Event Info

PRSA Maryland’s

33rd Annual Chesapeake Conference

2010: Launching a New Decade for PR Excellence

Thursday, June 17, 2010• 8 am – 4 pm • Sheraton Baltimore North

Preliminary Program

Registration/Continental Breakfast
7:30 am

Conference Opening & Keynote Speaker Dave Troy, Co-Organizer BmoreFiber, Founder Beehive Baltimore and Baltimore Angels
8:00 am – 8:45 am

Dave Troy, technology entrepreneur and one of the principal players working to bring Google’s planned fiber optic network to Baltimore will map out the PR plan for luring Google to Baltimore as well as share his messaging, social media, and buzz strategies. He’ll reveal how the plan is progressing, lessons he learned, why Baltimore is a good fit, and when the city will know Google’s decision. Don’t miss this provocative presentation.

Concurrent Workshops

Morning Session 1: 9:00 am – 10:20 am

How Media Fragmentation is Making it Harder (and Easier) than Ever to Reach Your Target Audiences
Andy Malis, Co-Founder and President, MGH

The competition for your target’s attention has never been tougher. The rapid escalation of media fragmentation has made it nearly impossible to quickly break through and get your message out. Or is it? Join Andy Malis as he surveys the current media landscape. See what roles traditional media, new media, and social media play in today’s more-complex-than-ever communications plans.

Media Ethics: Is it an Oxymoron?
Lisa Miles, APR, President, Miles Public Relations

In this day and age of 24/7 news coverage, do journalists really abide by a code of media ethics? How does the coverage balance compare to situations in past years, and how does it fit into some of the traditional communications models? Join Lisa Miles, APR, and adjunct faculty member of Towson University’s Mass Communications program, to discuss how the process has changed – and how it remains the same.

Social Media Measurement
Erica Anderson, Citizen Journalist and Digital Strategist, Erica America

What's the ROI of social media? Is there an ROI of social media?
This discussion will look at some of the basic key performance indicators for your most used social media tools, as well as challenge you to think beyond the numbers. Do we measure the value of reading a book? Making friends? So what's the real weight of smart social media? Find out from Erica Anderson who, in 2008, was selected to be the Washington, D.C. citizen journalist for MTV’s Emmy Award-winning campaign “Choose or Lose.” In 2009, she became a top-rated CNN iReporter, and produced a series of web videos for a MSNBC special. Twitter, Delicious, Posterous, Flickr, Facebook, DIGG, CNN iReport, MTV THINK, Slideshare.

Morning Session 2: 10:30 am – 11:50 am

Writing for the Web and Social Media
Marci DeVries, Owner, MDV Interactive, and David Harrison, Owner, Harrison Communications

Writing for new media is different from writing for traditional media. Learn the secrets to writing compelling content for Twitter, Facebook, blogs, reporter pitches, and more. Discover how and why messages spread virally on social media platforms and gain an overview of how people are consuming news and information via the Web. This information-packed session will give you ready-to-use tips to help raise your message above the information clutter. These days, it only takes one click of a button to spread your message to thousands of readers. Learn the most effective methods to make this happen for you and for your clients.

Social Media Law 101: A Legal Perspective for Communicators
Bradley S. Shear, Esq., managing partner, Law Offices of Bradley S. Shear, LLC.

PR professionals wade daily through the social media waters – we should know the basics of what is or isn’t legal as we do so. Bradley Shear is a national expert in the melding of two very different disciplines: law and social media. In his 50-minute primer, learn the legal issues that communicators who utilize social media need to know.

Time Management Strategies For Social Media Activities
Steve Radick, Associate, Social Media And Government 2.0 Practice, Booz Allen Hamilton

As social media continues to grow, so do the concerns about time management and measurement of tactics related to this new platform. Booz Allen Hamilton's own social media strategist, Steve Radick, will focus on the people and processes of social media and how they truly determine the success of strategy. With a push to understand what this new technology enables, Steve will delve into his expertise on running a team of social media experts and how he best meets the needs of clients, in a efficient and effective manner. Steve was recently named one of PRNews’ 15 to Watch for in 2009. He was also recently named one of the expert bloggers for AIIM’s Enterprise 2.0 Community.

Best In Maryland Awards Luncheon with Lisa A. Shenkle, Sail Baltimore & VERB! Communications
Noon – 2:00 pm

After sailing through a sea of sessions in the morning, prepare to anchor yourself in the main meeting room to enjoy a bountiful lunch and hear from afternoon keynote speaker, Lisa A. Shenkle, President of VERB! Communications. Lisa will take you into the world of international PR via Sail Baltimore. As a Board member for Sail Baltimore, she will illustrate how she successfully promotes a concept without a structure, navigates political landmines and sensitivities, and how PR helps Sail Baltimore achieve its mission of maintaining and improving international goodwill.

Following Lisa’s remarks, we will celebrate the award winners for the Best in Maryland Awards Luncheon.

Afternoon Session 1: 2:10 pm – 3:00 pm

Great Marketing ROI in a Lousy Economy
David Warschawski, CEO and Founder, Warschawski

Learn how to capitalize on great marketing opportunities provided during a down economy. David will share best practices and cover real-world case studies for campaigns that generated powerful ROI on limited budgets. He will also share tips on where to focus your time, money, and energy to ensure you are getting the biggest bang for your buck. Struggling with ROI when using social media? David will cover how to properly use social media in marketing initiatives so that organizations can generate ROI and how social media can be used as a marketing/PR tool to generate ROI.

Writing with Search Engines in Mind: Putting SEO to Work
Jiyan Wei, Director of Product Management, Vocus, and Vendor Council member of the Society for New Communications Research

As search engines continue to grow as an authoritative source of information, the need to optimize content for search has become increasingly important. PR professionals can use Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques to boost rankings of their articles and communicate more effectively with their audiences. Learn how to decide whether or not you should write a press release aimed at people or search engines, what signals search engines look for, and why SEO is important for PR professionals.

Afternoon Session 2: 3:10 pm – 4:00 pm

APR Roundtable
Demystify the APR process and ask this savvy group of APRs the burning questions you’ve been dying to ask, but didn’t know who to turn to.

Media Pitching Best Practices and Worst Examples Roundtable
Converse with members of the media about what makes pitches sizzle and what doesn’t. Hear some of the worst pitches ever made, and why they were so bad. Media and writers include: Liz Farmer, Reporter, The Daily Record; Larry Carney, Executive Producer, Online Content, WMAR TV; Dan Collins, APR, Freelance Writer and Senior Director of Media Relations, Mercy Medical Center.

Happy Hour Mixer
4:00 pm
It’s down the hatch with cocktails and hors d'oeuvres.

Click here to register online.