October President’s Message

Happy fall. According to my social media scrolling, it’s prime time for pumpkin-spice everything, hearty soups and the PRSA International Conference (ICON). I follow a lot of PR pros, after all.

I’ve been fortunate to attend a couple ICONs in the past. While I won’t be in Austin this year, I’ll be following along via Twitter using the #PRSAICON hashtag, and I can’t wait to get a recap from my PRSA RVA colleagues Judi Crenshaw, APR, Lindsay O’Bar, APR and Taya Jarman, APR, who are attending on behalf of our chapter.

Are you going to ICON? If so, reach out to the Richmond team to connect in Austin.

Attendees are in for a treat: A few of the keynotes include former Airbnb CMO Jonathan Mildenhall, digital marketing guru Ann Handley and CEO of DoSomething.org Aria Finger, not to mention countless breakout sessions that will tackle everything from diversity in our industry to better brainstorming. There’s something to be said for the power of connecting with like-minded peers and using the three days to think about how you can bring so many smart strategies and tactics back to your job.

I’m not alone in my love for professional development. Studies show that employees rate professional development as important to them in their jobs, while companies report that associates who take advantage of professional development are more engaged and productive.

Speaking of professional development, the next couple of months will be jam-packed with PRSA learning opportunities. I hope you’ll join us for two events this week: Our fall happy hour featuring the Virginia Mercury’s editor-in-chief Robert Zullo on Wednesday, Oct. 3 and a local media panel for our professional development series on Thursday, Oct. 4. Be sure to check out the Upcoming Events section on the PRSA Richmond website to keep up with everything.

I hope to see you soon at a PRSA Richmond event!

Sincerely,
Cameron McPherson, APR
PRSA Richmond President