This post is a big shout out to Margie Newman (@margienewman, #DCFlacks), founder of DC Flacks, which just celebrated its one year anniversary. Margie was just a PR pro from Tennessee who moved to DC and decided to start a Meetup Group a way to meet other like-minded professionals.
In 12 short months, she’s grown the group from a handful of people to some 350 members (this Twitter list is a partial roster). The events are free, well attended, and a great way to meet other PR pros in the city. Moreover, her idea has taken hold and she’s chatting with parties in her hometown of Nashville and also Dallas about starting a similar group in those cities.
Setting up and managing groups like this takes dedication – and Margie’s dipped into her own pocket to get this thing off the ground, not to mention the time she puts in securing venues and managing membership. It’s exciting – and amazing – to see the group grow. It may be counterintuitive, but it has also gotten me past that label – flack – which is generally used as pejorative.
It may well be that the group has reached a threshold where guiding principles should be established. If I may make a suggestion, borrowing on a popular movie with a club that also grew virally: the first rule about DC Flacks is that we talk about DC Flacks.
Congrats to Margie and thanks to all the PR pros whose attendance makes these events so valuable!
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