Bridgeman Leads Press Club of Southeast Texas in 2018 and 2019

Debbie Bridgeman of Beaumont has been elected the 2018-2019 president of the Press Club of Southeast Texas. Bridgeman has served since 2016 as community relations specialist for the Beaumont Independent School District.

Other Press Club officers are Marilyn Tennissen, freelance writer/photographer, vice president for finance and membership; Farrah Severs-Young, Total Home Health, secretary; Mike Tobias, Beaumont Enterprise, vice president for programs and special events; Sharon Brooks, The Examiner, vice president for public relations; and Brian Sattler, Lamar University, vice president for development.

Elected to two-year terms on the board of directors were Andy Coughlan, Lamar University; Scott Eslinger, KBMT-12News; Harold Mann, iHeart Media; Kristie Young, SNC Lavalin at ExxonMobil; and Greg Kerr, KFDM/KBTV.

Guiseppe Barranco of Beaumont Enterprise, Jim Love of iHeart Media, and Tom Taschinger of Beaumont Enterprise were named to unexpired one-year terms on the board. As immediate past president, Kevin Steele of KBMT-12News serves as an ex-officio board member. Completing board terms are David Ball, Port Arthur News; Natalie Tindall, Lamar University; and I.C. Murrell, Port Arthur News.

Bridgeman earned a bachelor of science in communications from the University of Texas at Austin in 1991. From February 2006 to December 2015, she served as the communications director for Better Business Bureau serving Southeast Texas.

From 2003 to 2005, Bridgeman served as the promotions/special events director and “Morning Blend” co-host at KOLE-News Radio FOX, known on the air as “Debbie Wylde”. From 2001 to 2003, Bridgeman was director of programming for Clear Channel Radio (now iHeart Media) in Beaumont. Concurrently, she served as program director for KKMY-Mix 104.5 and on-air mid-day personality for KIOC-Big Dog 106.

Before moving to Beaumont in 2001, Bridgeman held various positions at radio stations in Austin, Nacogdoches, Paducah, Ky., Columbia, Mo., and Huntington, W.V. She and her husband, Jason, have one son, Chase, who turns 13 in April.

Bridgeman has been active in the Press Club of Southeast Texas since 2004, elected as president in 2009. Currently, she serves on the communications division for the Greater Beaumont Chamber of Commerce, campus educational improvement committee (CEIC) at Odom Academy, and small group leader at Praise Church.

Throughout its 49-year history, the Press Club of Southeast Texas has united print and broadcast media with public relations professionals toward the common goal of excellence in communication. In addition to serving as a forum for issues, events, and ideas, the Press Club supports scholarships, community education and freedom of information.

Membership in the organization is open to journalists and public relations professionals in Jefferson, Hardin, Orange, Liberty, Chambers, Jasper, Tyler, Polk and Newton counties.

The Press Club Memorial scholarship is awarded annually to outstanding Lamar University communication students, supported primarily by proceeds from the club’s annual Newsmaker of the Year/Excellence in the Media banquet. The 2018 event is scheduled for June 8 at the MCM Elegante Hotel and Conference Center. For additional information, visit the Press Club website, pressclubofsoutheasttexas.org.