It’s been over a week since I returned from Boston, having attended the 2017 PRSA International Conference, and my mind is still blown – in a good way of course! After spending three days with my PR peers from all over the world in more than a dozen professional development sessions, I’ve come back energized, inspired and full of ideas! It’s been 18 years since I last attended the PRSA International Conference. I was a senior at Texas Tech University, president of my PRSSA chapter and ready to take on the world! (Funny story, that year the conference actually took place in Boston! Annnnd, it’s possible that I might have had a little too much fun at Cheers with some of my new PRSSA friends from the conference!)
Thinking through all of the information-rich sessions I attended last week, compared to those I attended 18 years prior – I am reminded how much has changed and how far we have come as a profession. In 1999, we were certainly not talking about digital marketing strategies, big data and the science behind PR, viral media strategies or how to write content for mobile. I also know that we were not talking about the new ideas of diversity and inclusion – one of the bigger themes at this year’s conference. For those of us not in the millennial generation, diversity and inclusion has historically meant adopting best practices in our industry that supports racial, ethnic, religious, sexual orientation and gender differences. This theme, however, has evolved to include diverse skill sets, mindsets and cultures at all levels of the organization.
Moreover, this year’s conference gave me pause to think about what it means to be a PR professional. As a student attendee in 1999, I was eager to learn how to best make my way successfully in this profession. Now, in 2017, so much has changed – we now have more (and much better) tools, technologies and channels to help us do the job we are hired to do. Then, most PR professionals weren’t given a second glance by the C-suite. Now, we have the power to make our place at the executive table.
Long story short – I have way too much information to include in just one blog! So, below are a few of my tweets (and some from attendees I connected with via Twitter) from the conference for a brief overview of the sessions I attended. I plan to write more session specific blogs at a later date, but for now, enjoy this “Twitter-sized” recap:
• “Now is the best time in history to be a storyteller” says @MorganSpurlock #PRSAICON
• Great session on data-driven strategies to manage millennial PR prof., focus on diversity and inclusion. @PRSA #prsaicon
• “If you want to rule the world, you have to dominate public relations!” @JKDJane #PRSSANC #PRSAICON
• Learning about the #BeAnAstronaut campaign from @NASA at #prsaicon. Brilliant! Raised over 18K applicants!
• Year in Space campaign showed how @NASA could work as a single unit with focused objectives. #prgoals #PRSAICON
• Real-time pitch session with @BeaArthurLMHC at #prsaicon. Great feedback on improving PR pitches. Tighten your pitches, know your hook!
• Performance based PR teams don’t wait until the end of the campaign, they look at data points every day. @IrisPRSoftware #thenewpr
• PR is exploding! More options for impressions: earned, shared, owned, paid. We all need raises! @AirPR
• Unleash brand’s superpower w/imagination. Don’t limit brainstorms to people by level. Be inclusive and find the winning idea! @KeithTweets
• Work backwards f/the headline you want to see. These guys were not afraid of endless creativity. @KeithTweets @Reebok @danmazei #prsaicon
• “When you do something truly creative, there is no template for it,” @danmazei #PRSAICON #dedication
• Tell me a fact & I’ll listen, tell me a truth & I’ll believe, tell me a story & it will be with me forever. @PRSA @PRSAOrlando #prsaicon
• Superpower tip: Validation. “The flood was the event, Noah is the story,” @danmazei -find real people to tell your story!#PRSAICON
• Getting “seat at the table” in strategy & change planning is easier when viewed as business leader with comms skills, not reverse. #prsaicon
• “PR, social media, editorial content – every idea we have integrates all 3 – no one thing can work in a silo…” @danmazei @Reebok #prsaicon
Austin
