On your mark, get set, go!We are off to a busy time in AWC! We have a great group

planning our “Ways to Wow in the Workplace” half day workshop. Mark your calendars for Tuesday, February 9th. We hope all of you can attend and benefit from the work of our pro-gramming committee. Speakers in-clude Sherri Elliott-Yeary, SPHR, “The Generational Guru,” Beth Ziesenis, “Your Nerdy Best Friend,” and Spencer Schacht from the Texas Tech University Career Center. All three speakers will be fabulous – please mark this date on

your calendar and plan on attending.Celebrity Luncheon planning is in full swing, and we need your help. I’ve always thought one of the nice things about our group is there are many capable women who step up and offer to help with our Celebrity Lun-cheon. Don’t be afraid to volunteer – we promise not to saddle you with more than you can handle. We believe in sharing the responsibility load among many so no one has an overwhelming task. This is a time you need to speak up – we’ve asked and awaiting your response. Please e-mail Allyson Sherrill at allyson.sherrill@gmail.com and let her know where you will feel like our group could most benefit from your talents.Most of all I want to say a special thanks to all of you who are participat-ing – your sense of volunteerism and interest in the success of our organi-zation is most appreciated!

Diane Harlan, president

President’s LetterMission

Provide professional development and networking for members and enhance the lives of local

communications students through scholarships.

Who we areAWC Lubbock began in 1955 as Theta Sigma Phi

Alumnae Club, founded by the late Louise Allen, who was a widely known journalism instructor at Texas

Tech University.

The chapter meets twice a month. The first meet-ing is to discuss business and hear officer reporters from the board of directors. The second meeting

features a renowned speaker who contributes to the personal and professional development of members.

Other chapter events include membership mixers, an annual planning retreat, the annual Celebrity Lun-

cheon, and a biennial national conference.

A portion of all funds raised from our events support a scholarship fund for local communications stu-

dents and support professional development oppor-tunities for AWC Lubbock members.

How to joinMembership is open to many different career paths, from marketing to journalism, design to writing, and

photography to public relations.

AWC Lubbock does not charge local dues. Members pay only the cost of meals for monthly business and program meetings and annual membership dues to the National Chapter of the Association for Women

in Communications.

Contact awclubbockchapter@gmail.com for more information on joining AWC.

2015-2016 AWC Board of DirectorsPresidentDiane Harlan

President-ElectMichelle Stephens

VP For ProgramsGlenys Young

VP For FundraisingAllyson Sherrill/ Robbye Appling

VP For External MembershipAshley Harder

VP For Internal MembershipLaura Webb

VP For Student AffairsJo Grant

VP For CommunicationsBriana Vela

VP For DevelopmentSherry Saffle

SecretaryLindsay Grannan

TreasurerYvonne Limon

E-Mail/RSVP Heidi Toth

HistorianMary Ann Edwards

Past President/Bylaws Kaley Daniel

AWC Student Chapter Liaisons (TTU)Mary Ann Edwards/ Cameron Skoczlas

Upcoming ProgramsMarch 8: FOIA Panel In connection with Sunshine Week, which promotes public access to government informa-tion, our March program will feature a panel discussion and Q&A with two local govern-ment records officials.Barbara Bessent is the public information co-ordinator for the city of Lubbock.Donna Clarke is an assistant criminal district attorney for Lubbock County.They will talk about the process to retrieve records after a request is made, how time-in-tensive it is and what’s really happening behind the scenes between the request and the response.

May 10: Graphic file types Courtney Gibson, an assistant professor in Agricultural Communi-cations at Texas Tech, will share her expertise on graphic file types. What is the difference between a JPG, a GIF, a PDF and other file extensions you see? What are the benefits and drawbacks of each type, and when should you use one instead of another? She’ll tell you.

AWC Workshopby Glenys Young

Feb. 9: “Ways to Wow in the Workplace” Our annual half-day workshop will feature three outstand-ing speakers designed to give you tools to succeed in your business.

