The Oklahoma City Chapter of The Association for Women in Communications is proud to be part of the prevailing communications organization for those working in the diverse, but related, communications professions.

July General Meeting       Join us on Tuesday, July 14 for our general meeting featuring Karen Wicker, senior vice president, Schnake Turnbo Frank | PR    Strategic planning isn't usually a very glamorous topic in the world of communications, but indeed one that is inherently important in ensuring successful marketing, advertising and communications programs. During the July AWC meeting, Karen Wicker, Senior Vice President of Schnake Turnbo Frank PR, will heat up the July AWC meeting with a fresh look at strategic planning, relating it to her more than 20 years of experience and incorporating a hands-on "training" on how to utilize strategic planning in our daily work.  You won't want to miss it! 11:30-1pm Will Rogers Theatre, Oklahoma City 4322 N. Western (parking is free and in the back) Cost Members: $20 Guests: $23 Students: $15 RSVP by Friday, July 10 to Katelyn Turnbull at kturnbull@okcu.edu An invoice will be sent to anyone who cancels a reservation within 48 hours prior to the meeting or makes a reservation and does not attend. About the Speaker Karen Wicker has a 20-year background in media relations, health care marketing, corporate and alumni relations, and donor development.  Wicker joined Schnake Turnbo Frank | PR in 2006 and now serves as senior vice president.  In this capacity, she takes a lead in both client management and devleopment.  She provides strategic counsel to leaders in business, higher education and health care, including hands-on media and public speaking training.  Before joining Schanke Turnbo Frank, Wicker managed external relations for the Oklahoma State University Cetner for Health Sciences in Tulsa.  In addition, she previously worked as a broadcast journalists, where the Associated Press honored her for her work.  She also created the syndicated television health series "Medical Minute," which ran on the CBS and PBS affiliates in Oklahoma.

President: Mandy Ellis, United Way
President-Elect: Elizabeth Taylor, OPUBCO
Past President: Amanda Lowery, Third Degree Advertising
Secretary: Katelyn Turnbull, Oklahoma City University
Treasurer: Vonnie Anderson, Bank of Oklahoma
Publicity: Jennifer Dennis-Smith, Jones PR
Newsletter/Web Editor: Kristin Van Nort, Oklahoma United Methodist Foundation
Membership Recruitment Chair: Sunny Cearley, Journal Record
Membership Retention Chair: Mandi Briggs, Heritage Trust
Membership Database Chair: Erin Brewer, United Way
Student Outreach Chair: Ashley Barcum, OETA
Sponsorship Chair: Amy Mitchell, Citizens Caring for Children
Programs Chair: Erin Engelke, World Neighbors
Byliners Awards Chair: Margo Ward, Oklahoma Bankers Association
National Board Representative: Billie Rodely, Oklahoma Corporation Commission
Bosses Breakfast Chair: Tina Evans, World Neighbors
Freedom of Information Chair: Terri Watkins, Oklahoma State Auditors and Inspector's Office
Progress of Women Chair: Kim Holding, Oklahoma City Community College
Holiday Party Co-Chairs: Mickie Lara, Third Degree Advertising and Jennifer Seaton, Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce

 

AWC Membership Opportunities for 2009; Updated Dues

The Association for Women in Communications offers a variety of memberships to suit our diverse field of communicators.  Membership options, dues and descriptions are below.
Please note that our Local Chapter Dues of $20 apply to each membership.

Professional: $129 per year, $50 new member application fee.   Open to professionals currently employed in communications disciplines or who hold a communication degree.

Executive: $189 per year, $50 new member application fee.  Open to professionals in communications disciplines who must have ten years or more experience and are serving in an executive, managerial or senior position.

Entrepreneur: $114 per year, $50 new member application fee.  Open to freelancers or consultants in a communication discipline who are self-employed who have no employees.  Note - to qualify for this special rate, you must be actively in business, rather than simply contemplating working as a consultant, freelancer or sole proprietor.  You may be otherwise gainfully employed.  Please submit either a web address or a business card along with your application.

Collegiate/Recent Graduate: $34 per year, no application fee.  Open to women and men working full-time toward a degree (undergraduate or graduate) who demonstrate a commitment to a communication career.  This membership category is also available to new graduates for one year following their graduation.  Graduate date and school name are required for validation.

Retired: $34 per year, no application fee.  Open to retired communications professionals, age 62 or older who work less than 20 hours per week, or age 72 regardless of employment status.

Faculty Advisor Member: None.  Open to any faculty member of an accredited college or university who serves as the official advisor to a chartered and active AWC student chapter.  Faculty Advisor members must meet the other guidelines for AWC Professional membership. 

Emeritus Member: None and not available to new members.  Open to members who have been continuous members of AWC for 50 years or longer. For more information about AWC memberships, please contact Membership Recruitment Chair Sunny Cearley.

The Association for Women in Communications (AWC) announces Ann Curry, news anchor of America’s number one morning news program NBC News’ “Today,” and anchor of “Dateline NBC,” as the 2009 International Matrix Award recipient.
 
Since 1998, the International Matrix Award has honored one outstanding individual each year for achieving the highest level of professional excellence in communications. Curry will be presented the award at the International Matrix & Clarion Awards Celebration Dinner on the evening of Sat., Oct. 17, during the 2009 AWC National Conference in Seattle, Wash. AWC is celebrating its centennial anniversary during this conference.
 
Curry first joined NBC News in August 1990 as a Chicago-based correspondent. Since then, she has distinguished herself in global humanitarian reporting frequently traveling to remote areas of the world for under-reported stories. During the span of one year, from March 2006 to March 2007, she traveled three times to Sudan to report on the violence and ethnic cleansing taking place in Darfur and Chad. While there, she provided in-depth reports focusing on the victims who have been caught in the deadly conflict of that region, and she also conducted exclusive interviews with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and Chadian President Idrsiss Deby.
 
In spring 2008, Curry broadcast live from the Democratic Republic of the Congo where she reported on the horrific struggles of the women and children from the city of Goma. She also traveled to Serbia in 2008 where she examined the deplorable conditions of Serbia’s mental institutions. Curry, reporting for NBC News from Albania and Macedonia, was the first network news anchor to report on the humanitarian refugee crisis caused by the genocide in Kosovo in 1999.
 
Curry has conducted numerous exclusive interviews with world leaders and dignitaries, including a one-on-one with Dalai Lama during his trip to the U.S amid violence in Tibet in April 2008, and a sit-down with former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto just two months before her assassination in December 2007. Curry also talked to Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari in his first-ever interview with an American news organization.
 
Other Curry exclusives include Liberia’s Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, the first female elected president of an African nation; the highly sought after interview with Thomas Hamill, the truck driver for Halliburton subsidiary KBR, who escaped captivity in Iraq; the interview with accused spy Wen Ho Lee after he was cleared of all charges of espionage against the United States; and the first interview with the parents of the McCaughey septuplets. Curry repeatedly landed the first interview with Lance Armstrong after his Tour de France wins.
 
Curry has earned four Emmy Awards, four Golden Mikes, several Associated Press Certificates of Excellence, two Gracie Allen Awards, and an award for Excellence in Reporting from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). In June 2007, Curry was honored with the Simon Wiesenthal Medal of Valor for her extensive reporting in Darfur. She has been honored by AmeriCares, Save the Children, the Anti-Defamation League as a Woman of Achievement, and the Asian American Journalists Association, with its National Journalism Award in 2003. She has won numerous awards for her charity work, primarily for breast cancer research.