Shaffer Creative

Marketing Communications and Graphic Design

A big Fort Worth style thank you to our In-Kind graphics sponsor, Shaffer Creative! Julie Shaffer, President of Shaffer Creative, is a marketing and graphics design professional with 18 years of experience. She is a dedicated SMPS Fort Worth Member and severed as President of the chapter 2013-2014. The great graphics we have to represent our events and programs come from Julie.

In 2012 Julie founded Shaffer Creative after 9 years of corporate marketing experience with a civil engineering firm. Her experiecnce leading corporate marketing, competitive proposal pursuits, and communications makes her a valuable consultant and asset for your firm and marketing department.

Shaffer Creative offers marketing consulting and graphic design services with the key goal of developing and polishing a strong, creative message through data management, branding, and marketing. Julie is also a great photographer - she has provided many member firms with corporate headshots, project photos, event photography, ariel photos and much more.

Julie has assisted numerous SMPS Fort Worth member firms to successfully implement marketing initiatives. Additionally, she has helped plan, develop, and refine core data infrastructure systems to maximize efficiency.

May 12, 2016

Dear Members,

I am pleased to announce by acclamation the Approved Officers Slate for the 2016–2017 year. The following officers have been reviewed and confirmed by our Nominating Committee and will assume the following positions on September 1, 2016:

Newly Elected Officers:

• President Elect - Courtney Kearney, CPSM (Consultant)
• Treasurer - Dan Purschwitz (Freese and Nichols, Inc.)

Newly Elected Directors:

• Communications Director - Jen Eisenbarth (Freese and Nichols, Inc.)
• Sponsorship Director - Liz Harvey (Sundt Construction)

Officers Continuing Service:

• President - Krystal R. Bybee, CPSM (The Rios Group, Inc.)
• Past President - Jenifer Batchelder, CPSM (Gorrondona & Associates, Inc.)
• Secretary - Amy Amaya (Freese and Nichols, Inc.)

Directors Continuing Service:

• Membership Director - Gloria Moss (Joeris General Contractors, Ltd.)
  
• Programs Director - Christine Jacoby (JQ Infrastructure)

Thank you,

Amy Amaya
SMPS Fort Worth Secretary

WRITING WORKSHOP

January 20, 2016

Janell Broyles, Senior Marketing Coordinator for Freese and Nichols, presented techniques to make our writing sharper and more effective. She also shared some basic grammar rules, industry styles/standards and much more. 

HIGHLIGHTS

Don't overemphasize your words with CAPS, colors, bold, italic and underlines. A little goes a long way.

Many people don't know that it's best, unless one hasn't any choice, to avoid too many contractions. When in doubt, spell it out.

Our industry LOVES acronyms so always remember A.E.Y.A.T.F.T.Y.U.T.. It is important for the reader to know what you are referring to with acronyms. For example, I'm sure you are wondering what A.E.Y.A.T.F.T.Y.U.T. means and what you should always remember when using acronyms! 

Wait no longer! When using acronyms remember to A.E.Y.A.T.F.T.Y.U.T. (Always Explain Your Acronyms The First Time You Use Them).

Alright is considered nonstandard English so do not use it. It's not all right to use alright!

Try not to:

• overuse

• bullet

• points

because

• it can become

• distracting

IT'S VS. ITS

LIE VS. LAY

SIT VS. SET

CHOOSE CLARITY

AVOID UNCERTAINTY

TIPS FROM FINGERTIPS TYPING SERVICES, LTD.

AFFECT VS. EFFECT

ACCEPT VS. EXCEPT

E.G. VS I.E.

ELICIT VS. ILLICIT

HANGED VS. HUNG

FOREWORD VS. FORWARD

COMPLIMENT VS. COMPLEMENT

RAVE REVIEWS

With 5 star reviews from the 25+ attendees, Janell's Writing Workshop was a big success. Thank you to Janell and to our Silver Sponsor, Frees and Nichols for sharing their resources with the chapter. 

Here is just some of the feedback we received on the surveys:

"GREAT program - very useful information. I got the most from the grammar section and tips for better writing."

"What did I enjoy most? Handouts! Worksheets! This helps me reference material for the future and show my team."

"The 'polish' worksheet was most helpful, combing all the information we learned."

"The session on professionalism was what I most enjoyed."

"Loved the activities, very hands on!"

"The social media part stood out the most for me."

"I most enjoyed the interactive sessions and handouts."

"The examples of rights and wrongs was the highlight for me"

"I learned a lot of things I didn't know."

"This was an open discussion that I enjoyed, a nice collaborative opportunity."

USEFUL WEBSITES

Grammar and Style

AP Stylebook: http://www.apstylebook.com/editors/

Subscription required to access content. Does have Facebook and Twitter accounts.

The Center for Writing Studies Grammar Handbook: http://www.cws.illinois.edu/workshop/writers/

Scholarly but good for trying to find higher-­level grammar answers. Facebook and Twitter accounts

Grammar Girl: http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/grammar-girl

A great quick resource. Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest accounts.

Content

Business Writing Blog: http://www.businesswritingblog.com/

Facebook and Twitter accounts. 

Lynda.com: http://www.lynda.com/

Has a wide variety of marketing and business tutorials around writing, graphics and communications. Facebook and Twitter accounts. 

Other

Technical Editors' Eyrie: http://www.jeanweber.com/

A decent resource though not updated regularly.

How to Write a Style Guide: http://www.jeanweber.com/printer/styleguide.htm

HANDOUTS

Check out the wonderful handouts that Janell shared with us to help improve our writing skills.