“Obama has Balls…Big Ones!”

U.S. President Barack Obama flew to London yesterday to attend the  G20 Summit.  This was his first overseas trip as an American leader. He was greeted by hundreds of thousands of people. Security everywhere, including Scotland Yard’s finest.

Yesterday,  I spoke with a valued source and a close friend of mine who is a detective for the Metropolitan Police of Scotland Yard.  He was amazed at how fearless my American President was after the meeting.

Apparently, Obama jumped into his vehicle, put down his window and waved to his screaming fans as they drove off.  WOW! Those bulletproof black, heavily tinted Escalades are so heavily armored and  concealing for a reason, right?

Obama demonstrated how we, as Americans, should not be afraid anymore. Hence, the reason for banning the term “War on Terror” to “Overseas Contingency Operations” and trashing the colorful threat level we used to eagerly wait for on CNN.

So lets get some balls like Obama and stop living in fear!!

‘Goodbye’ to the Old and ‘Hello’ to the New!

USF PRSSA had their elections today! Congratulations to the new executive  board I am sure you will all do a fine job.

The new e-board:

President: Heather McDonald

Vice President:  Sara Page

Editor-in Chief:  Kimberly Brimm

Director of Finances: Drew Slater

Director of Special Events: Lauren Ballard

Director of Marketing: Yolanda Robles

Director of Internal Communications: Athena Montes

I hope all of the new members continue to stay involved in PRSSA and try to become committee heads under each one of these  remarkable and professional individuals. I hope this year’s new e-board benefits as much as the 2008-2009 e-board has.

I will miss my e-board and I am so thrilled to have had the opportunity to have shared this experience with them. Much love and congratulations again to the new 2009-2010 USF PRSSA executive board.

Tampa’s Hidden Treasures-Classy and Cheap!

Shall we discuss some fun in the Sun?? Rather than how the government and big businesses suck or how awful it is to be in a recession!

So you have to work during your Spring Break while all your buddies head to Jamaica on a cruise or down to The Keys for S.C.U.B.A. Want to know some really CHEAP and peaceful getaways right here in our Tampa Bay area but still look like your dishing out the dough?!

Shoot down to these spots for a day…

ANNA MARIA ISLAND: White sands, crystal blue water and quiet. The weather has been getting warmer and Clearwater just doesn’t seem to be cutting it anymore. It’s about a few more minutes driving time but worth the extra gas. Set up in Coquina Park and grill out under the trees, and then walk a few feet onto the beautiful white sands and lay out in the sun.

Party Foul: No alcohol on the beach. (But post up near a restaurant and drink at the bar. Hey, at least you’ll be in the AC for a bit!)

Want to go somewhere even more secluded? Get away from other Tampans?

SEBRING: Absolutely nothing to do there, but a day by the lake will be efficient. Grab an order to go at the Panera Bread down the road, then have a picnic at the park with the beautiful lake view.

Party Foul: Lots of retirees. So don’t think you can do a keg stand and stumble around drunk screaming “WhOo!! Spring Break!!”

GINNIE SPRINGS: Rough it out in the woods! Enjoy the crystal clear springs, dive into the scenic caves and build a campfire with some friends.  The water is 74 degrees all year round! There is even a tree rope to swing into the water with..do you dare? Grab your food to grill out with at the local grocery store, rent a inflatable tube and float down the beautiful spring.

Party Foul: Lots of spring breakers, lots of cops too! So don’t try to sneak your buddies in your trunk onto the campgrounds..it’s a felony. Just pay the $15.

HOOTERS: Yes, Hooters! Did you know the very first Hooters is in Clearwater? If you want to take a drive down to your local beach, good ol’ Clearwater, stop by the original Hooters. Those girls will make you feel like your dining somewhere beachy and tourist-y. They have $3.50 wells all day and Snow Crab legs for $6.99!! So, grab a pina colada and some crab legs and don’t forget to say its someone’s birthday! The girls will have an entertaining treat for you! Take pictures with the girls and call it a day!

Party Foul: Clearwater beach is so overdone.

TRAVELZOO.COM: They have some really great deals. Airlines are giving away tickets nowadays! Book a flight out for a day or two to a city you’ve never been before. You can get flights for as low as $39 ( not including taxes and fees). If anyone asks what did you do for Spring Break, you can say you went to Houston (for a day)!
Party Foul: If you stay overnight you have to find a cheap room somewhere.

Even though you can’t spend the whole week lounging out in some tropical island, you can still spend a relaxing day without any money worries or traveling woes.

Tony Vartanian, Manager at Prana Nightclub, Killed by Cop

September 06, 2008

Plain clothes officer kills Club Prana bouncer, 35

TAMPA — A plain clothes officer shot and killed a Club Prana bouncer who refused two orders to drop a gun early Saturday morning, Tampa police say.

According to spokeswoman Laura McElroy, this is what happened:

At 1:22 a.m., two Orlando men were kicked out of Club Prana, 1619 E Seventh Ave., for banging on the walls of the bar. Officer Rick Harrell and his partner were in an unmarked van patrolling the area around Seventh Avenue. They heard Roobik Vartanian, of 1611 E Sixth Avenue in Tampa, arguing with the men, shouting racial slurs at them and threatening to kill them.

The officers, members of the Street Anti Crime Unit, got out of their car on Sixth Avenue and noticed that Vartanian, 35, was armed with a gun he grabbed from another Club Prana employee. Officer Harrell ordered him to drop the weapon two times, but Vartanian turned and pointed the gun at Harrell.

The officer fired his gun, striking Vartanian in the stomach. He was taken to Tampa General Hospital where he died. Harrell was placed on paid administrative leave, which is standard procedure. His partner and the two men involved in the argument were not injured.

Vartanian did not have a concealed weapons permit and had previously been arrested on six felonies.

