If you’re in Chicago and are looking to advance your career in Public Relations or Communications, please check out the PRSA Chicago / Help A PR Pro Out event. From the PRSA website:

The PRSA Chicago luncheon on May 15 will focus on employment and hiring opportunities for our industry in 2012 and beyond.

Attendees will participate in a series of roundtables to network and discuss related topics with Chicago’s communications leaders. Topics will include finding jobs in the PR 2.0 world, resume review and the skills necessary for landing your next position. Register here!

Think about how Communicators and PR professionals used video ten years ago…Video News Releases…B-Roll provided to broadcasters, Satellite Media Tours…Those tactics were as effective as possible at the time in telling your brand’s or organization’s story but still hit-and-miss in nature and a demanded huge resources.

Now think about the changes in communications in the past ten years. Not only has new technology forced us to change, but also forced a major shift in how people (not targets!) want to see your story.

We’ve moved from audiences to communities, from broadcasting to engaging, and from telling to sharing.

Video is arguably the most powerful way to share, engage, and be a part of any community. How are you using it to tell your story?

PRSA Chicago is hosting a panel discussion on March 20 with 3 pros who will share their experience as well as tips and tactics to help you make videos the most effective tools on your workbench.

Our panelists include:

 Gregory Lipman, Senior Vice President, Digital Content Director, Edelman Digital

Ed Lamoureaux, Senior Vice President, WestGlen Communications

Clifton O’Neal, Senior Director of Communications, TransUnion

When: Tuesday, March 20, 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Where: Maggiano’s Little Italy, 516 North Clark Street, Chicago

Event Registration: Member, $37.00/NonMember, $45.00/Student, $37.00

Sponsored by MSL Chicago

I’m honored to be moderating a panel of Chicago’s top media, digital, and PR thought leaders making predictions for 2012. Be sure to join us February 21 at PRSA Chicago!

PRSA Chicago Third Annual “Predictions” Panel

What’s Ahead in 2012 for our industry? What can we learn from last year’s events, issues and PR moments? 2012 is an exciting year filled with new and unique PR and communications opportunities. What can we learn from our panel of diverse experts? Please join us on February 21st as industry leaders convene to talk about the year ahead for communicators around the world. Our leaders will dialogue and take your questions. Don’t miss this special, annual event!

Panelists include:

•       Bill Adee, Vice President/Digital Stuff, Chicago Tribune Media Group

•       Laura Chavoen, Senior VP and Director of Digital Strategy, MSL Chicago

•       Anna Rozenich, Director, Communications, SunCoke Energy

•       Jim Motzer with DePaul University

•       Moderated by Jack Monson, Vice President, Engage121 and Board Member, PRSA Chicago.

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Rob Biesenbach is a former PR counselor, actor, and author of Act Like You Mean Business. The book and Rob’s January 17 presentation teach business people what they can learn from actors, screenwriters, and playwrights, including:

• Understand and connect with your audience.
• Find, shape and tell compelling stories that move people.
• Express your ideas more visually and with greater impact.
• Tap into the power of emotion to really break through.

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If you’re looking to change up your typical pitch this year to something that will stand out, please join us for this event. RSVP today via PRSA Chicago.
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The number of Social Media conferences continues to grow each quarter. What’s growing even faster is the number of conferences, summits, and conventions that are industry-specific that are now completely social media marketing focused. I am continuing to pull together as many as possible into one compiled social media conference list and have updated it well into 2012.

If you are organizing, speaking at, sponsoring, or attending a show that is not on this list, please comment here or email me at jmonson@engage121.com and I will add it!

L-to-R: Jack Monson, Engage121; Rick Murray, Edelman; Maxine Winer, Fleishman-Hillard; Bill Zucker, Ketchum

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I’m looking forward to moderating a panel of the Public Relations industry’s top agency leaders. We will address current PR challenges and opportunities in a wide-ranging roundtable discussion. This leadership forum is one of the most popular Chicago Chapter events held each year and is back by popular demand!

Issues to be discussed and debated include social, political, economic, and cultural trends affecting the practice of PR in agencies and companies including:

• Predictions for 2012

• The Communications role within the marketplace and current economy

• Issues that are critical to all in the C-suite, especially in driving economic growth

• New insights, solutions, and strategies under the label of innovation that agencies provide clients

• How do forward-thinking agency leaders stay in front of clients’ needs?

