UAA student Erik Judson received the Alaska Professional Communicators scholarship. Pictured with him are Connie Huff, left, AkProComm president, and Paola Banchero, right, chair of the Department of Journalism and Public Communications at the university.

Paula Dobbyn, right, receives her Sweepstakes certificate from Carolyn Rinehart, representing the AkProComm contest committee.

Alaska Professional Communicators recognized winners in the annual Communications Contest at our awards luncheon on Thursday, May 6. We also announced our college scholarship winner and heard a presentation by Dean Franklin on “Ignite! Anchorage,” a forum for ideas, entertainment and information in short, lively speeches.

Paula Dobbyn, who works in public relations for Trout Unlimited, was the Sweepstakes winner–she got the most awards in this year’s contest. Paula was the entrant or co-entrant on nine winning entries, eight of which achieved first place.

Erik Judson, a senior at the University of Alaska Anchorage majoring in Journalism and Public Communications (JPC), won the $1,000 scholarship. Erik hopes to work in the Anchorage area as a writer/photographer or in public relations. Paola Banchero, chair of the JPC department at the university, attended the luncheon to support and introduce Erik.

We recognized 35 contest winners at the luncheon for outstanding work during the year. The contest committee, who conducted the competition, was made up of Lee Ault, contest coordinator; Carolyn Rinehart, mentor; and Elise Patkotak, who wrote the presentation speech. The speech was delivered by the AkProComm president, Connie Huff. Of the original 42 entries, 24 placed first and were sent to the national competition run by the National Federation of Press Women (NFPW). National winners will be announced Sept. 10 in Council Bluffs, Iowa, at the NFPW annual conference.

Complete list of winners.

Reporter and former APC member Naomi Klouda will speak at the April 7 luncheon regarding “Reporting the news for a weekly newspaper.”

Luncheon Information
11:30 a.m., Thursday, April 7
Kinley’s Restaurant and Bar
3230 Seward Hwy.
Anchorage

Lunch: members $19; others $25

Reservations:
1. RSVP and payment through PayPal.

2. Email: akpc at gci dot net by noon Tuesday, April 5.

3. Call 274-4723 and leave a message, including a phone number where you can be reached. When calling or sending an email, please include how many people are coming and their names.

More about Naomi Klouda

Naomi Klouda began her career in Alaska journalism after graduating from Gonzaga University at the Anchorage Times in 1983. There she covered obits, courts, features, police and virtually every beat prior to its folding in 1992. She earned a Master of Fine Arts Degree in 1992 in Creative Writing Fiction from the University of Alaska Anchorage and taught adjunct for a few years for UAA campuses in Anchorage and Kodiak. Through the years, she wrote for the Kodiak Daily Mirror, the Wasilla Frontiersman, the Anchorage Chronicle and at the Tundra Drums in Bethel, where she spent three years as the managing editor. From Bethel she moved to Homer, in 2006, and has worked for the Homer Tribune since then.

Her news writing has garnered many awards, including best series from Alaska Press Club three years in a row. The Homer Tribune was also selected for first place Best Weekly in the APC awards for 2008, 2009, 2010.

Having spent time in both journalism and in creative fiction/non fiction, Naomi has published a number of essays and short stories. One, “Old Harbor,” is published in an anthology “Alaska Passages.”

About APC, Naomi writes: “I was also a member of the Alaska Press Women from my first days at the Anchorage Times. Betzi Woodman visited the newsroom, and during one she invited me to a luncheon. That was in 1983-84, and I was then a member for a number of years. One of the awards I am most proud of is having won the Spark Plug Award two years in row.”

At its December 2010 luncheon Alaska Professional Communicators honored the recipients of the 2010 Spark Plug and Gold Nugget awards.

Joan Harris - 2010 Winner of the Spark Plug Award

As 3rd vice president and co-program chair, Joan Harris deserves the Spark Plug Award for her unprecedented success in transforming her quiet spark into a flame of action that, months in advance, has secured, scheduled and coordinated monthly luncheon speakers for Alaska Professional Communicators.

