Quick Links
Schedule/Program
| Morning Keynote | Lunch Keynote |
"Extreme PR Makeover: The End of PR As We Know It" Iroquois Ballroom, 8:15 - 9:15 a.m.  Mike FernandezVice President of Corporate Affairs at Cargill |
"Rising Power: PR’s Value in the Digital Age" Iroquois Ballroom, 12:30 - 1:30 p.m.  Rosanna Fiske, APRChief Executive Officer and Chair of the Public Relations Society of America |
Breakout Session Schedule |
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| WorkShop Series 1 (9:30 - 10:30 a.m.) |
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| Charades | Campus Community Partners: Communicating How Higher Education Offers Solutions for New York’s Future New York independent colleges and universities play a significant role in their respective regions, as strong providers of programming that spans service, health, social environment, historic preservation, arts, technology and economic development. They are also significant private employers. The panel will discuss strategies for messaging and communicating higher education issues statewide. Moderator: Terri Standish-Kuon Vice President, Communications and Administration, Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities Panelists: Thomas Evelyn Vice President for Communications, St. Lawrence University Robert Finnerty Chief Communications Officer, Rochester Institute of Technology Debra Park Associate Vice President of Public Relations, Canisius College |
| Salon A | The Spin Doctors: PR Best Practices for Social Media With the media landscape changing each day, publicists and journalists have increasingly been turning to social channels to get their message heard. For decades, communications professionals have been working to achieve the ability to get perfectly relevant and customized content, to the exact right person, through their preferred channel. The advent of social media represents paradigm - - shifting progress towards this goal. Nicole Ravlin Co-founder, PMG Public Relations Mike McDougall, APR Managing Partner, McDougall Travers Collins |
| Salon B | Video on a Shoestring - Making Video an Effective Part of Your PR Strategy Mobile technology has radically enhanced access to video, and social media provides the means to distribute an organization’s video presentations to key stakeholders. Armed with mini camcorders, the RIT University News staff is out covering the campus and retrieving high-quality, engaging video content that is easily assembled on a computer desktop. This strategy helped University News achieve nearly a quarter-million views of its YouTube channel last year. Stella will showcase the work of his staff and share how participants can make video an effective part of PR strategy with a relatively small investment in resources and time. Paul Stella Universiy News Director, Rochester Institute of Technology |
| Salon C | Keeping Your Content Searchable in Google’s World Approximately 65 percent of searches are conducted on Google. It’s important to understand the search process and tactics that help content move up in the page rankings. These tactics include incorporating keyword research into copy, using internal and outbound links that build the content’s authority and page ranking. Burch will show how to incorporate SEO tactics into content strategies from the initial keyword research, to copywriting tips, to using rich media and graphics. Bob Burch Digital Media Supervisor, Martino Flynn |
| Salon D/E | Content is King: Storytelling in the Digital Age Simply ‘mastering’ social media technologies is not enough. Brands today are finding different ways to engage with their audiences. The focus has moved from the technologies to the content that’s being discussed. Audiences today are sharing experiences and telling their stories to and with each other, facilitated by digital and social media. The key is to listen and be a part of these stories. In this session, you’ll hear how organizations such as Text 100, Xerox and many others are embracing new ways to engage with audiences, making the PR function an integral part of business strategy. Carl Langsenkamp Vice President of Global Public Relations, Xerox Corporation Erin Humphrey Vice President, Text 100 Global Public Relations |
| Seneca | A Media Perspective: The Do's and Don'ts of Working with the Media in the Digital Age Hear from print, radio and television media professionals and learn key insights on how best to work with them. Media representatives will share preferences for creating a successful PR professional-journalist working relationship, tips and techniques to gain coverage for your story, how the media is using social media, how PR professionals make their lives easier, and more. Moderator: Tom Proietti Professor of Communication, Monroe Community College and St. John Fisher College Panelists: Rachel Barnhart Anchor/Reporter, 13WHAM-TV Randy Gorbman News Director, WHAM-AM Cathy Roberts Lead Local Editor/Life, Democrat & Chronicle |
| WorkShop Series 2 (10:45 - 11:45 a.m.) |
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| Charades | Social Media and Politics as Usual: Do Location, Age and Economics Hinder Social Media Use in Political Campaigning? From recent political uprisings in the Middle East to Sarah Palin’s meteoric rise in notoriety, socal media has grown to the forefront of political communication. Based on findings from 2010 political campaigns in rural, northern New York, social media has had little impact as a campaign tool. These findings indicate that a lack of digital infrastructure based on the rural nature of the region, an aging population and a depressed economy were all factors inhibiting the use of social media during the political campaigns. Colleen Lemza Assistant Professor in the Center for Journalism and Communication Studies, SUNY Plattsburgh |
| Salon A | Learning to Teach This panel will help prepare prospective public relations teachers for life in a college classroom. Topics include: required education for college faculty, finding a part-time/full-time position, undergraduate and graduate PR courses taught, tips on organizing lectures and preparing exams, service-learning activities for students, advising PRSSA chapters, scholarly research, getting tenure, and resources for new professors. Moderator: Deborah A. Silverman, Ph.D., APR Associate Professor and Associate Chair, Department of Communication, Buffalo State College, SUNY Panelists: |
| Salon B |
