Professional Development

The Central West Coast Chapter of the Florida Public Relations Association takes great pride in its long history of stimulating programs and the professional growth of its members. A primary focus of FPRA is to provide members with effective tools for professional development in order to achieve its goals of keeping members up-to-date on industry trends and help them advance their careers in the fields of public relations, marketing, and communications. CWC-FPRA offers monthly professional development programs, half-day seminars (PR University), annual media breakfast and annual Image Awards competition.

All professional development programs are open to both members and non-members. Upcoming programs can be found here.

An exclusive premium member benefit for those who wish to take their leadership skills to a new level is LeadershipFPRA. Patterned in many ways after community leadership programs such as Leadership Sarasota County (or Manatee Co0unty), and Leadership Florida, LeadershipFPRA is designed to provide members with the tools they need to become leaders in their organizations, their communities, and within FPRA.

Additionally, FPRA offers its members two proactive and affordable accreditation opportunities: Accredited in Public Relations (APR) and Certified Public Relations Counselor (CPRC). Though they cost less than many one-day seminars, these accreditations will last a lifetime and affirm your commitment to public relations best practices.

Finally, the local Image Awards and statewide Golden Image Awards programs offer PR practitioners a platform to be recognized for their outstanding marketing and communications tools and programs. To qualify for judging, an entry must incorporate sound research and planning. Entries also must meet the highest standard of production, execution and evaluation of results and budget.