Our panelists for the program are: 



• Susan Howe, President – Chicago, Weber Shandwick


• Bill Zucker, Midwest Director, Ketchum 


• Rick Murray, President, Edelman
 Chicago

• Maxine Winer, Senior Partner & GM, Fleishman-Hillard

 • Moderated by Jack Monson, Vice President, Engage121, Inc.

I am looking forward to moderating a terrific panel in Chicago on June 21. PRSA Chicago will present some of the city’s top agency leaders working in Social Media discussing “Social Media Trends: What We Know Now and What’s Ahead”.

These agency executives will share what’s hot with their wide variety of b-to-b and b-to-c clients and what all PR professionals should be doing right now to stay on top of the social wave. Speakers include:

Adam Keats, SVP Interactive, Emerging and Social Media Marketing, Weber Shandwick
@akeats

Mike Pilarz, Manager, Technology Practice, Burson-Marsteller and Co-Founder of Social Media Breakfast Chicago
@mikepilarz

Glenn Raines, CEO, Social Media Moves
@socialmoves

Moderated by Jack Monson, VP, Engage121
@jackmonson

If you’re able to join us, please bring questions to the event and be ready to participate in-person, via The PRSA Chicago Fan Page, and on Twitter (hashtag: #prsachicago).

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When
Tuesday, June 21, 2011 11:30 AM  -  1:30 PM

Where
Maggiano’s Little Italy
516 North Clark Street
Chicago, IL 

Attire
Business Attire

Fees
Member  $37.00
NonMember  $45.00
Student  $37.00
NOTE: Walk-in registrants will be charged an additional $5 per person.

Sponsored by GolinHarris

…

Engagement with consumers via Social Media channels is no longer an option for Public Relations and Communications executives. Whether you’re still getting started with your own personal digital presence or you’re already a top influencer, join PRSA Chicago for a special program for senior-level execs and future senior-level execs! You will learn practical tips and tactics to take your social media game to the next level.

Our guest speaker is Gini Dietrich, founder and chief executive officer of Arment Dietrich, Inc., a firm that uses non-traditional marketing in a digital world.

Gini authors the popular Spin Sucks blog and can be found writing at Crain’s Chicago Business, AllBusiness, and Franchise Times. She delivers numerous keynotes, panel discussions, CEO coaching sessions, and workshops across North America on the subject of using online technology in communication, marketing, sales, and HR. One of the top rated communications professionals on the social networks, Gini was recently named the number one PR person on the channels, according to Klout and TechCrunch, and number one on Twitter, according to TweetLevel.

Sponsored by MSL Chicago and Big Shoes Network

When
Tuesday, April 19, 2011 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM

Where
Maggiano’s Little Italy
516 North Clark Street
Chicago, IL 

Too many PR pros are aware of the opportunities within Social Media, but are not pushing for integration of consumer engagement with their media relations work.

Too many senior leaders at agencies may be creating a path to irrelevance by giving clients what they want or expect (i.e. media relations work, traditional pitching). But, they are not giving them what they need: messages that reach consumers directly along with the traditional intermediaries such as journalists.

Too many corporate communications pros have remained in the shadows and see their Marketing or Advertising counterparts provide the C-Suite strategic guidance through the social media waters.

However, Public Relations professionals are the logical choice within any organization to lead Social Media because they have the skill set to engage in consumer conversation, not just broadcast messages.

If you’re in Chicago, a GREAT place to start is a series of upcoming luncheon programs featuring social media topics for professional communicators and PR pros.

 The first is a great starting point for any social media program: Measurement. Panelists include Rodrigo Sierra, Chief Marketing Officer, Johnson Publishing and Johna Burke, Senior Vice President, Marketing & Communications, BurrellesLuce. 
    

March 15, 2011
Maggiano’s Little Italy
516 North Clark Street
Chicago, IL

Registration: Click Here
 
Sponsor: Richard Day Research

The second is a fireside chat with Gini Dietrich discussing Social Media for Senior Executives. Gini is the CEO of Arment Dietrich, Inc., founder of the popular Spin Sucks blog, and a nationally recognized leader and speaker on the subjects of online technology in communication, marketing, sales, and HR.       

 
April 19, 2011
Maggiano’s Little Italy
516 North Clark Street
Chicago, IL

Registration: Coming Soon!

Sponsors: MSL Chicago and Big Shoes Network
 
 
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