The board of the Public Relations Society of America has amended the format of its annual assembly - held the day before the PRSA conference starts - to encourage more dialogue between delegates and the board. And in doing so, it seems to have adopted the "Forging Consensus" theme of this year's annual conference, which officially opens Nov. 9 at the Opryland Hotel Convention Center in Nashville.
In addition to the format shift, PRSA has integrated some interactivity and controversy into the conference, which 2,200 practitioners and 1,000 students are expected to attend. For instance, it's showcasing the best practices in online PR and tackling such sensitive issues as sex in the workplace.
Despite the potpourri of seminars and workshops, the conference's draw is likely to be these innovations and the slate of speakers, which includes Wolf Blitzer of CNN fame - keynote speaker for the general session on Nov. 9 - and Robert Fulghum, author of the best seller "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten," who on Nov. 11 unearths his views on how people deal with chaos.
But the success of the conference, "Forging Consensus: Your Side, My Side, Our Side," won't be based only on this core of celebrity speakers or that it's being hosted at Opryland, one of Nashville's most ostentatious tourist venues. One of the clearest signs that this will be a conference that's closely watched by PR pros will come during the assembly meeting that begins Nov. 8 at 8 a.m. with a new format.
Ray Gaulke, PRSA CEO, told us that this year's format is meant to inspire more dialogue and make the assembly more of an interactive forum. Even though delegates won't be saddled with the tedium of roll call, which previously took up a major chunk of time, what's most significant are other key changes. For the first time, those who attend the assembly will be broken out into focus groups to discuss chapter needs and then report what's been discussed to the board. There will also be a "State of the Society Address," also a program segment that's entirely new.
Among the issues expected to be discussed at the assembly is the board's proposed universal accreditation program to build the profession globally. As part of that and to continue promoting the concept on National Public Radio (spots are being run through tomorrow but execs want the NPR promotions to be subsidized in the future), delegates will vote on raising the accreditation exam fee from $200 to $250. Those additional funds will be used to promote universal accreditation via NPR.
At the conference, the "Forging Consensus" theme will focus on three areas: political consensus; consensus between the press and PR executives; and PR professionals' consensus with clients, families and coworkers.
One of the unique events on this year's roster is a trip to the Freedom Forum's First Amendment Center Nov. 11 at 9 a.m. at Vanderbilt University (the forum commissioned a study on the distrust between business and the media) for a "Socratic dialogue" with CEOs and journalists to try to find some common ground.
(PRSA, 212/995-2230)