Pat Szpekowski, APR, is president of PR Strategies & Communications in Elgin, a full service advertising and public relations firm she founded in 1987. The company provides expertise for a variety of businesses in professional writing, creative graphic design, media relations, review, and placement, and candid event photography. She is also an award winning freelance writer for the Observer, the Diocese of Rockford weekly newspaper; Air Chicago Magazine; and the Northwest Quarterly Magazine. She is an accredited public relations professional (APR) and Past President of the Suburban Chicagoland Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America.