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Highlights of the Northeast District Conference

On June 13, about 200 public relations professionals and students from across the northeast descended upon Boston to take in a day full of presentations, panels, keynotes, and workshops at the 2016 PRSA Northeast District Conference.

Rochester had a strong representation at the conference, with several chapter members making the venture to Boston, and three of our own presenting the following:

• Mike McDougall, president, McDougall Communications presented “Beyond Engagement: Harnessing the Untapped Power of Belonging” in the C-Suite Session track
• Carl Langsenkamp, director, global analyst/public relations, Xerox Corporation, moderated the panel “C-Suite Success: Corp Communications Veterans Reveal the Strategies to Get In and Be Respected by the Corner Office”
• Rich Pulvino, social media manager, ESL Federal Credit Union, participated on the panel “Leadership: Strengthen Your organization and Create a Winning Workplace Culture”

In addition to our chapter’s presenters, highlights included the opening keynote given by Christopher S. Penn, vice president, marketing technology, SHIFT Communications, who explained the importance of using data to influence our PR activities, as well as the lunchtime media panel. This panel consisted of Shira Center, political editor, The Boston Globe; Ted Nesi, political reporter, WPRI; and, Trent Spiner, executive editor, The Union Leader, who all spoke about life on the campaign trail in 2016, and what we can expect to see in the fall. The panel was moderated by R.D. Sahl, professor of practice, Boston University, who helped guide a riveting discussion touching on the changing relationship between politicians and their teams with the media.

The 2016 PRSA Northeast District Conference has been a tradition in our district for more than 15 years. While Rochester used to host this conference every other year, the Northeast District recently instated a new shared model that would allow for all district chapters to participate in the planning, and also share in the revenue brought in from the conference. With this new format, the conference will now be rotating among different host chapters on an annual basis.

The Boston Chapter did an outstanding job as the host chapter, planning and organizing a conference in a new way our district has not experienced. It will provide a great foundation for the Northeast District to build upon in future years.

We hope to see you at the district conference on April 28, 2017, in Corning, NY where our neighboring chapter in the Finger Lakes will be hosting at the Corning Museum of Glass.