Pam Baggett-Wallis and the ERA

Pam Baggett-Wallis

There’s a saying that men come and go in a woman’s life, but her women friends are forever. How true! And I’ve had professional associations in my life, but Women in Communications is forever.

I joined in 1973 at the encouragement of my boss, Gene Waugh—a woman who remains my friend and second mother. At the time, if you didn’t join as a student, you had to have two years of professional experience. Working almost every night on The Daily Texan was not conducive to the kind of grades one needed to join in the 60s—it was considered an honorary fraternity. Yes, fraternity. I graduated with a BJ from The University of Texas in 1968.

1973 was the year Theta Sigma Phi held its national meeting in Houston and concurrently changed the name to Women in Communications and opened membership to men. BTW, Sigma Delta Chi, which became the Society of Professional Journalists, did not open membership to women till 1976!

Women in Communications was my “King’s X” chance to develop leadership in a supportive atmosphere. In addition to all the positions I held in the local chapter, I was fortunate to be elected to the national board. That is where I learned how to travel! I really hadn’t seen anything other than Texas and Oklahoma up to that point. Turned out to be helpful training for the seven years I spent with FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency).

The most important activity I experienced with WICI was working in support of the national Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). We raised funds, marched, wrote letters to the editor—faxing was the height of technology then. The ERA failed nationally, but Texas is one of 16 states that ratified the amendment and we have it our state constitution. I had the privilege of marching behind the WICI banner in the last great ERA rally in Chicago on Mother’s Day, 1981.

I’ve made my career in Austin rather than taking jobs in other cities. I’m convinced most fame is an accident of geography, not actual skill. Our writers and PR pros are no less excellent than those who are in NYC, DC or LA. Excellence is everywhere.

My first job was with Brackenridge Hospital as only the second public information officer they ever had. Then I worked with Gene in the Governor’s Office in the great war against poverty. Various state and agency jobs followed, then I got the chance to return to journalism at the Austin American-Statesman (Statesperson, as some of us called it). From there, back to working with hospitals, then Southern Union Gas, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Texas Medical Association (TMA), and now as a crisis communications and issue advocacy consultant.

And who did I turn to first when I left TMA? AWC members, of course! One was the great, late Anne Robinson who told me to follow my intuition. I’m now Alpha to a white standard poodle named Annie.

My greatest professional accomplishments are the awards I received from WICI: Gladys Whitney Hearst Outstanding Chapter Member, Mentor, Leadership, and President. My greatest personal accomplishments, beyond sons and grandsons, are the deep, dear friendships with the finest women of all ages. I sincerely wish the same long, rewarding relationships to all AWC members.

Meet Pam Baggett-Wallis

Pamela Baggett moved to Austin, Texas, to attend journalism school at The University of Texas, and stayed on after earning her Bachelor of Journalism. Keeping Austin as home base, she created career opportunities in a stunningly broad scope of communications with specialties in reputation management, media relations, crisis communications, issue advocacy, government relations, and teaching/coaching. Today she offers these many life lessons and experiences to help businesses, organizations and individuals plan, execute and achieve communications goals through her consultancy Persuasion Communication.

In addition to her involvement with AWC, Pam is a member of IABC, the Texas Writer’s League, and CEO Network. She has served on numerous local philanthropic boards and now is a teacher for the National Alliance on Mental Illness Family-to-Family course. She is a former member of the Society of Professional Journalists and is a four-time producer of the Gridiron show, the annual irreverent fundraising event featuring journalists, elected officials and other newsmakers. She taught “using research” at the university level, and is a frequent speaker for professional associations, businesses, nonprofit groups, and students on topics including crisis communications, motivation, strategic partnerships, life balance, creativity, and media relations.

Sheryl Liddle and the Art of AV Production

Sheryl Liddle

“No matter what mode of communication, it’s all about the message,” counsels Sheryl Liddle, Missouri Native, AWC Kansas City Chapter Member, and National AWC Board Chair. Her introduction to the world of communications came from photography and grew from there to film making and audiovisual production. She notes, “A thread runs through a production no matter what you do. Take the elements of film and audiovisual and it requires movement and a flow of things. If you have more than one artistic form (visual with audio), it makes the message that much stronger.”

A multi-media communicator and slide-show whiz, Sheryl delved into the world of film under the tutelage of film professor and award-winning film director Katherine Stenholm. Katherine began the program at Bob Jones University in South Carolina in the 1950s and built the reputation of the cinema major and film studio within the College of Fine Arts. Katherine was a standout among filmmakers of the time. In 36 years, she directed 72 productions including sermon films, promotional films, multi-image presentations, and feature-length films. Her film Wine of Morning (1955) represented the United States at the Cannes Film Festival.