Beth Ziesenis, “Your Nerdy Best Friend”, will show you more than 30 free and bargain technology tools you never knew about that will let you schedule a committee meet-ing without a million emails; automate those tedious little workplace tasks; create professional-level graphics; and lots more.

Sherri Elliott-Yeary, “The Generational Guru”, will teach you practical skills to break down communication barri-ers between the four generations you’ll find in any given workplace – Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation X and Millennials – and how to leverage each generation’s strengths into a cohesive team for a true competitive ad-vantage.

Spencer Schacht, assistant director of the Texas Tech Uni-versity Career Center, will help you build your resume for the job you really want. You’ll learn when to use a digital resume; when and how to include hobbies, extracurricular activities and other outside endeavors; what you’re doing right and wrong; and how to get the response you’re look-ing for.

“Ways to Wow in the Workplace” lasts from 11:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. February 9 at the Legacy Event Center, 1500 14th St., and will include a buffet lunch.

Our spring membership mixer will immediately follow the work-shop.

th

Is the Twitterverse crumbling?by Amanda McAfee

I’ve always liked Twitter for its brevity. The platform forces me, again and again, to carefully choose every word. The famous 140 character limit has

spawned whole new genres with cute, spunky names like “Twitterature,” “Micropoetry” and the “Screen-short.” If you’re a word person, you can’t help but love Twitter. But I have to confess, I rarely use the platform anymore for personal use, and I am not the only one.

After new CEO Jack Dorsey came on in the fall, Twit-ter restructured and laid off over 300 employees.

Since, the company’s stock continues to take deep dives, reaching a record low in January. And newer platforms like Snapchat and Instagram continue to clip at Twitter’s heels. The company is struggling to get their feet under them and to find ways to keep users engaged. The brevity which made them famous might just be their Achilles heel.

Recent rumors indicate that Twitter will start exper-imenting with longer, expandable messaging. The plat-form has made other recent changes including adding

a “Moments” section and exchanging “favorites” for “likes.” But the question remains, will Twitter ever decide just what they want to be? For

the company to survive users limited attention

spans, they are going to have to.

According to NPR reporter Laura Sydell (http://www.npr.org/ 2015/10/12/448059234/at-a-time-of-turmoil-twitter-aims-to-keep-pace-with-silicon-valley), the mis-

sion isn’t much clearer inside the company: “some people say Twitter’s

a news site; other people say, you know, it’s really just a social media site.

So I think one of the new CEO’s biggest jobs — Jack Dorsey — is going to be to

make Twitter’s mission clearer.”

Ultimately, we all need Dorsey and Twitter to sell us on why we should stick with the platform.

I’m not giving up on Twitter yet, but the company has a lot of work to do to avoid the social media grave-yard.

It can be hard to know where to start volunteer-ing. Some people know exactly what they are passionate about, but for the rest of us, we need a guiding hand to help us figure out the best way to get involved.

Here’s a few things you need to know to get you started:

1. Nonprofits don’t always know what they need.While they may be doing great work in the commu-nity, nonprofits are often unaware of — or don’t have the capacity to manage — some of their most critical needs like a great communications and marketing strategy. You have a unique skill set and a lot to of-fer. Don’t be afraid to volunteer your photography, writing, marketing or other skills. They’ll be glad you asked.

2. Take a tour.Considering volunteering for a specific organization? Schedule a tour. Tours are great ways to get to know an agency’s mission and the population they serve. While you are there, you’ll discover if the organization is a good fit for you. You might also spot ways you can help using your unique skill set.

3. Volunteer at midnight or any hour of the day.A lot of people do not volunteer because they are afraid of the time commitment and schedule conflicts, but volunteering can fit into your busy schedule. There are opportunities at any time of day, on any day of the week. It all depends on what you want to do and how you want to get involved.

4. Don’t choose between family time and volunteer time.There are lots of great opportunities for young chil-dren to get involved, and many agencies plan projects especially designed for young volunteers. So make your next family outing about giving back to the com-munity. The Volunteer Center of Lubbock’s From the Heart program is a great place to start.

