An insightful PRSA Tri-State Conference of 2018
The PRSA Tri-State Conference is an annual one-day conference on various segments that include public relations, marketing, and communications by PR professionals from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Now granted, this conference is a PR conference, but anybody can gain valuable information when attending. Many top brands and companies had spoken, including Goldman Sacs, Ben and Jerry's, Pfizer, Vayner Media, and much more. The environment was friendly, comfortable, and humorous. Although there was a lot of real world insight in the PR industry, it was said in a relaxed and conversational manner, easy to understand. The conference was very inviting with Q and A's at the end of each segment discussed. A sure bonus was to network, have breaks, free WIFI, food, drinks, and again, food. AI Killed the PR Star: Now evolving technology can definitely seem like a scary thing, but when grabbing the reins on that horse, the ride will be just fine. Interesting analogy, yes, true analogy, even more so. This segment included Keith Trivitt, the VP, Head of Business Unit Communications of AXIS Capital, also the moderator in this particular segment. There was Ethan McCarthy, the CEO of Integral Communications, and Estee Goldschmidt, the CEO and confounder of ShopDrop and Venture Opps manager at Spotlyte, who spoke on Artificial Intelligence. Showing the humor, I mean would be McCarthy's obvious statement of "AI is a huge threat. Do I drop the mic now or wait?" This statement goes to show that yes, everyone knows AI can be dangerous, however, only if one lets it be that way. Examples stated were if people think their job is pulling media lists, issuing press releases, AI is a huge threat for you. People need to think of the future, not just their present. Those who think of the entire package are the ones who win with clients. It has been estimated of those very qualified in their field, their probabilities of being replaced by AI in 20 years. For a PR executive, there is an 18% chance while a PR director has a 1.5 chance of being replaced. This goes to show PR can definitely survive and those at the top of their craft, who are constantly working on theirs, with high skills of intuition, relationships and what can't be programmed, will be just fine. People worry about algorithms done by AI but there needs to be a brain behind setting the algorithm for data and AI, no matter how advanced, has no brain. Estee Goldschmidt said "The more time passes, the more non-technological technology gets." These worries over AI will lessen because there are more and more tools taking AI down from the sky and bringing it to our everyday work. In the end, effort and adaptation will be fruitful. Like, Goldschmidt said “If you are working on the problem, you will end up with the solution.”
News in the Scrolling Economy: PR's Evolution to Digital Communications:
In this segment, speaking were Rob Longert, the Co-founder and managing partner at Day One Agency, serving as the moderator, speaking to Chad Parizman, the head of Social Media and Digital Communications at Pfizer, Todd Ringler, US Managing Director of Media at Eddleman, and Emily McDonough, the Communications Director of VaynerMedia.
The average consumer scrolls on their phone about 300 feet a day and spend about an hour a day on Instagram as well as getting their news on Instagram. Due to these statistics, it is known that a
lot of people are online and now the goal is how to reach them. Todd Ringler has stated that we have moved from professionals earning coverage to now earn attention. The focus of storytelling has to be multi-media and authentic. With social media, Emily McDonough said "you have to be unafraid to experiment" with getting the message out. She says there is no risk in trying and getting your hands dirty, to be in the places where people have attention. Parizman said to branch out and not talk amongst themselves in the company and talking on platforms like Facebook live gives different viewpoints and sees what will work or not due to interests. Knowing when something is news is important and brand story telling is great. Another important insight is to develop relationships with reporters and being strategic with it is a win-win situation. Understanding that reporters are people is essential. Building a relationship allows for picking the right reporter and having a blend of what they want to do with the story with how you want to pitch it, creates a great story. The goal is to get in front of the right audience and deliver. Each social network has their own sociology and knowing what works creates success. What works on the IG feed and on IG live in regards to storytelling differs and figuring out how to go about them is essential.
Additional relevant and quirky info: When asked about building a team from scratch, McDonough said she needs people willing to jump in and get their feet wet, those who are nibblers.
People who are a "slasher", for instance, a PR person/ influencer, these people have an advantage. They are closer to being that "unicorn" person, straying away from the one trick pony. Yes, there are many horse analogies in this blog.
Todd Ringler stated that the key to building good relationships are understanding you are talking to people. When talking to a person, ask them what's going on and what they are trying to do. Read what the person writes, watch their shows. People tend to pitch without reading up on anything of the person they are trying to pitch to.
Lifehacks: Emily- An app called active Chad- An app called Wonderlist that is good for a to-do list and control notification for your phone
Shaping the Employee Experience for Tomorrow's PR Agencies: Tiffany Guarnaccia, the CEO and founder of Kite Hill PR and founder of Communications Week discuses today's agencies and creating a better employee experience for agency teams of today and the future with Lisa Moehlenkamp, the Chief Talent Officer at FleishmanHillard. Moehlenkemp believes in positive peer pressure. This brings out the desire to strive to be the best and not be the weakest link. She too brings up artificial intelligence and the need to elevate and evolve roles because of it. Desired employees are those who will know how to take outputs from ai and insights that can be applied to clients. Human intervention will still be required and diversity of human perspectives is much needed. Moehlenkamp knows that technology has brought on a lot of benefits like the app called Slack in which employees communicate but knows that we need to pull back and not lose 1-1 communication. She states "Know when to leverage technology for efficiency." Moehlenkamp believes strongly in Authenticity, having a very committed and engaged leadership team, and repetition. Transparent communication engenders loyalty. Due to experience, Moehlenkamp says to not look for work balance, but work life integration because balance assumes there is equality. Realistically, it just won't happen. Now, having purposeful discipline to manage work is important. At FleishmanHillard, to enhance employee experience, there is more time off and paternity leave.
