PR Advanced: PRSSA Goes 2.0 - And Does It Well

What a fabulous job the BU and Simmons College chapters of PRSSA did putting together yesterday's conference, PR Advanced: PRSSA Goes 2.0! The day included two keynote addresses from prominent players in the industry (Rick Murray of Edelman and author/speaker, David Meerman Scott); an activity with Dusty Rhodes of Conventure; and two breakout sessions with PR professionals such as Elicia Basoli, Greg Peverill-Conti, Lisa Davis, Jason Glashow and Laurie Shulman. The conference ended with a career fair sponsored by Racepoint Group, 360 Public Relations, Fleishman-Hillard, Weber Shandwick, Cone and my future employer, Schneider Associates.

It was so refreshing to see how many of my fellow, budding PR professionals attended the conference and really embraced this new, social media revolution in public relations. The speakers each offered a unique point of view to the practice, and I almost wish there had been five breakout sessions instead of only two so I could hear what each professional brought to the table.

I think the most important notion stressed at the conference was how potentially powerful my generation of PR practitioners can be, since we've grown up with the evolution of the digital age. Rick Murray candidly revealed that we young professionals truly scare the seasoned ones, because we have the appropriate mindset and better understanding of the tools used in social media. He reiterated the important point that this understanding affords us an exciting opportunity to succeed when other generations in our position were not able. It was wonderful to hear such an esteemed professional confirm it. I'm glad other students were present to hear Murray's call to action, and I hope it will encourage them to truly jump on the opportunity.

Following the conference, I had the pleasure of mingling with some of my future colleagues at Schneider in a mini Tweetup at Z Square in Kenmore, organized by Amanda Mooney. It was great to spend some time learning more about them, and it made me even more excited to start my job!