Beyond the Basics: Taking PR 101 to the Next Level

Recently, I’ve  been lucky enough to attend some  amazing conferences in Philadelphia. These conferences have provided me the ability to do some great networking, as well as learn a lot about running businesses, using my talents and being a strong female leader. 

A common theme throughout all of the conferences, however, was that the skills workshops and forums tended to cater to  younger professionals, with a distinct lack of options in the advanced department. It got me thinking about what workshops I’d like to attend as an experienced PR practitioner. I also asked a few of my peers what they’d like to see in terms of professional development opportunities.

My (very) unofficial poll generated the following ideas:

• Advanced social media – Engage, use hashtags, post lots of photos. These are the general tips we receive whenever we sit in on a social media forum. But what about those of us who are already deeply entrenched in social media? We’d like to discuss things like raising engagement from your thousands of fans; figuring out how to work around Facebook’s algorithm without paying for likes; the newest up-and-coming platforms; and the differences between B2B and  B2C social media.
• Crisis/emergency response for PR practitioners without formal crisis communications training – A company may have a PR team, but not one specifically dedicated to handling a crisis. Sure, they can hire an outside agency once a crisis hits, but what does the in-house PR team do in the meantime? How can they effectively manage the crisis without formal training?
• Senior manager/executive level job searching – It’s relatively easy to seek and secure new employment when you’re the low (wo)man on the totem pole, but what about those who are higher up? How can they search for a job without letting their current responsibilities and clients suffer?  How can they make an easy transition without causing a giant ripple?
• Work/life balance – This one was big on everyone’s lists. Many industries struggle with this, but PR people seem to take it the next level. We’re connected 24/7 and find it hard to break away – do we risk missing an email at 7 p.m. from a reporter on deadline or do we anger our families by checking our phones with every ping?  How have others succeeded in creating a balance when our entire careers rest on two-minute deadlines?

In the world of PR training, it’s often the vendor who pays to run the workshop, so  I’m not exactly sure where the types of forums outlined above might fit into the mix.   But it would be great if someone, somewhere would consider those of us who don’t need a “101” class.

What about you? What do you think? Is there anything I missed? What more advanced professional development classes would you be interested in taking?