Deirdre Breakenridge

There’s a little song I learned back in Girl Scouts (yes, I was a girl scout… rocked the cookie sales, horrid when it came to crafts!). Make new friends, but keep the old. One is sliver and the other gold.

This must be the week of great PR announcements. Here is another special announcement about our very first #PRStudChat Tweetup. I’m happy to announcement that #PRStudchat is hosting a casual/informal event on Wednesday, March 10th at Gary Vaynerchuk’s (@garyvee) Wine Library (@winelibrary) in Springfield, New Jersey from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.

Here’s a special video announcement on #Chatmixer that will take place on Tuesday, March 9th at 8:00 p.m. EST. Looking forward to chatting with all of the different Twitter chat communities!

I was really happy when Valerie Simon (@valeriesimon) and Arik Hanson (@arikhanson) approached me to participate in Help a PR Person Out (#HAPPO). What a wonderful way to share information and to help PR professionals with the job search by organizing an upcoming Twitter event. The goal: to help PR job seekers locate the numerous PR jobs that are finally becoming available.

We’re approaching the last #PRStudChat of 2009. It’s been an exciting year in the community and we’re gearing up for even more dynamic PR discussions in 2010. On December 16th, you’re invited to our #PRStudChat New Year Celebration: Give the Gift of Learning. Because Valerie (@valeriesimon) and I both want to show our appreciation to all of the dedicated members of the community, we’d like to introduce some special gifts of learning from #PRStudChat to you. It’s our way of saying thank you for your contributions and also for helping us to learn and grow.

Valerie Simon (@valeriesimon) and I just recently announced that Wednesday, December 16, 2009 is the next #PRStudChat. We’re always excited for our Twitter chat, but this particular session carries special meaning and value. It’s the last #PRStudChat session in 2009. In honor of the tremendous amount of learning we’ve experienced, since the inception of our community, we’ve decided that the December session will be called #PRStudChat New Year Celebration: Give the Gift of Learning.

We’re nearing our 4th #PRStudChat and with each and every Twitter discussion our community grows. Valerie Simon (@valeriesimon) and I have been trying to keep the sessions dynamic, creative and exciting with interesting guests and challenges for participants. This session will not be any different. We announced the discussion as “Career Day” for the #PRStudChat participants. Our other special announcement is the introduction of Angela Hernandez (@angelahernandez), as our guest, student moderator that day. For those of you who do not know Angela, she is President of PRSSA at Central Michigan University (CMU)

As savvy students begin the process of building relationships with the professionals they met on August 19th, we have the opportunity to develop a true community of PR professionals, students and educators. The next live group chat will take place on September 15th, the result feedback from the group. 59 participants responded to a poll, the results split fairly evenly between a weekly and a monthly Twitter chat. With the hectic nature of the start of the school year, we have opted for a monthly chat, but will certainly change this if there is a demand for a more frequent discussion.