Sheryl shares, “She had a huge influence on my life. I had an opportunity to assist her a lot and the chance to know her as a teacher and on a personal level which meant so much.” Sheryl received both undergraduate and graduate degrees from the university. She does not define herself as the typical Bob Jones University graduate, however, Sheryl says was attracted by the high standards of excellence and the excellent reputation of the film school.

What you may not know about Sheryl is that she has traveled the world over visiting countries such as The Gambia, Togo, Kenya, Thailand, Hong Kong, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates. Sheryl was also in the Amazon for about two weeks and spent some of that time traveling via boats on the Amazon River. She worked in the audiovisual production field for the majority of her career. A career highlight was a job she held where she helped missionaries tell their story through AV presentations. “I worked with missionaries going to a field or on furlough to prepare the presentations they would give to churches. We started with the script and went through each step of a presentation so at the end the missionary walked out the door with a programmed audio/visual presentation. Because of the message contained in these presentations, the years I spent working in that area of AV were among the most satisfying work I have done.”

What came next when she moved back home to Kansas City in 1995, was another career change. “That was when audio visual was shifting to video production,” she notes. She began working as a temp at a global industrial firm, Ruskin, and “it evolved.” Ruskin is the top global manufacturer of air and sound control products. They provide equipment that engineers, architects, and contractors use to make buildings safer, more comfortable, and energy efficient. She is the marketing special projects coordinator and manages a variety of communications mediums from newsletters to website content and technical spec sheets for factory representatives located all over the world.

Sheryl found AWC when she moved to Kansas City and felt as if she fit right in. (Read a profile of Sheryl created by the Kansas City Chapter.) She joined in 1995 and volunteered locally on committees and board positions, serving as the local chapter president twice in 1999 and 2003. She was elected to the National AWC Board February 2005 and was elected by her peers as board chair in 2005, a position which she holds today.

When asked what tips she would give to communicators starting in their careers, Sheryl advises women to find their niche and distill what they are good at. “Mesh your dreams with reality of who you are… And that is not always easy. Be who you are and realize the tremendous gift that God has made you to be.”

Meet Sheryl Liddle

Sheryl Liddle has spent the majority of her career as an audio visual producer. She has worked with multi-image productions from the time it began in the industry. Sheryl spent time as a college photographer and AV producer before joining an AV production company as a production manager and producer. During that time she was involved with product introduction shows for The Perrier Group, as well as other major multi-image productions. Then for several years Sheryl channeled her creativity into producing AV presentations for missionaries. Throughout her career she has also been involved with directing plays and drama groups within the community and at churches. Today, she works within the marketing department of Ruskin, a global manufacturing company, yet keeping her fingers within the areas of AV production and drama. Liddle holds a BS and MA from Bob Jones University.

How to Find a Nonprofit Communications Gig

If you’re thinking of looking for work that makes a difference, handling communications for a nonprofit organization can be very rewarding. The trick is understanding how to open that door of opportunity. According to the Independent Sector, 6 percent of all U.S. organizations are nonprofits and 1 in 12 works for a nonprofit. There are so many different kinds of nonprofits that the IRS has more than 25 classifications to describe them. When most people think of nonprofits, though, typically they think of public charities classified as 501(c)3 by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). These nonprofits comprise food banks, shelters, some hospitals, advocacy organizations, public television/radio, and those that provide services for those in need. Guidestar has probably one of the most comprehensive lists around and is a great place to research nonprofits.

There are more ways to connect to nonprofits than you might think.
You might consider working with nonprofits by way of organizations who work directly with them. There can definitely be some advantages of working for a cause without being employed directly by the charity. Consider the many businesses and organizations (some for profit and others not) that cater specifically to nonprofits to assist them with outreach, fundraising, marketing, strategy and more. In Austin, Texas for example, Greenlights for Nonprofit Success and the Center for Community-Based and Nonprofit Organizations at Austin Community College are two such organizations. There are state and national associations as well who are in essentially the same business of helping nonprofits learn to do what they do better and with less. (Sounds like working for the private sector, right?)

Think about the larger corporations in your area. Many have community relations or community affairs positions, which typically manage the public relations and the company’s charitable and sometimes volunteer presence in the community.  Working foundations are another way to impact a cause. Though many are nonprofit in their own right, it’s easy to overlook their social entrepreneur-like role in supporting causes in line with their mission.

Professional and trade associations (like the Association for Women in Communications) are another type of nonprofit, which the IRS defines as  501(c)6, to support a community’s business interests or a profession. It’s no surprise to find many of them located in state capitals and the largest number of them in our nation’s capital.