Joan graciously shoulders her responsibility with focus and devotion to our organization. She has secured interesting speakers, and has done an awesome job in following up to ensure that they have a successful speaking engagement at our meetings.

Sheila Balistreri - Winner of the 2010 Gold Nugget award

Sheila Balistreri has been with Channel 2 News for 16 years. She’s been the producer and anchor of the “Morning Edition” for 9 years, getting up at 3 a.m. to go to work. Sheila is a graduate of UCLA and a military veteran, having spent three years in the Women’s Army Corps.

Sheila started her 30-plus year journalism career in Bismarck, North Dakota, then went on to work in Salt Lake City, Utah as a radio news director.

Sheila and her family moved to Anchorage in 1989 where she worked in both radio and television.

She has won numerous awards, including four Edward R. Murrow regional awards, Goldie awards from the Alaska Broadcasters Association, AP awards and awards from the Society of Professional Journalists.

Her most recent awards for “Best Newscast, Television” and “Best Presentation, Television” come from Alaska Professional Communicators. Sheila’s entries moved to National Federation of Press Women, and for the past four years, including 2010, have won first place in those categories at the national level.

After she attended her first NFPW conference, she was hooked and has attended almost every year since.

Sheila has done community service in Anchorage for years for many groups including: American Diabetes Association, Salvation Army, Bean’s Cafe, and many, many more.

Have you ever met someone who seems to know what you’re thinking before you say it? Someone with that “special something” that makes them seem like they’re totally in tune with people? Join us as professional educator and trainer Jerry Balistreri demystifies the world of non-verbal communication, or “tells.” Reading the tells is a skill that anyone can master in order to become a better communicator.

Luncheon Information
11:30 a.m., Thursday, February 3
Kinley’s Restaurant and Bar
3230 Seward Hwy.
Anchorage

Lunch: members $19; others $25

Reservations:
1. RSVP and payment through PayPal.

2. Email: akpc at gci dot net by noon Tuesday, February 1.

3. Call 274-4723 and leave a message, including a phone number where you can be reached. When calling or sending an email, please include how many people are coming and their names.

More about Jerry Balistreri

Jerry has been training, researching, writing, and speaking on non-verbal communication for over thirty years. He delivers customized trainings, keynote addresses, and conference sessions that create a memorable experience for participants.

His past experience and education include:
* Professional educator, administrator, trainer, and speaker
* B.S, M.S., M.Ed., DTE
* Twenty-five years experience in public education
* Ten years experience in training
* University department chair
* HS Principal
* State Supervisor with two state education departments
* ASTD certified trainer

Jerry and his wife Sheila live in Anchorage, Alaska. They have two grown children.

Journalist, author and translator Sarah Hurst will speak on January 6 about some large projects she worked on that were funded by Alaska Statehood 50th Anniversary grants. She wrote a play about Alaska history for schools called A Native Lad and later, with the help of nine Alaskan artists, created a graphic novel version of it that was published by Anchorage’s Greatland Graphics. She was also research director on a two-hour documentary for PBS called Statehood!

Luncheon Information
11:30 a.m., Thursday, January 6
Kinley’s Restaurant and Bar
3230 Seward Hwy.
Anchorage

Lunch: members $19; others $25

Reservations:
1. RSVP and payment through PayPal.

2. Email: akpc at gci dot net by noon Tuesday, January 4.

3. Call 274-4723 and leave a message, including a phone number where you can be reached. When calling or sending an email, please include how many people are coming and their names.

More about Sarah Hurst

Sarah Hurst was born and raised in England and lived in Russia, Azerbaijan and China before moving to Anchorage in 2001. As a journalist she has written articles for publications all over the world, and she has written several books and plays. She also translates articles and books from Russian to English. Sarah founded the organization Alaska’s Kids to implement creative projects in the 49th state, and A Native Lad, funded by the Alaska Humanities Forum, was the first of those. She has a two-year-old daughter, Cecilia.