February Luncheon Meeting

Valentine’s Day: It’s not about the relationship you think.

You may love public relations, but have you developed a relationship with your target audience? Join us Feb. 4 to hear from a panel of longtime PR professionals including Karen Ryan, APR, CPRC, of LCEC; Teri Hansen, APR,  of Priority Marketing; and Mary Briggs, APR, CPRC, of Lee Memorial Health System.

They’ll discuss achieving success with internal, external, governmental and nonprofit audiences.

Karen Ryan, APR, CPRC has been the Public Relations Manager for LCEC for 17 years. She manages a public relations staff of several super-stars who have helped to make LCEC a recognized name in Southwest Florida and throughout the electric utility industry. The LCEC PR team has received their share of professional awards and was recognized by PR Magazine as a Small Corporate Communications Team of the Year in 2006 and has won multiple other communications plan and design awards within the public relations field. Karen was the 2002 FPRA Public Relations Professional of the year and served as the Chapter President from 2002-2003.  Her first professional PR position was as the promotions director for US Cable’s Friday Night Fights. She was one of the first women to be accepted into the world of professional boxing at the time.

 

Teri Hansen is founder, president and creative director of Priority Marketing of Southwest Florida, a full-service marketing and public relations agency. Born and raised in Southwest Florida, Teri is an experienced and dynamic leader who has earned a reputation for exceptional integrity, creativity and spirit. During her career, she has received many personal honors, and her team’s work is continually recognized as the best in the industry locally, nationally and internationally. An accredited public relations professional (APR) and a longtime member of the Florida Public Relations Association’s Counselor’s Network, Teri is one of the founding members of the Southwest Florida Chapter of FPRA and has served the organization on the local and state levels, including serving as the state’s Golden Image Chair for six consecutive years.

 

Mary Briggs is the System Director for Media Relations for Lee Memorial Health System, which is the fifth largest public health care system in the U.S. Mary is accredited in public relations and is a certified public relations consultant, one of only 80 in Florida. She is a past president of the Southwest Florida chapter of the Florida Public Relations Association, and served on the Executive Committee of the Florida Public Relations Association state board of directors. In 2006, Mary was named the Public Relations Professional of the Year by the Southwest Florida chapter of FPRA. She has received numerous awards for her marketing and public relations programs, including national awards from The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (Webby Award) and the National Association of Home Builders (The Nationals Award). In 2002, she received the All Florida Golden Image Award by the Florida Public Relations Association, the organization’s highest honor. She graduated with a degree in business administration from Briar Cliff University in Iowa.