The Future of The PR Pro: Media Relations and Measured Communications Through COVID-19

Tamra Johnson is the Assistant Vice President of Public Affairs for American Property Casualty Insurance Association. Prior to her current role, she was a National Spokesperson and PR Manager for AAA, where she managed media relations for the association’s public affairs team in Washington, D.C. Johnson focused on traffic safety and transportation issues, including driver distraction, impaired driving, teen driver safety, infrastructure funding and other public policies that affect drivers. Before that, Johnson was Community Relations and Marketing Director for St. Vincent Catholic Charities. She also worked as a television journalist, covering breaking news on-air and online.

Maureen Lynch Vogel is the Director of Communications for the National Safety Council and has more than 15 years of expertise in journalism and public relations. She joined the National Safety Council in 2011 and was instrumental in creating its media department. She currently serves as a primary spokesperson, leads media relations activities, develops external messaging and conducts media training. Vogel also leads the development process for external written content, particularly around advocacy issues including transportation and home and community safety. She is a key member of the NSC public education campaign around opioid misuse and overdose prevention, Stop Everyday Killers, winning wide-ranging recognition for public relations excellence from such renowned award programs as the Clios, the Silver Anvils, Cannes and the ADDYs. Prior to joining the National Safety Council, Vogel was a nationally recognized sports journalist for daily newspapers in Michigan and Illinois. The Associated Press Sports Editors named her double-bylined investigative series on high school club volleyball one of the ten best projects of the year in 2013. She received the prestigious Sweepstakes Award for Editorial Excellence from the Illinois Associated Press Editor’s Association in 2012, and was inducted into the Illinois Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2011.

Shomari Stone is a General Assignment Reporter for NBC News4 Washington, specializing in breaking news coverage for News4 at 11. Stone joined the network on Aug. 22, 2011. During his first week, he covered the 5.8 magnitude earthquake and Hurricane Irene. He also reported from Boston after the bombing at the Boston Marathon, the 2013 U.S. Capitol shooting, and he was on the ground at the Baltimore protests. He brought viewers an exclusive interview with Trayvon Martin's parents while they were in Washington. Although he graduated from high school in Washington, D.C., Stone has lived in cities all across the United States. He has worked at KOMO-TV in Seattle, CBS 4 in Miami, and WINK TV in Fort Myers, Florida. Stone was part of the News4 team that earned an Emmy Award for Washington Capitals Championship coverage. He also earned two Emmy nominations and was part of the CBS4 team of journalists recognized with an Edward R. Murrow Award for live coverage of the federal air marshals shooting at Miami International Airport in 2006. He has covered a wide range of stories including the inauguration of Barack Obama; immigration reform; the passage of Hurricane Katrina, Rita and Wilma through Florida and the resulting devastation to the region; Republican presidential contender John McCain's appearance in Miami; the local impact of Fidel Castro's relinquished power; the local impact of the fall of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide; the uproar surrounding the death of Anna Nicole Smith; and the Bush family's first "Presidential" vacation on Gasparilla Island in 2000.