6 great things about #PRFest 2016

It seems like #PRFest was a long time ago now.

After a year of planning and developing the concept, it was all over in two days!

Plans for 2017 are now in development and I’d really like your input. Click here to contribute your ideas for subjects, workshops and speakers.

Here’s a quick reminder of some great things about #PRFest in June.

#1 Cross industry

All sectors and all areas of PR attended the inaugural festival. This is important as it offers a different perspective.

#2 Speakers and panelists

Some were seasoned international speakers and other were local Scottish practitioners. Everyone needs to start somewhere and it’s important there is a blend and balance of experience, skills and knowledge. We’re always learning!

#PRFest

#3 Networking

The only time our industry comes together is for the likes of the CIPR PRide Awards. It’s important that despite some of us may be in competition, we’re an industry which networks together. You never know when paths will cross. Scotland’s PR industry is like a village. We all know each other.

Deals were done, jobs were offered and some interesting discussions took place during the networking opportunities.

I’ve listened, too! There will be more networking opportunities next year.

PRFest 1 SA : Pictures from PR Festival June 16th 2016 at Whitespace, Edinburgh. All images © Stewart Attwood Photography 2016.. All other rights are reserved. Use in any other context is expressly prohibited without prior permission.

 

#4 Share best practice

Sharing is caring! I wrote a blog post about Why sharing is caring earlier this year. I believe if you are sharing and helping others to develop it can only be a good thing. From the speakers sharing their experiences and teaching new skills to sharing case studies and examples of work with each other, sharing best practice is a good thing for the industry and is a good thing for practitioners.

At #PRFest 2017 I’d like a stronger focus on sharing. It’s not something we’re particularly good at in Scotland. We need to be better at it!

PRFest 1 SA : Pictures from PR Festival June 16th 2016 at Whitespace, Edinburgh. All images © Stewart Attwood Photography 2016.. All other rights are reserved. Use in any other context is expressly prohibited without prior permission.

#5 Learn

Learning is a never ending ‘thing’. We’re always learning and if you’re not, you’re not progressing.

Learning new skills, new information, research or even new tools, will help us get better at what we do. The festival counts for CPD points too!

#6 Developing Scottish public relations

Often people are heard and seen saying ‘PR has a PR problem’. I don’t think we’ve necessarily got a problem but we do need to be educating the business world more about what PR is now and how it truly has the power to transform businesses and organisations.

By developing ourselves, we are striving for higher professional standards. Professional standards will mean we are knowledgable, skilled, ethical and we know how to get results. We then need to demonstrate this. Not by AVEs but by measuring against objectives. The new AMEC framework presented, hot on the heels of the AMEC conference, will help practitioners to understand that measurement and evaluation begins at the start of planning, not at the end of the campaign!

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