Month in the PR(CA) events: October

PR events
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A view from the Burson-Marsteller offices.

I do love the industry events. Especially those organised by the PRCA. They always bring so much value and teach me so much. This month, I managed to attend eight of those. I attended the events tackling different aspects of the industry -- I heard about gender pay gap in PR, digital and how it impacts the comms and how travel journalists like being approached. So much information and insights gained in less than 31 days!

PRCA Research Group eventTuesday, 27th (September) @Bell Pottinger

For the first event of the month, I went to the launch event of the Research Group. We heard from the newly appointed committee. Research showed that most of PR practitioners do trust and believe in the power of research in campaigning.

PRCA B2B Group eventTuesday, 4th @Nelson Bostock

B2B doesn't seem to be attracting young talent. Why is isn't very attractive for the graduates? What steps can industry make in order to attract those finishing university? During this event, hosted by Nelson Bostock, we heard from the panel that consisted of Mariette Ferreira, Head of Marketing at Fair FX, Holly Smart, Global PR Lead of Premier Farnell, David Woodward, SVP Strategy at Weber Shandwick and Jon Bennett, Managing Director of Linstock Communications.

PRCA Breaking the Glass Ceiling eventWednesday, 5th @Lansons

Gender pay gap is an actively debated topic in the PR industry. Is the gap caused, because of the different career choices or is it simply a discrimination? It was great to hear insights from diverse panel, chaired by Lansons' very own Lisa Carr, that consisted of Liesl Smith, Global Head of Communications at Western Union Business Solutions, Rachael Sansom, Head of Brand and Client Service at MHP Communications, as well as Paul Cockerton, Co-founder & co-CEO of Dynamo PR.

PRCA Members DrinksWednesday, 5th

PRCA's Member Drinks are the best way to mingle with the industry minds. It was great to meet so many inspiring practitioners and have some interesting conversations (not only) about comms.

PRCA Digital PR and Communications Research eventThursday, 6th @FleishmanHillard Fishburn

Event took place at one of my favourite places -- FHF's Bankside office. We got a chance to hear the research headed by the PRCA and YouGov that looked into the usage of digital forms of communication by agencies and in-house teams. It was fascinating to learn that Instagram and Snapchat noted a 14% growth in use since last year. Agencies are in majority (95%) using Twitter and Facebook (89%). For more insights into the report, you can head to Stephen Waddington's post 8 things we learnt from the 2016 PRCA Digital Report.

During the event we also heard from the great panel. Leah Katz -- MD of Operations at FleishmanHillard Fishburn, Candace Kuss -- Director of Social Media of H+K Strategies, Arun Sudhaman -- President and Editor-in-Chief of The Holmes Report and Max Tatton-Brown -- Founder and MD at Augur Communications shared their views on the Report's results and industry's relation to digital. Panel was chaired by Chris Lee.

And yes, it was me sitting in the front row...PRCA Reputation Group eventWednesday, 12th @MHP Communications

During the Reputation Group event on how to manage reputation in an on and offline world, we heard from Pete Marsh, Head of Retail Operations at Vodafone. In his talk, he emphasised the importance of targeting and driving engagement of right target audience, in order to provide the best customer service. Pete has also shared his story of successfully managed reputation of Vodafone, during the major transformation of the company.

PRCA Travel & Tourism Group eventWednesday, 12th @4MediaRelations

Slightly out of my comfort zone, but I really enjoyed the content of the event. During the Travel and Tourism event our panel spoke on how to get the most out of the World Travel Market and other travel fairs. The panel consisted of Lottie Gross, of RoughGuides.com, Paul Nelson, World Travel Market Portfolio Press and PR Manager, Darren Ryan, Associate Director at 4mediarelations and Steve Robertshaw, PR Manager at VisitSweden. Panel was chaired by Frank Marr -- Director at A Marr + Associates.

You can check out the great post with key takeouts from this event at the PRCA's website.

PRCA Broadcast Group eventWednesday, 26th @Burson-Marsteller

For the final event this month, I went to the amazing offices of Burson-Marsteller. The panel, chaired by Daniel Cinna of Markettiers, consisted of Ashitha Nagesh of The Metro, Anna Jones, the radio news desk editor for Sky News and Jon Laurence — Digital Editor at Channel 4. We learnt some incredibly interesting things -- what makes the best story for radio and digital? It's all about story being really newsworthy. Panel also spoke about raise of digital and usage of Facebook Live. We also found out some intriguing statistics -- radio listenership in the UK is almost as high as TV viewership.

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Month in the PR events is a monthly series on the blog, where I make a write-up of the industry events I’ve attended in the past weeks. Originally initiated on my LinkedIn.

Make sure you also follow PRCA on Twitter, visit their website and check the membership options. If you're a student, strongly consider Student Membership.

If you have any suggestions, would like to guest post or give me a feedback, feel free to email me at kl.marcel [at] gmail.com, tweet me @marcelkl or connect with me on LinkedIn. Thanks for stopping by, have a splendid day!

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