Towards a fearless future (2)

At the general session, Dr. Michael Lomax, President of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), gave the third keynote presentation, where he reviewed the new PRIME Scholars’ Programme, a collaboration between the PRSA Foundation and UNCF, as well as the impact that a diverse workforce that is reflective of America’s ethnic and racial mix would have on the PR profession, which aims to create a clear conduit for African-Americans to enter the PR profession at all levels. Polly LaBarre, a business and innovation correspondence with the CNN and editorial director of the MIX, observed in the fourth keynote presentation that magazines aim to promote ideas about leading, succeeding, innovating and trying new things. Joan Gladstone, in the PD set 3, revealed how crisis teams work in the real world by offering ideas on how to overcome stress and uncertainty at work. Gladstone, a Fellow of PRSA, in her rich paper titled, “Psychology of Crisis Management”, stated that crises in the news could be mitigated through the use of persuasive communications with decision-makers and the best way to work harmoniously with different personality during crises. Under the PD set 4, Dr. Susan Aldridge, Drexel University and Brendan Streich of Edelman Atlanta, stressed the need for universities to transit from the being the traditional ‘campus’ to a contemporary ‘content’ mindset.
The former White House correspondent, political director of NBC News and moderator of NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’, Chuck Todd, previewed the forthcoming 2016 US presidential elections, in the fifth keynote presentation, where he analysed what Americans could and learn how the election might largely shape the remainder of the Barack Obama administration. The critical issues that would determine who becomes the next president according to him would be: the capability to fight terrorism to a standstill and putting in place sound economic recovery plans while the author of the 218-page book, “World Class Communication”, Virgil Scudder, anchored the PD set 5 with the support of Ken Schudder, the co-author. Titled, “Mastering Public Speaking: 10 Keys to Success”, Scudder’s paper listed the elements of good speeches. “What Journalists Want”, was the title of the presentation made during the PD set 6, which featured leading journalists, namely: Mike Piispanen, Hadley Malcolm, Mike Sander and Chitra Nawbatt, where they gave valuable hints on how to be better professionals, as journalists like to reduce unnecessary bottlenecks while accessing their audiences and dislike asking them to prepare pre-interview questions, which to them is unethical.
Mike Buckley, Vice-President of Facebook, during the last keynote presentation, intelligently unfolded the trends that are reshaping PR by learning to stay ahead in the period of great transformation within the media landscape. Buckley stressed the need to merge data and analytics, as vital tools for effective communication going by Facebook’s success story, as Lauri-Ellen Smith of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, spoke on real-world examples that illustrate PR protocol, easy-to-search resources that can streamline public information officers’ research process when building programmes by considering the impact of modern information technology on the desired outcomes under the PD set 7 titled, “Protocol in PR: Dignitaries, DVs and Social Media … What’s Appropriate”. Lastly, the PD set 8 delved on the salient things to do to effectively advocate the professional’s organisational causes and aiding governmental affairs departments in effectively coordinating the messaging and advocacy efforts. The last session on, “I Want to be Better at Advocacy: How to Effectively Influence Others”, was anchored by Rick Callender and Rachael Gibson, both of the Santa Clara Valley Water District as well as Julie Minerva, Federal Government Affairs and Public Policy Practice Group of her firm. The top tips identified by the versatile speakers include: preparing the minds of the audience well, activating social media channels and grassroots networks, lobbying the legislature and conducting a timely follow-up.
Other events at the digitalised PRSA’s conference include a discussion on the future of PR at the Diversity Mixer, the Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) 50th anniversary celebration breakfast, networking luncheon and the series of interactive and useful syndicated sessions like the ones I had with sound resource persons like the trio of Professor Lynn Zoch, Radford University, Dr. Hongmei Shen, San Diego State University and Dr. Hua Jiang, Syracuse University on comparative practices from their climes. What is PRSA? The Public Relations Society of America is the largest community of PR and communications professionals. The association, with over 21,000 members, provides training, sets standards of excellence and upholds principles of ethics for the profession. Certainly, as the future becomes brighter and more fearless as the world is already looking forward to connect to the next conference, holding next year in Atlanta, Georgia with the theme, “Get Connected”, which the PRSA Chair-elect, Katty Barbour, says promises to be the best ever. No wonder, the ever smiling immediate past Chair, Mickey Nall, who I remember also welcomed all to the same conference held in Philadelphia last year, again reeled-out five reasons why everyone should be in Atlanta next year, where Southern hospitality truly meets the big-city pace. Welcome to Atlanta!