PR Council to set out vision for future of public relations at CommsCon

The Public Relations Council will present its vision of the future of public relations at next month’s CommsCon.

The conference, presented by Mumbrella and Encore, takes place on March 14 at Sydney’s L’Aqua in Dockside.

Earlybird tickets – with a discount of $50 if purchased before the end of this week – of now on sale.

CommsCon focuses on communications and public relations professionals.

The first confirmed speakers for the conference are members of the Communications Council’s new body Public Relations Council, who will present their vision for the future of PR as a discipline.

The PRC was set up last year after some agencies expressed disquiet over the direction of long standing trade body the PR Institute of Australia.

“The PRC Presents The Future of PR” will be hosted by Michelle Hutton, CEO of Edelman Australia, Kat Thomas, MD of One Green Bean, Claire Salvetti, managing director of Mango Sydney and Margaret Zabel, CEO of the Communications Council.

Other sessions will be a combination of case studies, panel debates and a live crisis simulation, and cover the following topics:

• Crisis simulation (issues management in a social media context)
• Measurement
• Government lobbying and spin etc. As the election campaigns heat up, we look at the impact on marketing, from budgets to strategy
• Convergence and the new media landscape – journalists and new models of communication
• Talent – what does the PR professional of 2014 look like, and how can you hire her/him?
• Content creation and PR

The conference will be followed by an award presentation. The awards are chaired by Andy Lark, who is a former PR practitioner and chief marketing officer of CommBank.

Entires close for the CommsCon Awards at the end of this week. Details of how to enter are available here.

Cathie McGinn

topics Claire SalvettiCommunications CouncilKat ThomasMargaret ZabelMichelle HuttonOne Green BeanPR

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Comments: 4

nell schofield 11 Feb 13

has the PR Council broadened its remit to now encompass crisis mgt and govt , or was the stated rationale for breaking away from PRIA just bullshit in the first place?

The PR Council supposedly came about becuase PRIA was too concerned with govt and crisis mgt with no real interest in the serious consumer stuff like selling beer, weight loss programs and cars

it’s focus is supposed to consumer PR, but now it sounds like it realises that sharing strategies for getting a cheap sem sav covered by Gourmet Traveller won’t put bums on seats in a conference

consumer PR’s knowledge of political lobbying and PR would fit on a pin-head

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Cathie McGinn 11 Feb 13

Hi Nell,

The PRC are presenting one session out of eight.
Overall, the conference will cover issues management, government lobbying as well as social media, convergence and so on because industry representatives (via a survey and the advisory panel’s guidance) have told us those are areas they want us to cover.
The conference is presented by Mumbrella and Encore – while the PRC supports it and we’re offering a discount to PRC members, it’s quite separate from the Communications Council initiative and does not share the PRC’s agenda – nor PRIAs.

Cheers,

Cathie – Mumbrella

NS 11 Feb 13

HI Cathie – tks for the clarification.

Can you tell us who is going to speak at CommsCon on the topics of issues management and government lobbying? i’ve expressed my skepticism re the credentials of consumer PR people to speak on these topics. What’s more, if Gruen is any guide, outside of what makes for effective political advertising, adland folk don’t have much of a clue in this area either, with the exception of Toby Ralph

like corporate and capital markets PR, government PR is a highly specialised field in which the best firms are ones you’ve likely never heard of, and the best people don’t need to self-promote through the conference circuit

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Cathie McGinn 11 Feb 13

Hi Nell,

I’d be happy to have a proper chat about this if you’d like – drop me a note or give me a call. Always good to hear from people with strong views.

And I’m delighted to say Toby Ralph is going to be speaking….

The other sessions will be announced over the next couple of weeks as we lock in speakers, but I’m still open to suggestions. We are bringing in experts to cover their area of expertise – so there is no earthly way consumer PR agencies will be presenting about government lobbying etc. Or vice versa.

Cheers,

Cathie

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