Public Relations Society of America International Conference

Hi all!

I just got back from traveling to Atlanta, GA to attend my very first PRSA International Conference. I have never been to such a large gathering of people who were all in the industry of public relations and I was very excited to have the chance to pick some of these peoples brains.

The conference lasted 3 days, and though not a long period of time, a lot of information was thrown at us in all different directions. Luckily, a colleague of mine also took the trip with me which helped us both absorb twice as much information.

Sunday morning started off early, 8:00 am the first general session began that highlighted basically what these next 3 days was going to look at and how we would benefit from everything they were offering us. Awesome! Next up was the newcomers conference! There was a quite a few newcomers, including myself, and they were from everywhere. Literally from Seattle, WA to Colombia. It was interesting to hear what roles each of these individuals had in their organization and what they most wanted to take away from this conference. This was just the introduction and it was already very exciting.

The sessions that were offered for the next 3 days covered a variety of topics, all of them seeming to benefit my role in my company. It was hard to choose which session to attend, but in a good way, again because they all seemed to touch on topics that I could definitely bring back with me to the office. In the end I chose to attend sessions that dealt with social media, new social media platforms that businesses could take advantage of,  media training for spokespersons, and how a non-profit could benefit from social media. I won't go into detail what each of them was about specifically, I would be typing forever, but they all had key points that stuck with me. I learned about new platforms for sending out messages, known as Thunderclap, and why it's important to integrate these new platforms with public relations. I learned how to prepare your CEO to give the best interview he has every given to the media, especially if it's in a time of crisis, and I learned better media pitching.

Overall the meeting was a success in my eyes. I probably wouldn't have been exposed to half of these new ideas and teachings anywhere else and I am glad I had the opportunity to attend this conference. Luckily, my company does sponsor the PR department to attend the conference, which is superb in my book. I've learned early on in this industry, communications is constantly changing. Staying up to date on what is current on social media is very much part of my job role as it pitching a new study to the media.

I highly recommend becoming a member of your local city PRSA chapter and if possible attending their meetings. This society has a lot to offer for all of us PR pros and as much as we think we know, there is always something knew to learn!!

Until next time,
Nicole!