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Congratulations New APRs
Brie Anne Coleman, APR and Julie Prayter, APR

Two CAPIO Members took a big step this year in their professional development and achieved their APR credentials this year: Brie Anne Coleman, APR and Julie Prayter, APR.  Congratulations Brie Anne and Julie!  

CAPIO is one of only nine public relations organizations to offer its members the internationally recognized Accreditation in Public Relations (APR).

The APR recognizes timeless communications principles with contemporary strategies and tactics. The process of earning your APR takes your skills to the next level by exposing you to today’s cutting-edge strategies and practices, assessing your skills to identify strengths and opportunities for growth, and demonstrating your personal and professional commitment to excellence.  If you’re interested in learning more, join us at the APR informational session at the CAPIO Conference on Tuesday morning at 8:30, or if you’re not attending, learn more online.

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Mentors needed for this year’s mentoring program!
The William Nash mentoring program fosters two-way learning

Make a difference this year as a mentor supporting a younger professional in the field by signing up for our mentoring program!  CAPIO’s Mentoring Program was developed to help foster the growth of our members through two-way learning. In 2021 the mentoring program was renamed in honor of William Nash, longtime CAPIO member, leader and mentor. This is a great opportunity to expand your leadership skills, share your experiences and insights, and learn from the experiences of your mentee.  Learn more

Be a Mentor / Apply Here

Apply / Request a Mentor

CAPIO matches 15 mentor/mentee pairs annually.   *Mentee spots filling up quickly – sign up today!

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CAPIO special recognition awards – nomincation deadline extended through July 12
Paul B. Clark, Communicator of the Year, Frank Potter Cowan Crisis Communications Leader Awards

Photo of award winners

CAPIO is now welcoming nominations for our three individual honors. The Paul B. Clark award - recognizing s a 20+ year career of excellence in communications.  The Communicator of the Year award – recognizing a recipient for a stellar year of work in 2021.  And the Frank Potter Cowan Crisis Communications Leader award - recognizing a team or an individual demonstrating exceptional leadership during a crisis. Nominations are reviewed according to a rubric under each category.

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CAPIO announces the 2022-2023 Board 

CAPIO is pleased to announce the 2022-2023 Board of Directors.   As the state’s leading government communications association, the California Association of Public Information Officials leans on volunteer leaders to guide the association strategically to serve our 800-member network of public communicators.  Read on to learn more about our board members.

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What EPIC programs did you work on in 2020 or 2021?
EPIC awards program earlybird deadline is Friday, May 13

Recognizing work from 2021 and 2022

CAPIO’s EPIC Awards program recognizes and honors outstanding professional work and accomplishments in the public communications field.  We continue to see government communications professionals raise the standard of excellence and creativity in our profession.  Your work inspires us and we look forward to celebrating your EPIC work at the CAPIO Exellence in Public Information and Communications (EPIC) Awards events during the CAPIO Annual Conference.  Read on to learn about the categories and how to apply. 

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April is APR Month

Did you know that CAPIO is one of the nine public relations organizations to offer its members the internationally recognized Accreditation in Public Relations (APR)? The APR recognizes timeless communications principles with contemporary strategies and tactics.

If you’re curious about what obtaining your APR could mean for your career, listen to our latest podcast follow these steps in April to learn more.

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CAPIO marks February 24 as Government Communications Day
Let’s celebrate!

by CAPIO President, Maurice Chaney 

Our role as government communications professionals is to inform, educate, and engage our communities.

Because, in the end, robust communication in government creates trust and inspires customers to take action and be involved.

We are in the fortunate role of being able to craft a narrative that showcases different perspectives on various topics – from community development and health and safety to education, infrastructure, and general government operations.

  • We create relationships and calls to action.
  • We build awareness and understanding through storytelling.
  • We engage and foster engagement on civic issues.
  • We use all channels and include everyone in critical decisions.

It’s essential to have strong communications in government because it is a foundational element of living in a democracy where citizens have the freedom to make their voices heard.

Because of the role of the government communicator, every February 24, starting with February 24, 2022, we honor the incredible men and women who’ve dedicated their careers to ensure local, state, and federal government agencies have effective, impactful, and successful communication strategies that resonate and are relevant.

We want to flood our social media by highlighting fantastic government communicators. So, use #GovernmentCommunicationsDay in your posts or send us an email of you or your team so we can add it to our channels!

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2022-2024 Board of Directors nominations

Would you like to be more involved with CAPIO?  Be a Board Member!  Volunteers are needed to serve on CAPIO’s 2022-2024 Board of Directors.  Your expertise and experience is needed to help guide CAPIO into another great year!

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2021 Communicator of the Year Award Recipient
Thomas Christensen

Honored for his commitment and excellence in communications, the County of San Diego’s Communication Specialist, Tom Christensen, has made it his top priority to build social media campaigns that educate, inspire, and create change throughout the County of San Diego. Tom oversees more than 100 individual County department social media accounts as an administrator or content creator. His leadership has resulted in the County obtaining some of the highest follower counts for counties in the nation as well as some of the highest engagement numbers.

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Poster contest winners announced!
Congratulations!

TOP WINNER

design by: VITO LABELLARTE | WESTAMERICA COMMUNICATIONS

Congratulations to Vito Labellarte and Westamerica Communications on their entry which garnered top honors in our poster contest!  Conference participants will be able to pick up a copy of this award-winning poster at the 2021 CAPIO Annual Conference!

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Crowdsource videos, images and memories requested!
50 years:  Honoring the past, celebrating our future

It was 1971 when CAPIO was formed, since then things have changed on how we send information and get our message to the right audiences. And, along those years, you have seen what you do change, too. Remember sitting at the fax machine to send out press releases? Purchasing Bacons Books so you had the latest reporter listings? Or, clipping the newspapers of stories about your agency to place in a three ring binder? And what about driving around dropping off VHS tapes filled with b-roll. 

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CAPIO interviews Pat West, retired Long Beach City Manager and former PIO
Insights from a City Manager on the value of communications and the PIO

CAPIO interviews Pat West, retired Long Beach City Manager and former PIO

This year marks CAPIO’s 50th year since being established. In that time, a lot has changed with the way in which we communicate. However, in many ways, the baseline of what we do remains – and that is informing, educating, and engaging our communities to encourage them to participate in the democratic process, share their perspective and create an emotional response that leads to action.

In light of CAPIO’s half a century milestone, we are chatting with folks who work specially in the communications area of government or who are part of the government sector in general.

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CAPIO 50th Art Challenge
Calling all creatives!

Calling all creatives, we need your astute design expertise to help capture the essence of government communications over the past 50 years! Show us your design skills!

While the heart of public relations, government sector communications, and outreach has gone unchanged, the way we communicate, what we communicate, and how consumers of information obtain messages have dramatically transformed. 

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CAPIO celebrates 50 years:  Honoring the past, celebrating our future
by Maurice Chaney, CAPIO 2020-2021 President

For half a century, the California Association of Public Information Officials (CAPIO) has been the linkage between good government, the professionals that help to inform, educate, and engage, and the communities we serve. With communication, we made and continue to make miracles happen.

“If you just communicate, you can get by. But if you communicate skillfully, you can work miracles.”

― Jim Rohn

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CAPIO EPIC Awards on pause
by Teresa Collins, CAPIO V.P. Awards

It has been an EPIC year for California’s Public Information Officials. We have been navigating a pandemic while delivering top-notch communications across our state. We had to skip our 2020 conference but will be back this fall in Squaw Valley as we celebrate CAPIO’s 50th Birthday!