It was very useful to hear advice for students and people in general in regards to a resume. Moehlenkamp stated that the ability to articulate an impact made, to make something happen on the behalf of the client, what you did and how you impacted the client, those are what employers look for. Her company also has a mentorship program with a fluid approach and KiteHill also has a coaching program. These mentorship programs are beneficial to employees and employers.
So this is my semi-lengthy, yet informed take on the PRSA Tri-State conference. I would definitely go again as many should due to the valuable knowledge that comes with it. It was useful to know what works and what doesn't. Reassurance on AI and to develop as a professional and ways to connect people, it was great to hear. I'll be back with another blog post, eventually, your learning day by day BICster, Penelope.
News in the Scrolling Economy: PR's Evolution to Digital Communications:
In this segment, speaking were Rob Longert, the Co-founder and managing partner at Day One Agency, serving as the moderator, speaking to Chad Parizman, the head of Social Media and Digital Communications at Pfizer, Todd Ringler, US Managing Director of Media at Eddleman, and Emily McDonough, the Communications Director of VaynerMedia.
The average consumer scrolls on their phone about 300 feet a day and spend about an hour a day on Instagram as well as getting their news on Instagram. Due to these statistics, it is known that a
lot of people are online and now the goal is how to reach them. Todd Ringler has stated that we have moved from professionals earning coverage to now earn attention. The focus of storytelling has to be multi-media and authentic. With social media, Emily McDonough said "you have to be unafraid to experiment" with getting the message out. She says there is no risk in trying and getting your hands dirty, to be in the places where people have attention. Parizman said to branch out and not talk amongst themselves in the company and talking on platforms like Facebook live gives different viewpoints and sees what will work or not due to interests. Knowing when something is news is important and brand story telling is great. Another important insight is to develop relationships with reporters and being strategic with it is a win-win situation. Understanding that reporters are people is essential. Building a relationship allows for picking the right reporter and having a blend of what they want to do with the story with how you want to pitch it, creates a great story. The goal is to get in front of the right audience and deliver. Each social network has their own sociology and knowing what works creates success. What works on the IG feed and on IG live in regards to storytelling differs and figuring out how to go about them is essential.
Additional relevant and quirky info: When asked about building a team from scratch, McDonough said she needs people willing to jump in and get their feet wet, those who are nibblers.
People who are a "slasher", for instance, a PR person/ influencer, these people have an advantage. They are closer to being that "unicorn" person, straying away from the one trick pony. Yes, there are many horse analogies in this blog.
Todd Ringler stated that the key to building good relationships are understanding you are talking to people. When talking to a person, ask them what's going on and what they are trying to do. Read what the person writes, watch their shows. People tend to pitch without reading up on anything of the person they are trying to pitch to.
Lifehacks: Emily- An app called active Chad- An app called Wonderlist that is good for a to-do list and control notification for your phone
Shaping the Employee Experience for Tomorrow's PR Agencies: Tiffany Guarnaccia, the CEO and founder of Kite Hill PR and founder of Communications Week discuses today's agencies and creating a better employee experience for agency teams of today and the future with Lisa Moehlenkamp, the Chief Talent Officer at FleishmanHillard. Moehlenkemp believes in positive peer pressure. This brings out the desire to strive to be the best and not be the weakest link. She too brings up artificial intelligence and the need to elevate and evolve roles because of it. Desired employees are those who will know how to take outputs from ai and insights that can be applied to clients. Human intervention will still be required and diversity of human perspectives is much needed. Moehlenkamp knows that technology has brought on a lot of benefits like the app called Slack in which employees communicate but knows that we need to pull back and not lose 1-1 communication. She states "Know when to leverage technology for efficiency." Moehlenkamp believes strongly in Authenticity, having a very committed and engaged leadership team, and repetition. Transparent communication engenders loyalty. Due to experience, Moehlenkamp says to not look for work balance, but work life integration because balance assumes there is equality. Realistically, it just won't happen. Now, having purposeful discipline to manage work is important. At FleishmanHillard, to enhance employee experience, there is more time off and paternity leave.
It was very useful to hear advice for students and people in general in regards to a resume. Moehlenkamp stated that the ability to articulate an impact made, to make something happen on the behalf of the client, what you did and how you impacted the client, those are what employers look for. Her company also has a mentorship program with a fluid approach and KiteHill also has a coaching program. These mentorship programs are beneficial to employees and employers.
So this is my semi-lengthy, yet informed take on the PRSA Tri-State conference. I would definitely go again as many should due to the valuable knowledge that comes with it. It was useful to know what works and what doesn't. Reassurance on AI and to develop as a professional and ways to connect people, it was great to hear. I'll be back with another blog post, eventually, your learning day by day BICster, Penelope.
