(cross-posted from Blog@bilities)
Hats off - literally - to Stephanie Elsea, president of the Austin chapter of the PRSA and spokesperson for the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Stephanie and her team put together a great event called "What Hat Will You Wear Today?" (Got to get myself one of those hats that made Stephanie's head appear to burst into flames - too funny.)
The day-long seminar presented four tracks representing different "hats" that PR professionals wear as they focus on various aspects of their jobs. I was only able to catch one presentation, but it was a gem. Mark Drosos, VP of biz dev at nFusion Group, spoke on "New Ways to Use Technology in Your Communications Plan."
Mark was not only an informative speaker, he entertained a lot of questions from the participants. The result was an interesting discussion of how technology has blurred the distinction between PR and marketing and even drawn lines between traditional marketing and interactive marketing - Mark's area of expertise. One of the case studies he presented was a viral campaign created for the launch of the DVD of the movie Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. The successful campaign included a contest for submission of user-generated content that tied into the movie theme.
Social media-enabling technology is evolving so rapidly, it's almost impossible to keep up with it. But learning new technologies and skills is part of the job for those of us in PR and marketing. Sometimes it's frustrating and sometimes it's fun - but one thing it's not is boring.
Excuse me while I spin my hat rack and select another chapeau.
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