The delegates to the Fresh Thinking:PR 1-day conference were eager, inquisitive and highly complementary, the speakers were experts in their fields and equally impressed with the attendees.
It got off to an exciting start with Cherry Chappell MCIPR explaining how 56% of business is created through developing relationships, i.e. “Enriching your life at every level”. Each of us has a potential to develop a network of 2,000 contacts via various friends and acquaintances! The speed networking was a great end to the session, as delegates familiarised themselves with each other and made their own contacts!
Your first PR campaign was presented by Louise Mackintosh from Mantra PR, who explained how everything you do focuses on the communications you are having with your client. Be honest with your client and make sure you are very clear on budget and evaluating properly! Julie-Ann Ryan MCIPR presented a session on the ‘perfect press release’ and started off by explaining that all journalists are not monsters – but, if not dealt with efficiently you can make them turn into one!! As a former journalist she was able to provide delegates with a helpful list of hints and tips.
Richard Parkinson ACIPR gave a fantastic and hugely popular presentation on getting your creative juices flowing even without a huge budget. He began his session by directly involving the audience, asking if anyone had any ‘creative’ dilemmas with outstanding results. His top tip was that no idea is a bad idea and creativity differentiates the truly successful companies from the rest.
Events Manager Johnnie Gates MCIPR from Coca Cola gave a jam packed presentation with lots of tips and tricks when organising a successful event. His own account of a highly successful ‘Soccormagic’ event, gave an amazing account of a football tournament with 100 celebrities! Unbelievable!
Tim Johnson MCIPR from Regester Larkin gave a hugely interesting a very insightful talk on coping with a crisis. His advice to all PR practitioners is to always be prepared because it might just happen to you!
If you missed it, this conference is being repeated on Monday 11 September. To book visit, www.cipr.co.uk/conferences