The best way to open the door is to start meeting people.
Start conducting informational interviews with friends and find out to whom they can make an introduction. Invite them for coffee or better yet take them coffee. There is no substitute for a face-to-face meeting, even if it is short. And absolutely do not ask for a job directly on these exploratory missions. The whole point is to learn more and make more connections. They know you want a job; don’t bang them over the head with it. They will remember you positively if you send a thank you note. A simple email is fine, but a snail mail letter is even more memorable. 

In the social media sphere, if you’re on Twitter, begin following people who work at nonprofits and those who consult with nonprofits. Listen to what is important to them, and learn a little bit more about what they do.

Another way to get your foot in the door is to volunteer your time and expertise.  This can be as simple as helping with registration at a fundraising event, or much, much more depending on your talents and time availability. Any level of volunteering is a great way to see what the organization is really like.

Sell your experience.
Once you get the interview, do your homework about the charity as much as you can. Learn how to translate how your experience in their terms, so they will better understand how your special skills and talents will help advance the cause. If you have a sales/marketing background, the development/fundraising team will be eager to know of your successes in revenue generation or advocacy marketing. Volunteer experiences, even with your professional involvement with AWC, are also applicable. Service as a local board officer, for example, can show leadership and volunteer management expertise.

What experiences have you had working for a nonprofit or switching sectors?

Meet Amy Carr
Amy Carr currently leads the marketing communications and strategy efforts for the Center for Child Protection, a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing the trauma of child abuse in Austin, Texas. Prior to joining the Center for Child Protection, Amy managed the marketing program for Publishers Resource Group, Inc., a K–12 instructional materials developer. She has also worked for state government writing research materials and educational pieces for the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse and conducting nutrition education outreach for the Texas Department of Human Services. Amy began her career in the communications department at Catholic Life Insurance in San Antonio. She graduated with a Master of Science degree in Organizational Leadership and Ethics from St. Edward’s University and a B.A. in International Studies and German from Trinity University.

Amy T. Carr has been a member of the Association for Women in Communications since 1995, serving in numerous positions on the Austin Professional chapter board including vice president of membership, vice president of professional development, and president. For her efforts with AWC, Ms. Carr received the Gladys Whitney Hearst Outstanding Chapter Member Award in 2005. She also received a president’s award from the chapter for outstanding membership recruitment in May 2000. Amy was honored to serve on the national board of directors for AWC from 2004-2008. For those efforts, she received a Star Award from the Austin chapter in 2008. She is currently involved with AWC’s centennial celebration and the AWC Powerful Voices blog.

Clarions Mean National Recognition for Your Work

2009 Clarion Awards Entry Deadlines Extended

The Clarions are the premier multidisciplinary communications awards. Awards are presented in Advertising & Marketing, Brochures, Custom & Special Publications; Fund development; Education (communications); Major New Events; Newspapers; Photography, Graphics, & Design Communications; Special Events; Books & CD-ROMS (nonfiction); Magazines; Newsletters; Online Media; Public Relations; Radio; and Television.

In the current difficult environment, being judged the best of the best among your peers can increase your opportunities to gain and retain business and, if the unthinkable happens, can help you promote yourself in tough job search conditions.

Early bird entry deadline has been extended to March 14 and final entries can be submitted until April 14. Check out entry requirements and categories at womcom.org .

Best of all, winners may elect to receive their awards in person at the 100th Annual Association for Women in Communications Conference to be held October 15-17th, 2009 in Seattle, Washington.  This competition is akin to the Academy Awards for communicators only without the red carpet and the paparazzi. 

Have you ever submitted to the Clarions or another recognition competition? Share with us what that recognition meant for you.

Mary Kay Switzer and a Class Action Suit that Got Results

I am thankful for the result of a class action suit I set up for women faculty at our university in Minnesota. (In answer to the state chancellor’s call to let faculty go, our university let only female professors go. Because our institution received federal funding, I launched this suit.) No lawyer would touch the case. I contacted Senator Mondale and Eliot Richardson, then head of HEW, and enlisted my mother’s help. She was state president of Federated Women’s Clubs in neighboring South Dakota. She wrote these men on her letterhead. Then we got action. We each received an “out of court” settlement. I used this money to get my Ph.D. in 1980. The other women put their funds to similar good uses.

As the money was slow in coming, I contacted a Minnesota state senator I’d campaigned for and supported financially. (He was a former student of mine who became the youngest mayor in the nation and the youngest state senator. He was in my Parliamentary Procedure class and applied all his knowledge well. I was District Head of the DFL and State Parliamentarian at the Minnesota State Convention at the time.) He saw to it that we got our money within a week after contacting him. It pays to cast your bread!
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I feel good about finding a semi-conscious, elderly stranger, who turned out to be a neighbor, in my alley and helping her regain her independence. One of my former students–again–followed in the footsteps of St. Francis and helped the poor and ill. I got the funds to bring him into her life and help her with physical therapy, etc. Though she lost a leg, she learned to walk and take care of herself through this help. Another cast your bread story!
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Many of my students went on to influence and help others. I started a television program for Middle Schools in California. Many of my former TV students put this TV model into effect. We won awards and recognition for the program.

