Delegates to PRSA’s 60^th Assembly, and the inaugural PRSA Leadership Assembly, turned their attention toward the Society’s strategic planning as they met prior to the start of PRSA’s 2010 International Conference, “Powering PRogress.”

Delegates were provided with a vision for PRSA’s future as part of the annual State of the Society Report, given via a joint presentation by Gary D. McCormick, APR, Fellow PRSA, 2010 PRSA chair and CEO, Rosanna M. Fiske, APR, chair-elect of PRSA and William M. Murray, CAE, PRSA president and CEO.

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I’ve always thought of myself as an optimist who could accomplish anything in life. Optimistic euphoria is a personal addiction that’s hard for me to kick. Of course, throw in a few overly optimistic failures and self-doubt begins to erode confidence and dull the drug. So, one of my secrets to remaining positive has always been to draw inspiration from others who are on the same journey. What’s really cool is I that I didn’t have to look too far this year to find a big source of it.

At the recent PRSA Counselors Academy Conference in Asheville, N.C., I was browsing the conference program to select my next workshop of the day. I ran across an interesting session being presented by my College of Fellows colleague, Elise Mitchell, APR, Fellow PRSA, who is CEO of Mitchell Communications Group in Fayetteville Ark.  Something about the title, “Postcards from Dartmouth,” intrigued me.  Not knowing what I was in for, I entered her “class” and took a seat right up front.

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More than 300 public relations and communications professionals gathered in Dallas this week for the first-ever Hispanic Public Relations and Social Media Conference. The brainchild of the Hispanic Public Relations Association and Hispanic PR Blog founder Manny Ruiz, the conference gave professionals a fresh look at communicating with the U.S. Hispanic market. It also provided great networking opportunities and compelling professional development breakout sessions tailored to the needs of practitioners engaged in multicultural marketing.

I was honored to represent PRSA — a conference partner and sponsor — and to deliver the opening reception keynote address. A number of other PRSA members, including Sonia Sroka, chair of PRSA’s Diversity Committee and senior vice president, director of Hispanic marketing, for Porter Novelli, and Stephen Chavez, a member of the Los Angeles Chapter‘s Board of Directors and vice president of Hispanic marketing at Ketchum Public Relations, also took part in the conference.

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PRSA held its quarterly Board of Directors meeting on April 17 and 18, in Washington, D.C.  The meetings were preceded on the evening of April 16 by a public forum, presented in partnership with PRSA’s National Capital Chapter and hosted by the National Education Association (NEA), which presented an in-depth look at public affairs’ role in rebuilding America.

The esteemed group of forum panelists included Paul Gillin, technology journalist and author; The Washingtonian Editor-at-Large Garrett Graff; Waggener Edstrom Senior Vice President and Global Public Affairs Leader Torod Neptune; APCO Worldwide President and CEO Margery Kraus; and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Robert Hastings. The forum was moderated by Fleishman-Hillard Senior Vice President of Digital Public Affairs Patrick Cleary. The Podcast of this event is an excellent listen for industry professionals interested in social media and politics, and the way that the Obama campaign revolutionized campaign communications. 

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