Beyond (First) Impressions: Getting to Real Online Authority, Trust, and Influence |
| Salon C | Be Careful What You Tweet Public figures have always lived their lives in somewhat of a fishbowl, but thanks to digital media, they have more people than ever watching their every move. The presenters will share their experience managing crises for elected officials, CEOs and high-profile clients. They will examine recent public scandals and discuss where people went wrong, plus give advice on how to be less vulnerable on the Web and best communicate in today’s digital environment. Sean Casey Partner, Senior Counselor, Public Relations and Public Affairs, Eric Mower and Associates Tom Brede Account Supervisor, Public Affairs, Eric Mower and Associates |
| Salon D/E | PR in a Social World: Top Strategies for Gaining Visibility in Digital Age New communication channels, technology adoption and citizen journalists are redefining conceptions of media. With relationship building still at the core of PR, learn how to successfully integrate traditional PR 1.0 methodologies with the new opportunities available through social PR 2.0 to disseminate news and connect with influencers online and offline. D-D Flannery Lazenby President & CEO, Flannery Public Relations |
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Seneca |
It is Time for PR to Get Mobilized! Why PR Practitioners Should Embrace Mobile. |
| WorkShop Series 3 (1:45 - 2:45 p.m.) |
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| Charades | Hands-on Workshop: Resume Revamp and Interviewing Tips for Students and Young Professionals Digital portfolios, resumes of all lengths, how professional to dress for an interview: Just gearing up for the job search can be an adventure. This hands-on workshop will provide students and young professional with actionable tips for their resume, how to share work from internships or class and how to maneuver interviews. ALL participants must reserve their seats in advance; 12 participant limit. Jessica Sanderson Senior Account Executive, Text 100 |
| Salon A | Measuring the Value of PR with the Barcelona Principles How to prepare for and operationalize an effective crisis communications plan, as well as develop strategies on the fly - tying your PR to the bottom line using the Barcelona Principles and metrics. Jason Forget Crisis Communications leader and Corporate Reputation Manager, General Electric’s Global Energy business |
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Salon B |
Engaging, Educating and Energizing Your Workforce Alan Brakoniecki Manager, Employee Communications, Eastman Kodak Company |
| Salon C | Opposites Attract: He’s a Lawyer. She’s a PR Exec. When They Combine their Powers, Your Social Media Efforts Become Superhuman. It’s no secret that lawyers and PR professionals don’t always see eye-to-eye. But as social media continues to gain momentum with employers and clients and becomes a bigger force in marketing, it is crucial to create strategies that do not backfire legally. Presenters will put an entertaining spin on “he said, she said” with a legal and PR twist. Carolyn Human Account Manager, Travers Collins Trevor Torcello Attorney, law firm of Gross, Shuman, Brizdle & Gilfillan, P.C. |
| Salon D/E | Seeding the Need: Marketing + Public Relations = Growth A good product launch requires a solid marketing plan to generate demand and drive sales growth. But a truly successful product launch relies on “seeding the need” ahead of time, and saturating the marketplace with information to the point where the product is in high demand before it even launches. PR is an essential component of this proven technique, and DuLong will talk about how marketing and sales can co-exist. Daryl DuLong Global Brand Manager, Bausch + Lomb |
| Seneca | Failures, Flubs and @#!* Ups Despite best efforts, every PR pro makes failures, flubs and #A!*-ups. The question is, what can PR practitioners learn from them? How can failures turn into wins? This session will examine media relations failures, social media train wrecks, PR management miscues and successful campaigns that turned into nightmares. The presenter will share anecdotes from his own personal experiences as well as comment on recent failures and timely events. Mark McClennan, APR Schwartz MSL |
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WorkShop Series 4 (3 - 4 p.m.) |
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Charades |
Getting Your Book Published For Real Writers |
| Salon A |
The Young Professionals Guide to a Stand Out Career Moderators: |
| Salon B | Every Company is a Media Company – So What’s Next? Branagan will cite companies taking the lead as media companies, introducing concepts from the recent book: C-Scape: Conquer the Factors Changing Business Today, and a four-part framework for looking at the new digital media landscape: controlled by consumers, where content is king, where curation is a high-value additive in a sea of information, and convergence is the endless cause of anxiety, change and opportunity. Sean Branagan Director of the Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship, Newhouse School at Syracuse University; CEO of Digital Vertical Marketing, founder and president of Communigration, Inc, and partner with C3 Strategic, LLC |
| Salon C | Social Media 201: Best Practices for PR Professional If you are currently managing your company’s Facebook page and Twitter feed, pitching bloggers, and don’t believe you are getting results, join the presenters for this best practices sessions. They will provide insights on how to use third-party applications and tools, and disset some of the campaigns and tactics being used by brands big and small. Julie Dennehy APR, President, Dennehy Public Relations Erin Martin Kane Work/Life Blogger at Real Simple, Executive Producer, Manic Mommies Media, Inc. |
| Salon D/E |
Upgrading Crisis Communications for the Digital Era |
| Seneca | Change at the Top: Effectively Communicating Senior Leadership Transitions Any change in CEO carries with it the prospect of dramatic organizational leadership shifts. In the midst of such upheaval, how does a communicator help develop a smooth transition for the benefit of employees, shareholders, customers and others? It’s a topic rarely discussed outside the inner sanctums of affected companies. Breaking through that pattern of silence, attendees will learn best practices - - and mistakes. Mike McDougall, APR Managing Partner, McDougall Travers Collins |