Meet Mary Kay Switzer
An associate professor in the communications department at California Polytechnic State University in Pomona, Calif. and former news anchor, Mary Kay has won teaching excellence awards at two institutions. She serves on many national boards in higher education. Mary Kay has served on the Academic Senate and the Academic Senate Steering Committee at her university. She even chaired the Instructional Support Services Standing Committee of the Academic Senate. In 1997, she received a Distinguished Service Award for her contributions and service on these committees.

Mary Kay has served as Chair of the Department Assessment Committee and the Department Budget Committee. Recently, she served as an elected member of the College Retention, Tenure, and Promotion Committee for a three-year term. She is also a highly successful grant writer, curriculum developer and author and is involved in television and video production. She has been twice recognized by California State Polytechnic University Pomona with the “Golden Leaves Award,” once for her work as a contributing author of a major scholarly reference work, Historical Dictionary of American Radio, published by Greenwood Press in 1998, and most recently for her book, China Diary.

Her broadcast experience includes News Anchor, Public Affairs Director, and News Director for several major television-radio affiliates. Her awards in this area include Freedom Foundation and Emmy Awards. Her successful tennis program, “Strokes and Strategies” — running for over seven years — was a feature of ASPN (pay TV sports network).

Mary Kay been involved with AWC since 1983 and served on the AWC National Board of Directors from 1997-2003. In recent years, she returned to the AWC National Board where she serves today.

Anne Hecker and the Women’s Movement

Anne Hecker

In the 1970s Women in Communications was torn over how deeply the organization would get involved in the women’s movement. The issue had to do with members who had fought all their professional lives to be looked at as ”journalists,” not “women journalists” and were afraid that any hard earned professional recognition would get lost in being considered “feminists.” While other members insisted that an organization that was begun by women who campaigned for the right to vote should not be hesitant about plunging full-force into the fray. Members on both sides were not shy about vocalizing what they expected their organization to do—at meetings, via letters and sometimes angry phone calls—I discovered when I became national president. I can just imagine what my in-box would have looked like if we had e-mail at the time. With all this cacophony ringing in my ears if I had any doubts about WICI’s stance and involvement it all came into clear focus with an incident, in of all places, in the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel guest laundry room.

The national convention in 1977 was in Honolulu at the Sheraton. As usual I had waited to the last moment (a bad habit left over from newspaper days) to prepare remarks for that evening’s event and was holed up in the laundry room drafting away as I waited for the machine to give me clean clothes. A couple entered and while she piled their clothes in a basket, he turned to me, took in the pad and pen and belligerently said, “Are you one of those women libbers?” “All we want,” I replied, “is a fair shake at jobs, salaries and promotions.” He turned without a word, picked up the laundry basket and the two headed out. At the door he turned. “We have two daughters,” he said. “Right on!”

Meet Anne Hecker

Anne Hecker joined the Association for Women in Communications (then called Theta Sigma Phi ) in 1944 at the University of Oregon. She was president of the student chapter and also editor of the student newspaper, The Emerald.

She is a longtime member of the Seattle Professional Chapter and is part of the lineage of our organization. Founding member Georgina MacDougall Davis entrusted Anne with personal papers and memorabilia. In turn, Anne spearheaded efforts to fund and create an exhibit in Davis’ memory at the University of Washington School of Communications in 1982.Anne was elected AWC (then called Women in Communications, Inc.) national president in 1977 and 1978 after serving four years as national treasurer. She is a recipient of the AWC Lifetime Achievement Award and twice received the prestigious Georgina MacDougall Davis Award.After graduation, she began her career as a staff correspondent for the United Press (now known as United Press International) in Portland where she spent several years writing and editing for the news and radio wires. She later edited national and regional trade publications and was an investigative reporter for The Argus, a Seattle weekly published between 1894 and 1983. Thereafter, Anne joined the Washington Dental Association where she spent the next 25 years in their service first as public relations director and then as executive director. She was honored for her distinguished service to the dental profession by the American College of Dentists before retiring in 1994.Anne is on the board of the Matrix Foundation, AWC’s educational arm and has served as vice chair and secretary/treasurer. Her most recent endeavor has been co-developing the Matrix Foundation’s Certification Program for Professional Communicators.

Welcome

Welcome to AWC’s Powerful Voices, the official blog of the Association for Women in Communications, Inc. New stories told by our members and friends are coming soon. Find out how to submit yours today! Visit our submissions page to learn more.