CONFERENCE RECAPS

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...