cocktail.
Pay Homage to the Profession | We all started with PRSA for a reason. For most of us, our journey started at PRSSA. For many working professionals, barriers to staying involved and engaged are usually time constraints and day-to-day priorities. Ask yourself: what has PRSA given to you over the course of your education and career? If you have a solid answer, you can always honor that by putting effort back into the Chapter.
Bring Students Along | COPRSA is fortunate to be surrounded by several institutions of higher learning, many with a PRSSA Chapter. Some of these students are learning about the traditional aspects of public relations and strategic communications; some are studying content creation and AI. Whatever form they come in, a healthy Chapter will find its students and engage them as much as possible. COPRSA has a great committee for students, and many of our now-leaders have come from that pipeline. Consider bringing them along – from an act as simple as add a student on LinkedIn to a more involved commitment to being a mentor.
