Member PRofile: Kelda Senior

Kelda Senior
Public Information Coordinator Quest Corporation of America

Give a brief explanation of your job. 
I oversee public information for over 15 construction projects for the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) and the Central Florida Expressway Authority (CFX): I develop community awareness plans for projects in the construction phase, identifying potential impacts to the public as a result of construction; Build alliances and corporate partnerships; Coordinate resolution of issues, visiting project sites, residential and business properties to address concerns;  and produce project informational fliers, fact sheets, traffic alerts and website updates for active construction projects.

How long have you been a part of FPRA? Why did you join?
I’ve been a member of FPRA for two years. I joined FPRA because of the organization’s reputation of supporting public relations professionals. The networking and professional development opportunities were reasons for my decision to join and become an active member of FPRA.

What was your favorite FPRA event?
This year’s Image Awards was a stellar event. It was inspiring to see other communication professionals recognized for their hard work, creativity and dedication to what they do.

Tell us about an exciting achievement.
Being recognized by Lake Business Magazine in their 2015 “30 Under 30” issue.

What was your very first job?
I worked at Old Navy for two years during high school.

Share a fun fact that people may not know about you.
During graduate school, I spent some time in Seoul, South Korea, where I learned about some of Korea’s innovative approaches to local government challenges. Although I never acquired a taste for the popular Korean dish, kimchi, I discovered my love for another traditional Korean dish, bibimbap.

Contact info:
email: keldasenior@gmail.com
phone: 904-703-1578
Twitter: @keldasenior

Chapter Rewind: February Breakfast – Building a Better McDonald’s

Jamie Floer, APR, Laura Kern, APR, Joe Chabus, APR, Alayna Curry, APR, and Dipika Joshi.

Chapter Rewind | By: Gabriel Soltren

During the May Breakfast meeting, Joe Chabus, APR, Director of Communications McDonald’s USA Florida Region, spoke to FPRA Orlando members about his role in communications at McDonald’s. His role consists of internal communications, brand-building publicity, reputation management, meeting & events, and leadership communications. McDonald’s has 35,000 restaurants including 900 in Florida. “One in 8 Americans has worked in a McDonald’s restaurant,” Chabus said.

Chabus explained that in 2004 McDonald’s started putting sliced apples in Happy Meals. In the article “A clever tweak to how apples are sold is making everyone eat more of them,” Washington Post Reporter Roberto A. Ferdman wrote about McDonald’s role in the increase of apple consumption in schools. School nutritionists noticed that sliced apples were easier to eat than whole apples. Research provided evidence to support that kids ate 70 percent more apples when sliced. Since McDonald’s started serving apples, more than 2 billion apple packets have been consumed by kids.

Joe Chabus, APR, introduced Dipika Joshi, Media Relations Manager with the Dalton Agency. Dipika spoke about the role of the agency in the implementation of McDonald’s strategies. The agency focuses on local media, merchandizing, events & marketing, public relations, crisis management and social media.

Chabus described how All Day Breakfast started with testing in San Diego. Check out the article “All Day Breakfast was the Secret Weapon that McDonald’s Needed.”

Click here for more photographs of the February Breakfast at the world’s largest entertainment McDonald’s in Orlando, Florida.

Conference Scholarship – Apply by July 1

Apply to win a scholarship to this year’s annual conference, Lead, Listen, Engage, Act, Deliver., to be held at the beautiful Innisbrook Golf & Spa Resort in Palm Harbor, Florida, from August 7-10. This is a great opportunity to attend!

The FPRA Orlando Area Chapter will award up two scholarships to local chapter members for either the conference registration fee of $725 or the hotel accommodations. To apply, please email your responses to the questions below to Laura Kern, APR at LKERN@rollins.edu by July 1, 2016.  Please limit your answers to 75 words or less for each question and be sure to include all information outlined below:

• Name:
• Company:
• Title:
• Years in public relations:
• How long have you been a member of FPRA?
• In what ways have you been involved with FPRA? (Committees, events attended, positions held, etc.)
• How will the conference scholarship benefit your career and current job?
• What do you hope to learn by attending conference, and how do you intend to incorporate it in your daily position?
• What is your greatest need, a conference scholarship or a hotel accommodations scholarship?

To be eligible, you must be an active member in good standing with the Orlando Area Chapter. Your chapter involvement and financial need will be considered.  Please note that the scholarship covers the $725 conference registration fee and excludes lodging, food outside of meals included in the regular conference registration and all other related expenses. A hotel-only scholarship would include a reimbursement amount for three nights at the conference room block rate of $129/night including applicable taxes and fees.

All scholarship winners will be required to participate on the conference blogging team and to write a short article for PRoclaimer discussing what they learned and how it enhances their profession.