WDC Day II

Another great day at the conference. Here are the highlights:

• Dan Schnur from USC's Unruh Institute of Politics, gave a great presentation about how the "ipod" age has made us more connected, yet more isolated in society. He pointed to the need to PR to use social media tools and other PR strategies to encourage civil discourse in society.
• Mike McDougall, APR (@mikemcdoug) challenged us to find new ways to build video into our outreach, from including short sound bites into key staff biographies. (The hilarious videos he shared are included in his presentation, which we'll be posting next week).
• The panel from The Sunrise Powerlink Project took a cute approach to talking about their Silver Anvil Award-winning campaign, thanks to their teammate Megan Rickey's win on The Amazing Race.
  

If you want to review the play-by-play action, check out the twitter feed at #prsawdc. Stay tuned, we'll be sending out the evaluation survey and posting the presentations next week.

Congratulations to the California Inland Empire Chapter on a fabulous job with this year's conference. Next year's hosts, the Las Vegas Valley Chapter, has a big job ahead. Speaking of which, mark your calendars for next year's conference April 27-29, 2011 at The Venetian Hotel and Resort on the Las Vegas Strip.

PRSA Western District Conference off to a great start

The PRSA Western District Conference is off to a fantastic start. Here are some of the highlights from the sold-out event.

• Ten PR pros learned more about making their chapters even better at PRSA's Quick Start Leadership Program. (Thanks to our presenters for sharing their wisdom!)
• The Western District Board meeting went very well, with nine out of our ten chapters sharing ideas and supporting through challenging times.
• Thanks to gale-force winds, the Conference opening reception had been moved indoors, but it didn't deter the fun. The food and drinks were almost as good as the networking.
• At the opening session, Dan Barber and John Armato from Fleishman-Hillard International did a great session on the new pulse of PR. It was great to hear that the core concepts of the profession.
• Some of our breakout sessions were standing room only. Social media topics were popular. We discussed Octomom, LGBT outreach, and grassroots community building.
  
• Our luncheon speaker, Mark Weiner, talked about the difference between value and ROI in PR and more.
• We talked about how social media resources are becoming sources for journalists, but tried and true PR based sources are still relevant.
  
• We debated the role of PR staff in developing content for social media forums.
• We talked about the Motrin Moms controversy and the lingering impacts on the company's online reputation.
  
• And then Pete Codella sang.

If you're looking for the presentations from today's session, have no fear. They are coming. We'll get them up next week. In the meantime, be sure to follow the #prsawdc stream on Twitter for the latest and greatest news and discussions from the conference.

Get a sneak peak at the WDC 2010 Conference Program

Want a sneak peak at the full descriptions and speaker bios for the conference? Looking for information about where to eat and what to do while you're in Palm Springs?

Check out the conference program*. You'll get a hard copy when you check in, but if you need more detail in advance, this is a great place to start.


*When you follow the link, you'll be taken to the FileSavr, the service the District uses to host our files online. You'll be able to download the file there for free and without sharing any of your personal information.

The PRSA Western District Conference 2010 has sold out!

We are expecting 135 PR professionals at this week's gathering at the Palm Spring Riviera Resort and Spa.

Thanks to the outstanding efforts of the planning committee from the California Inland Empire Chapter and our great sponsors.

I wish you all safe journeys. I can't wait to see you all there!

See you in Palm Springs!

Tomorrow night, I'll be packing up and driving down to Palm Springs to get an early start on the preparations for the 2010 PRSA Western District Conference.

We've met our attendance targets for both the conference and the pre-conference Quick Start program. The planning committee from the California Inland Empire Chapter, headed by chapter president Karen Bergh, has done an outstanding job pulling this conference together and they have great reason to be proud.

I hope you'll join us for the pre-conference reception 5:30-7 p.m. Wed. evening. Networking is one of the most valuable components of this conference, so don't miss it!

Special thanks to Fleischman Hillard, the 2010 Presenting Sponsor and all of this year's conference sponsors, for helping us bring this amazing professional development opportunity to the region.

I hope you all have safe journeys and we'll see you there!

It never fails...

Just as soon as we send our materials to print for this year's Western District Conference, PRSA National releases new logo standards.

In case you missed it, we went from this....

to this.....

Oh well. Fortunately the change isn't all that drastic and it's likely that only the true PRSA die-hards will notice. Did you notice the change? Does this affect your chapter logo? How do you like it?

Chapter Presidents-elect: Register Now for Leadership Rally

Make sure your chapter's president elect holds their space at this year's PRSA Leadership Rally on June 4-5 in New York City.

PRSA National provides a $550 stipend to help offset travel expenses and they've negotiated a great deal with the hotel to help your money go a little further. Many chapters set aside funds to help offset additional costs, so be sure to check with your chapter treasurer for details.

Learn more about this year's rally, which will include networking opportunities, tips and tools to make your chapter presidency successful and a closing session from social media expert, Deirdre Breckenridge, co-author of Putting the Public Back in Public Relations.