Attention Non-Members: Join PRSA During February and Save $95!


PRSA is offering FREE Chapter Dues to new full members who join the national organization during the month of February. This represents a savings of $95 for new PRSA members who also choose to join PRSA-LA.

Jump-start your career today with a membership in PRSA-LA. Sign up today and enter your promo code (feb11) to receive your free chapter dues through February 28.


What can membership in PRSA do for you?

PRSA is the world's leading advocate for public relations and communications professionals. With membership in PRSA, you will ...

• Stay on top of emerging trends and industry news
   
• Meet others, engage with experts, receive professional support and learn of new business / job leads
   
• Find answers to your most pressing PR questions
   
• Benefit from members-only offers, including discounts on professional development seminars, conferences and events
   
• Have opportunities to participate in leadership and awards programs
   
• Be part of a vibrant community of more than 22,000 PR professionals
   
• Accelerate your career-at any level

Panelists at State-of-the-State of PR Event Share Their Industry Predictions for 2011


If you weren't at the Omni Hotel in downtown Los Angeles the evening of Wednesday, January 26, you missed out on great networking and a lively panel discussion at PRSA-LA's latest State-of-the-State of PR event.

The panel featured John Echeveste, Partner at VPE PR; Jim Gordon, Regional Vice President, Communications for Time Warner Cable, West Region; Judy Johnson, Managing Director, Western Region at GolinHarris; Kazumi Mechling, President of Cohn & Wolfe Los Angeles, Matt Meeks, Director of Audience Development for Warner Bros. Worldwide Television, and Don Spetner, Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs for Korn/Ferry International. The panel was moderated by David Bloom, Principal of Words & Deeds, also Partner with DeepStrat Digital Growth Services.

Here's a sampling of some of the panelists predictions:

• For Job-Seekers: The ability to write well, to adapt and think clearly are still prerequisite for job-seekers, but technical specialists and experts have greater prospects. Competition is forcing agencies and corporations to create specialized content teams and recruit based on subject matter expertise.
   
• For the Job Market: Every expert surveyed said their organization either planned to hire new staff in the coming months or had already recently done so. Don Spetner described the job market for senior-level practitioners as particularly strong, and he also named employee communications as the one specialty that is currently most in-demand.
   
• For Control of Social Media: The struggle for control of social media still rages between the marketing and public relations / corporate communications disciplines. For junior public relations professionals, to be well-versed in communication with social media is now considered part of the price of entry.
   
• For Millennials at Work: Our panelists agreed that millennials require more open and more feedback-oriented management. Some noted that firms will need to adapt again as millennials reach the ranks of management and become new clients, something that is already happening in the high-tech sector.
   
• For a Wired Wikileaks World: The threat of financial and reputation loss will accelerate organizations' embrace of transparency. At the same time, many of the communication technologies we now rely upon will be re-evaluated, as organizations determine how to prevent the indiscriminate release of trade secrets and other privileged information.
   

PRSA-LA's monthly events are designed to appeal to chapter members' diverse interests and specialty areas. Be sure and watch this space and the calendar of events each month for more career enrichment opportunities.

"The Art of Protocol: What Every PR Professional Should Know"
 

Featuring The Protocol School of Washington

 

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

6:00 - 8:30 PM

The Beverly Hilton

 

Do you plan press events? Host dignitaries, including celebrities? Prepare your executives for social and business functions? Conduct business abroad?

If so, don't miss this engaging evening session with distinguished protocol experts who will share how protocol has become a highly sophisticated and strategic asset in today's business and diplomatic world.

Experts from The Protocol School of Washington, City of Los Angeles, Office of the Mayor and Rogers & Cowan (see full panel), will participate in a discussion which will include:

• What does a protocol officer do and how does it relate to PR your objectives?
   
• What to do if you're assigned protocol duties but have no formal training...
   
• How can you be a leader in orchestrating events where etiquette is crucial?
   
• How can you adapt the formality of protocol to any press or special event?
   
• How is protocol for celebrities similar and different than for officials or dignitaries?
   
• How can protocol skills give you and your company a competitive advantage?

The expanding global economy requires diplomacy, protocol and business etiquette as a pre-requisite to success. Join us for this essential session and learn how to raise the bar for business intelligence or a celebrity appearance within your organization.

For more information, please visit the event page on PRSA-LA's Web site.