A few weeks ago, the Arkansas Chapter announced APR accreditation success by Shira Kelley of the Arkansas Commissioner of Lands office and Lamor Williams of the city of Little Rock.
When Kristen Vandaveer Nicholson was promoted in February to vice president of public relations at Mangan Holcomb Partners/Team SI in Little Rock, she had a special request for the story about it on ArkansasBusiness.com.
“Can you do me one small favor and add my APR credential… somewhere in my bio?” she asked. “You know how important those three letters are to us PR peeps.”
APR stands for accreditation in public relations from the Public Relations Society of America, and Nicholson’s chapter of the PRSA is one of the organization’s best-accredited in the nation.
A few weeks ago, the Arkansas Chapter announced accreditation success by Shira Kelley of the Arkansas Commissioner of Lands office and Lamor Williams of the city of Little Rock.
“Our chapter has long been a champion of industry accreditation,” Denver Peacock of the Peacock Group of Little Rock told Arkansas Business. “That’s why we’re particularly pleased that, even with our recent growth, we have the highest APR-to-member ratio of all PRSA chapters with at least 50 members.” By far, most of the association’s 111 chapters have 50-plus members, said Peacock, the Little Rock chapter’s APR chair.
The chapter offers a free “APR Ready to Roll Program” to PR professionals who are members of the group, focusing on candidates with five to seven years of job experience or a bachelor’s degree in a communications-related field. The four-month training program offers mentoring and 10 information sessions presented by accredited members.
Candidates eventually present a portfolio of work to a panel of three peers, then sit for a computer-based exam. After accreditation, recipients have to maintain their credentials by completing professional development programs, providing leadership in the profession and serving their local communities.
The Arkansas PRSA chapter, now in its 56th year, seeks “to build understanding and support for public relations throughout the business community and academic community,” Peacock said.
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