Public relations conferences are one of the key tools that professionals in the discipline use to remain current in their profession.
While PR is a field of its own, these individuals work in a wide array of different professional contexts, from education and health care to politics and international businesses. Public relations professionals are the bridge between interested parties and their employers, supplying answers and explanations, as well as crafting the image purveyed by a variety of different companies or undertakings.
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Below, we’ve outlined five conferences that will be of interest to public relations specialists and practitioners, irrespective of their specialized careers.
1. CASE in New York
The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) hosts its annual conference for media relations specialists from January 11-13 in New York. This conference focuses on the fast pace of change in the area of media technology, both as a research tool and a means of communication. The conference also addresses methods that public relations and media relations specialists can advance their core messages, render them memorable, and craft a unique approach best suited to their target audiences. This is an opportunity for professionals in various fields to network, learn enhanced response techniques for emergency communications, and ways to leverage social media to best convey and spread your company’s messages.
2. Sleepless in Seattle
The Counselors Academy conference for public relations specialists meets in Seattle, from May 7 to May 9. Hosted by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), the event provides a 60-hour whirlwind of panel discussions and workshops. Individuals working for multinational corporations can mingle with those spearheading independent PR firms and discuss the latest ways to utilize technology, craft messaging, and promote the message of their clients or employers. The convention largely focuses on methods to add value to business and strategies that will serve the goals of a variety of fields.
3. A Growing Field up in the Air
Travel and tourism public relations professionals aren’t the only ones who’ll benefit from attending the annual PRSA conference in Palm Springs this year. Join experts and fellow PR professionals from Sunday, May 21 to Wednesday, May 24 for workshops that focus on creative expression, editing and posting technologies designed to update and assist spreading your message, and even guided instruction on how to pitch ideas that will grab the imagination. The conference also includes ways for professionals in the field to be active storytellers, convey value-heavy messages to their audience, and focus their attentions on a variety of types of travel, tourism, and destination industry.
4. Elevate Your Impact Conference
Hosted in Denver this year, this PRSA public relations conference zeroes in on how to make excellent use of employee innovations within a corporate structure. PR professionals will meet in the Mile High City June 14-16 to discuss how they can harness and streamline employee communication and discussion via social media and interpersonal communication. Some of the panel discussions will examine tactics to enliven communication for employee, troubleshoot resistance, and even how to best convince key decision makers in the company that innovation is essential to growth and stability. That’s just the beginning of this exciting event that will have PR people abuzz with ideas and creativity for months afterward.
5. Rough and Ready
This is a multi-disciplinary conference that focuses primarily on public sector issues, which can mean government, private contractors, and independent PR firms that handle a variety of clients. The primary goals are to address crisis management, use of social media, public record requests, polling firms and their foci, and best practices for issue-based advocacy initiatives. The conference will convene in Dallas Texas June 23 and 24, with an opening welcome reception on the evening of the 22.
PR firms and individuals who handle the public relations concerns of companies, government agencies, and educational institutions benefit from meeting, discussion, and continuing education in the form of panels and round table discussions. Just as with many other professions, public relations professionals are stronger when knowledge and resources are shared with others in their field. That’s why public relations conferences are vital to maintaining salient strategies for engaging the public and calling on the creative or organizational skills of the employees within a company or organization.