CONFERENCE RECAPS

I attended the CUNY IT Conference on November 30, 2018. The first session that I attended was about a product called Commons in a Box OpenLab, which is a collaborative software program designed to enable users to install and launch their own communities for open learning. The software was demonstrated by CUNY professors and developers of the software. What was extremely interesting about this presentation session was how insightful learning communities are, and how helpful they can be for interdepartmental collaboration. This software functions in essence as a Wiki Commons—where a user, whether it be a student, or instructor, can upload his or her work, which can be accessed by other students and instructors within CUNY. Students and instructors can in turn access others’ work—which encourages wonderful collaborative learning experiences. While I work at Queensborough Community College, which offers “High Impact Practices,” which include interdepartmental collab...

2018 PRSA Conference Recap Attending a professional conference was something I had never done before. So the PRSA Tri-State Conference was my first experience—and let me just say that it will most definitely not be my last! Just the simple fact that I was surrounded by people whom all have the same interest as me was a separate wonderful experience in itself. The talks covered everything that was public relations, marketing and communications. Unlike any other time before in my life I was able to have access to advice from experts in my fields of interest in different companies and freelancers.  Lisa Moehlenkamp, CTO of Fleishman Hillard , said something that stuck with me, when asked, “How do you balance work life and personal life?” she simply answered, “I don’t believe in the balance of the two. But I do believe in integration.” This really stuck to me as a working student, because it gave me a more optimistic outlook into what I am currently living. Instead of focusing...

HAATBP (Here Are All The Black People) is a space for talent to be found, developed and molded, where students and creative professionals advance their careers. This was my second year at attendance at the HAATBP conference. This year's event was particularly outstanding. At a different location, it was a bigger space with a huge turnout. I got to meet people from all levels in the industry including a lot of familiar faces. Amongst those were recruiters I had met previously, mentors I aspire to be like, and of course some BICsters! Committed to driving change in the industry, HAATBP hosts recruiters from many agencies and industry professionals that care and are there to answer any questions you may have or even take your resume if interested in an open position. This year the BIC program had their very own table where Rebecca led the conversation on what exactly is the BIC Program and what it is all about. With a passion for diversifying the industry, tabling at HAATBP was ...

2018 PRSA Tri-State Conference Why should all PR Students attend PRSA Tri-State Conferences? I had the pleasure to visit the 2018 PRSA Tri-State Conference alongside other BICsters. It was my first time attending any conference in the industry. At first, I had my doubts about the content as I thought it would be boring and filled with people who never worked a day in their lives in PR. However, I found it packed with interesting people, like skilled CEOS, founders, co-founders, heads of communication, students, network seekers, and reporters. The common questions that were raised during this conference were: how to make reporters show interest in your stories? what is the best blog? What is the best press release platform? Photo Credit Mohamed Amribet The Conference was held on Oct 17th, 2018. It lasted for the whole day and took place at the NYU Kimmel Center, 60 Washington Square, New York, NY. It provided us and other audience members with cutting...

The topic of diversity in communications is one we’ve been having for quite some time now. Panel after panel, initiative after initiative, and yet progress seems pretty dismal. So I'm sure you're probably wondering, what was different about this year's Here Are All the Black People? With the momentum of the ‘Me Too’ and ‘Time’s Up’ movements, it became pretty clear that society was catching up to the impact of the “old boys club” leadership model that continues to reign over many industries, including communications, entertainment, and media. “I honestly believe we're living in the golden age of disrespect” “I’ve been told countless times, you’re pretty...for a black woman” “I have seen many men turn a blind eye to sexual harassment, fearing the consequence of blowing the whistle” The overall sentiment of the event was, “We’re done playing nice here.” Tough times calls for tough measures, and if we want to see change, we all have to be a bit more aggressive in making it...

As a 1st year Bicster, I attended the Advertising Week 2018 with curiosities, excitements and lots of queries. Advertising Week New York is known as a premier conference for marketing, branding, advertising, and technology professionals with 15 years’ history. About 290 seminars and workshops were held Oct 1 through Oct 4 this year, providing the audience cutting-edge industry information and a wide range of observations. This 4-day event opened a window for me to learn about and predict the marketing trends. It was impossible to attend 290 seminars because 4-10 seminars might be held at the same time slot so as a suggestion, you’d better customize your schedule in advance to make sure you can hear what you most need. As another option, you can watch live stream or replay video on the AWNY app or website as well. For me, I have a big concern about the development of AI (Artificial intelligence) and marketing technology so I picked several seminars in this field.   ...

 Every October, the best minds in (and outside of) advertising gather around the figurative campfire to discuss the ever-changing industry landscape for Advertising Week. This year, the likes of David Droga (of Droga5 fame), Will Smith (yes, that Will Smith), Carly Zakin and Danielle Weisberg (co-founders and co-CEOs of theSkimm), and many other esteemed speakers graced the Lincoln Square AMC Loews, drawing in 98,000 attendees over the course of four days.  So, I was lucky to have a front-row seat to all of the action thanks to Advertising Week’s volunteer program. (As a head’s up, a student pass is $99, but a free volunteer pass comes with perks such as more networking opportunities and a ticket to the Wrap Party.)   This year’s most talked-about topics included trending social movements, emerging technology, and big data.  But, as an aspiring art director, I am most interested in going back to the basics: getting to the idea before riding the next big wav...