PENNSYLVANIA DENTAL ASSOCIATION



Communications and Public Relations Committee

Conference Call

June 8, 2012

Present Staff Present

Dr. Tamara Brady (2) Rob Pugliese

Dr. Randy Nolf (3) Director of Communications

Dr. John Reitz (4) Natalie Kinsinger

Dr. Steven Parrett (5) Web Content & Graphic Design Manager

Dr. Anthony Kibelbek (7) Amber Wickard

Dr. Samer Mansour (9) Communications Coordinator

Dr. David Larson (5), Trustee-Liaison Jennifer McClure

Dr. Bruce Terry (2), Editor Communications Coordinator

Dr. John Nase (2), ADA Consultant

Absent

Dr. David Tecosky (1)

Dr. Constance Wilson (6)

Dr. Brian Mark Schwab (4), Associate Editor

Call to Order

Dr. Tamara Brady, chair, called the meeting to order at 9:35 a.m.

Conflict of Interest and Financial Policy Forms

Dr. Brady asked that all council members return their conflict of interest and financial policy forms if they have not yet done so.

Approval of Minutes

The council unanimously approved the minutes from the January 20, 2012, meeting via the Social Network.

CPRC Annual Agenda

The committee reviewed the annual agenda and unanimously approved the objectives listed.

Old Business

2012 National Children’s Dental Health Month (NCDHM)

Ms. Amber Wickard reported that the NCDHM program saw an increase in some materials ordered from the lending library as compared to 2011. A report on NCDHM 2012 was distributed and included the following highlights:

• 263 additional kits were sent to 46 schools.

• 73 members ordered lesson plan kits and/or materials.

This year, PDA distributed Applebee's free kids meal coupons to dentists in southwestern Pennsylvania. 16,000 out of 30,000 coupons were requested by 75 dentists, which is a decline compared to past years. Ms. Wickard does not feel we should continue the rewards program if we are unable to secure a statewide sponsor due to lack of interest from members and the staff time needed to run the program.

The poster contest winner, Camryn Eveler from Dallastown Elementary in York County, was presented her framed poster, check and school checks in early June by Dr. William Spruill.

Teachers who returned the lesson plan feedback card were entered into a drawing for a $100 Visa gift card. PDA received 72 feedback cards.

Ms. Wickard explained that one portion of the program that ties up significant staff time and needs to be overhauled is the district chair process.

Each year, staff has difficulty securing 10 district chairs. A large amount of staff time is required to gather district chair nominations and repeatedly follow up with districts who do not have anyone interested in participating.

Another time-intensive issue is gathering the posters for final judging. Ms. Wickard explained that the district chairs' main duty is to receive posters from the elementary schools in their districts, choose the top 10 percent and mail them to the Central Office. Many chairs do not follow these instructions, or require follow-up calls, and some do not send the requested 10 percent.

To streamline this process, the committee decided that all posters should be returned to the PDA Central Office, and a new NCDHM advisory group on the Social Network should be created for NCDHM poster judging. Staff will email district presidents and secretaries asking for names of interested individuals, and will contact members who have been involved with NCDHM in the past. Interested CPRC members and PDA staff also will join the NCDHM Advisory Group. Staff was asked to post the new procedure on the Social Network for the committee to comment and vote (Secretary's note: The procedure was posted on June 19, 2012, and received a vote of: 5 "Yes" (Districts 1, 2, 3, 5, 9); 3 "No Response" (Districts 4, 6, 7).

Election of NCDHM Chair for 2013

The council unanimously elected Dr. Samer Mansour to serve as the NCDHM chair for 2013.

News Releases

Ms. Jennifer McClure reported on news releases distributed this year and asked for suggestions. An upcoming release will focus on economic issues and how the poor economy affects access to oral health care. The committee suggested topics including geriatric dental care, finding a dentist and exploring a career in dentistry.

Pennsylvania Dental Journal

Mr. Robert Pugliese reported the May/June Journal was recently mailed, and July/August will feature PDA’s Annual Session. The September/October issue will feature government relations efforts and a Day on the Hill recap.

Communications Review

Mr. Pugliese explained that PDA is in the process of creating a member communications survey with the assistance of Bob Saline from PR Works. The electronic survey, that will be emailed to PDA members, will gather opinions and perceptions of a variety of PDA's communication methods. The survey will be distributed in June, and CPRC members were encouraged to complete it and ask their colleagues to do so. (Secretary's note: The survey was emailed to members on June 28.)

Transitions

Mr. Pugliese explained that the Member Communications Survey will provide insight into what format members prefer to receive the Transitions newsletter in - emailed as PDF or as an eNewsletter (like eNews Update) or if members feel the newsletter is no longer needed.

Website

New Calendar

Ms. Natalie Kinsinger reported that a new online calendar was launched on our website and allows events to easily be viewed and sorted; select events feature online registration. This new online registration process saves staff time as it no longer requires manual processing of credit cards, and member records are automatically updated in PDA's database. The committee was encouraged to view the calendar and register for events online.

Analytics

The committee was provided a report of PDA's website statistics, from January through May, showing there were 55,453 visits, 242,348 pageviews and a breakdown of the top pages and popular keywords.

Social Network

Mr. Pugliese encouraged members to use the Social Network to connect with each other on any topic, not just dental-related. Staff explained the private group section as well as the general area open to all members.

Logo

Ms. McClure reported that the proposed Social Network logo is posted to the Social Network in CPRC's group library. She asked committee members to log on to view and comment on it in the CPRC forum.

Advertising

Mr. Pugliese reported that two advertisers purchased six ads each in the 2012 issues of eNews Update which amounted in $2,000 of new ad revenue for PDA. Through July, seven spots were sold on the Social Network homepage, totaling $700 in new ad revenue.

Day on the Hill

Mr. Pugliese provided a debriefing of Day on the Hill, held June 5. There were approximately 130 attendees, which included both member dentists and dental students. Committee members were encouraged to attend in the future.

Other Business

Upcoming Meetings

CPRC conference calls are scheduled for Friday, September 28, 2012, at 9:30 a.m. and Friday, January 11, 2013, at 9:30 a.m.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 11:50 a.m.

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download