Last week I attended the PRSA Western District Conference and it was a near-perfect event. The day kicked off with Steve Rubel, Edelman Digital, reviewing his “Five Digital Trends to Watch for in 2009.” His insights and delivery were world-class (no wonder his blog Micro Persuasion is so successful). Not to be outdone Sean Fitzgerald, Ketchum, and Jerry Swirling, USC Annenberg School for Communication, presented “Media Myths & Realities: What We’re Facing in 2009.” I highly recommend sharing and discussing the “key findings” with your internal team and/or clients if you are an agency for maximum strategic planning this year.
The luncheon speaker, Peter Shankman, best known for H.A.R.O., delivered a lively message as always. His delivery, however unorthodox (and PowerPoint free), didn’t overshadow his explanations of techniques and tactics that deliver success. Special thanks to Alison Bailin, HMA Public Relation: You can see some clips and insights from his presentation.
One of my favorite lines of the conference was courtesy of Casey DeLorme, APR, Get Spine Communications. To paraphrase “If you don’t like change you’re really not going to like being irrelevant.” (Tom Peters, re-imagine, 17).
Why wasn’t the conference perfect? There wasn’t a media measurement session, my main focus and passion here at BurrellesLuce.
I’d love to hear from you:
What topic or speaker have you heard lately that was amazing?
If money was no object, what speaker or topic would you like to hear more about?
You can see all the live tweets from attendees on Twitter under hashtag #wdc09.
First, thanks for the nod on my use of Tom Peters line there. Glad to find it resonates outside of my own mind.
One of the amazing things that’s happening with social media giving us access to so much ongoing education, industry discussion, and peer networking… conferences take on a different bent when it comes to learning. It’s almost like listening to an album or reading a novel, then getting to see the musician or novelist live.
I only got to see a slice of the concert… er, conference, but I’m a big follower of Rubel’s online writings (blog and twitter). From that, you get a pretty good idea of what he’s thinking. To see him and be a part of the audience interaction… I almost felt like I could sing along.
It was also a joy to have such an engaged audience for my own presentation. You always come away from these things learning as much from your audience as you bring to them.
Great work, everyone who put this one together.
Casey-
There were so many great things about the conference. It was hard to limit myself to a blog style post. I think the fantastic programming really drove participation as well as the schedule with the perfect blend of general sessions and breakout sessions. I was especially happy to see this event “sell-out” (the good kind not the Hollywood kind) since I still believe face-to-face binds like no other.
Thank you for your comments and now I’m off to manage my “vertical.”