Until recently, he lived in Jacksonville, where he helped law enforcement officials bust an ecstasy ring in 2003.

— Rodney Thrash, Times Staff Writer

Posted by tampabaycom at 9:24:15 AM on September 6, 2008

I want to clarify the story on the Tampabay.com website. Tony Vartanian was a manager at the nightclub Prana. There was an altercation in the club last night around one o’clock in the morning, where two  black men were kicked out of the club for acting like a couple of jackasses.

Tony and other employees followed the guys out of the club to the back where the two black men taunted Tony by saying his address. Tony lived close by, where his little 3-year-old daughter was with a babysitter.  Tony followed the men to make sure his daughter was safe. Tony had a gun but he did not point it at anyone.

Our security at the club carry guns, to protect themselves, to protect the other employees and to protect innocent people from freaking jerks.

An undercover cop saw the situation and came out of his  unmarked vehicle yelling at Tony to drop his gun. Tony pointed the gun at the undercover cop and the cop shot Tony in the stomach. The undercover cop never stated who he was. He murdered Tony.

I talked to the parking lot attendant who was only a few feet away from the scene. She said he just shot him down and never once did the officer address himself.

Only a few minutes later, six police cars come wailing through the streets of Ybor. Police officers ran to Tony and tried to revive him. About 2 minutes later, a fire truck arrived.  Five minutes later, an ambulance followed. They brought him to Tampa General where he died.

I received the call at 7:32am this morning telling me Tony was dead.

Funeral arrangements will be held at Hardage-Giddens Funeral Home, Jacksonville Beach. Visitation will be on September 9, 2008 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Burial will be on September 10, 2008 at 2 p.m. at Greenlawn Cemetery, 4300 Beach Blvd., Jacksonville.

Save a Tree…Write a Blog

I noticed not a lot of people know what it means to be a blogger.  “One who blogs; a blog is a website where one can write commentary or picture entries  that are made in journal style and displayed in a reverse chronological order.”

I have recently found that my party talk has turned into me talking about my blog.  Many people think a blog is just an online diary. It’s so much more than that. Blogging has become so influential that not only are we learning about it in school, but also informing my drinking buddies.

There are millions of blogs on the Web. Some people become professional bloggers and get paid for their writing skills.  You know who Perez Hilton is, right? Check out Forbes top blogger list. Blogging has never been bigger. Many people religiously check certain blogs daily.

Journalist now have to keep blogs and have to keep it decent or else they could get fired for inappropriate material.

Don’t be scared to create one. Just write and see what happens. You never know what ideas or opinions could come to you. Maybe one day your blog could be in Technorati’s Top 100 blogs.

Hopefully, my blog will get a million hits in one day.

The Superbowl Comes to Tampa Bay

How great is the Superbowl XLII coming to Raymond James Stadium in Janurary of 2009 going to be for our economy? This will definitely boost Tampa’s spirits. Just a little break from all the high gas prices, and jobless economy.

Well, I attended a meeting at Champ’s Sports Bar and Grill this past Wednesday for Superbowl XLII with the committee throwing this spectacular event. Krista Soroka, who started her own PR firm called Wonder Events, and Amanda Holt, who has been on the committe once before, were both speaking on behalf of the event.

They are both are very experienced in holding such a immense event and will make next year’s Superbowl a memorable one.  I’m talking about free concerts, more publicity, high involvement and much excitment. They are going to paint the town red….white, and blue. With those wonderful NFL colors.

What are we left with once the Superbowl comes into town and traffic demolishes our streets. Well, not only will we have a month long of activities, all the publicity,  and being nationally recognized. Raymond James will be adding a couple thousand more seats for this event as well. A bigger stadium!

Want to know more?  This one-day event will really be a whole month long escapage. Turns out the children’s Gasparilla parade is the week before Superbowl and the adult Gasparilla parade is the weekend after. So mark you calendars people, Tampa bay is in for one magical month!

More parties and events to attend as well. How about the Playboy party or the Maxim party? I want to go to that for sure!

You and your organizations can get involved too. I will post the link soon. So stay tuned for more.

Filling the really big shoes of “Miss PR”-Meg Roberts

  I am currently a student at the University of South Florida  and I just started the public relations sequence.  I have the great priviledge of having Mr. Batchelor as my gatekeeper into PR and also as my professor in Principles of Public Relations.  I joined PRSSA on campus at the beginning of the semester but I didn’t have much time to get actively involved in many events. Recently, I found a new job that will give me more time during the day to participate in more school activites. Two days ago, I received an email from PRSSA reminding me that elections for e-board were on Thursday and to be sure to attend to vote. There was also an announcement stating that no one had applied for the position of Director of Member Services. I really wanted to get more involved on campus, especially in PRSSA. I sent an email to the contact person asking more about what the position entailed. I continued on posting a new blog (I used to blog anonymously) and checking my email and completing my homework. I turned off my computer without a response from anyone about the position.  Last night, I received a response from the Director of Member Services, Meg, describing the positon. Well, I replied asking her “how do I apply for the postion?” With elections only under 12 hours away, I started searching the PRSSA website on what I should do next. I copy and pasted someone else’s application and filled it out and then submitted it to Meg. Then I had a flash back of something Mr. Batchelor had said. One day, he talked about the infamous Meg Roberts and her amazing blog and how people from other universities know her by name and that we should really read her blog. Well, I had previously read her blogs before and at that very moment I realized that the positon that I just applied for was Meg Roberts! I quickly went back to my inbox only to confirm that it was her who had sent me the email. I couldn’t believe it and I am still a little baffled at the whole situation, only because I have some really big shoes to fill. Yes, you guessed it, lil ol’ me is the new Director of Member Services for PRSSA at the University of South Florida. So, Hello World!!