5. Volunteering actually does make a huge difference.In Texas, one hour of volunteer time is worth an estimated $24.66. That’s an incredible value added to local nonprofits. Most nonprofits simply do not have the resources to hire the staff they need; volunteers help fill that gap with their time and energy. So get out and make a difference! (For a more exact estimate as to how much your time is worth, check out Hands On Network’s volunteer calculator: http://www.handson-network.org/tools/volunteercalculator)

Ready to get started? Check out the Volunteer Center of Lubbock’s website at getconnected.volunteerlub-bock.org to browse volunteer opportunities or give them a call at (806) 747-0551.

Five Things You Need to Know About Volunteering

by Amanda McAfee

Member Yearbook: Update Your Info

by Michelle Stephens

Welcome New MembersWe have had a great response since the Fall Membership Mixer. Currently the AWC Lubbock Chapter boasts 94 members and 2 student members. The seven new members who joined in November are: Erin Baxter, Summer Burkholder, Deidre Hancock, Bevin Henson, Mariah Henson, Jaryn Kilmer and Madison Perkins.

AWC is looking for writersAWC is looking for members across the country to contribute articles to the National AWC Communique newsletter. If you are interested, please contact Briana Vela at bvela@suddenlink.net.

Be sure to update your contact information online. Visit http://www.womcom.org and login to your account under Login, MemberSuite My Profile. Verify your contact information, and select a preferred address and phone number to be included in our local year-book listing. With our growing chapter, the national website is an easier way to maintain member information in a secure and central location. New headshots can be sent to laura.webb@ttuhsc.edu. Thank you for your patience, and cheers to another fantastic year in AWC!

Speakers Sought for AWC WebinarsAWC Professional Development (ProDev) is seeking AWC chapter members with extensive or unique communication experience to serve as ProDev series speakers. This year, AWC Nationals will offer a renewed, regular series of ProDev events through webi-nar. Please email Diane Harlan at dharlan@kcbd.com if you are interested in contributing your skills, talents and knowledge as a possible ProDev speaker.

Sherri Chandler: Seeing the Possibilities

by Robbye Appling

Sherri Chandler has always loved to draw and be creative, maybe

because she grew up with a pretty creative family. Her mother and grandmother made jewelry, quilted, painted, drew, made cakes and did some sewing, gardening and embroidery. “I just grew up doing all of them,” Sherri says, “and a little bit of ceramics and toll painting. I just assumed that all women do that, but they don’t.”

It wasn’t until later in life — and after some travel-ling — that Sherri decided to invest in herself when it came to her natural talent. As an Army wife she was transferred to various lo-cations in and out of Texas and eventually to Giessen, Germany in 1988. Two years later and living back in Virginia, Sherri began to explore how to further her education.

She thought the health field would be exciting, so she started studying the curriculum and degree plans from several schools. “After reading all of the descrip-tions for every class, I found a bunch of stuff I didn’t want to do like poke people with needles,” Chandler says jokingly. That’s when she decided to pursue graphic design.

“I love the idea of creating something from nothing, which is what I think art is. You’re able to produce

something out of your head. It can be writing, painting, sculpting . . . but it starts within a person. That’s the base of how I view things,” says Chandler. “I can see the possibility of some little something that could be something wonderful.”

Coupled with a love of retail, Sherri brings an acumen for marketing to each project. “I took a retail management course. I like the advertising side of retail. I can tell people why they want to buy that.” But it’s even more than that for her. “I really enjoy being able to find a specific feature or a turn of phrase about a product or service and spotlight it in a way that makes people sit up and take notice.”

Sherri eventually got that degree and moved back to

Texas on New Year’s Eve in 1993, always planning to stay 5-10 years and move to a larger city like Austin. It hasn’t happened yet, but it may once her husband, ex-military himself and director of purchasing for Lubbock County, decides to retire. Until then, it seems her clients all over Texas and New Mexico—and her customers from all over the world on Etsy—get to enjoy the possibilities she brings to life.

If you’re interested in seeing (or buying) more of Sher-ri’s designs, you can find her at https://www.etsy.com/shop/spiralenvy?ref+hdr_shop_menu.