John Harlow has got the fire. He took over the Army Public Affairs Association on July 1st and wants you to know – he’s got your back.
You’re a working force PAO, just trying to grind through the day’s crises and campaigns, and maintain credibility with your commander. When you hit a challenge, are you in touch with all the people who have your back? Sure, the PAOs on your team and within your chain of command are the best start, and don’t forget your old DINFOS classmates and that dude you met that one time while traveling. John Harlow believes it’s the APA’s professional responsibility to have your back as well.
He wants the APA to mentor and assist the up-and-comers (we can relate). Maybe you don’t think you’re an “association” kind of person, but the well-connected, experienced pros who do things like join associations likely have some knowledge to drop. They’re reinvigorating efforts to offer training for the PAO working force, and we’ll publicly back anyone who will put time and passion behind a worthy goal.
Sure, you may have heard of the APA in the past. This sounds different. John and a newly selected team wants to serve you with new energy and focus. If you haven’t seen it yet, take a look at the charter below and tell us (and them. and each other.) what you think. Joint and private sector friends, what’s your perspective?
Members of the Army Public Affairs Association,
To begin, I want to take a moment and thank you for being a part of this amazingly talented group. If you look at the membership, this is a who’s who of the history of Army Public Affairs.
We have just elected a new group of officers and it is a group who is committed to serving you the Public Affairs professional.
I want to thank Kathy Rhem for her service as President of APAA and continued service as our new Vice President. She has been an great advocate telling the story of APAA and will continue to do so.
Rebecca Wriggle is our new Secretary and has also volunteered to head up our Membership Relations Committee. Becky is one of the truest Public Affairs professionals we have had in the career field and we are excited to have her on the Board.
Amee Roberson is our new Treasurer. Amee has been a part of APAA almost since its inception and we are excited that she continues to serve the Association.
We just completed our first Strategic Planning session of 2020 and the Board has come up with six goals to focus on in the next year.
Increase Training Opportunities – APAA will be hosting webinars and we will be looking for your suggestions of different training opportunities we can share with our Public Affairs professionals.
Increase Communication with Members – As a group of professional communicators, we have struggled to work with our valued members to determine how we as an Association can be value added. You have invested to be a part of APAA and we want to ensure that you will get a return on your investment. We want to ensure it is two-way conversation. If there are ways you can volunteer your ideas or services, we would be honored to have your support.
Update and Activate Online Presence – A primary way to reach our goal above is through our online tools. We are working through growing pains with our online presence and are in the process of ensuring that if you click on our website, you are able to reach a board member, learn about APAA, join APAA, find ways you can serve and submit candidates for the Galloway and Triggs awards, and the Ancient and Honorable Order of St. Gabriel. We want renewed, active communication with our members and we need our online presence to be active and responsive to it.
Establish a Mentorship Program – There are thousands of years of experience in the Public Affairs career field in our membership. I know in my case, I have several go to mentors who help me when I have questions professionally and to advance through the career field. We as an association want to provide a place for young Public Affairs professionals can find someone to be that special advisor to help them grow in the career field.
Editorial/Events Calendar – We want to build something that you as a member of APAA can count on. We envision it would include special events, leadership forums, a monthly report from the Board of Directors, different topics to discuss among our membership and even ways to focus on different events and observances Public Affairs professionals will be supporting. We also want to ensure our award cycles are even more widely known so that all can plan ahead for nomination windows to recognize the finest among us.
Increase Funding Streams – The top five goals should feed into this final goal. By providing training opportunities, increasing communication, updating our online presence, establishing a mentorship program and creating the editorial/events calendar, we will be a value added association. We hope this will increase membership, volunteers and corporate sponsorship as we move forward.
It truly is an honor to be the President of the Army Public Affairs Association and it is my goal as the President to serve you.
My career in communications started at the age of 14 as a disc jockey at WTRN in Tyrone, Pa., and has carried me through stops in commercial radio, the editor of a small community newspaper, as a Soldier at AFN, AFKN, Desert Storm Network and as a Department of the Army civilian at the Milwaukee Recruiting Battalion, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command and as the Chief of Public Affairs at the U.S. Army Garrison in Natick, MA.
Thank all of you for your service to our Nation. Thank you for sharing our Army story and I am excited to work with you as we continue to grow.
Sincerely
John Harlow
President
Army Public Affairs Association
(Photo from the Army PA Association’s Facebook page)
