The Customer Economy: What its arrival means for PR, Journalism, Marketing, and the Consumer

Every year the media landscape continues to consolidate and journalists are becoming less responsive, leaving PR professionals wondering how to cut through the noise. To break through the noise, you have to be transparent, brief, and top of mind for journalists. Learning from Peter Shankman’s successes in founding HARO (Help A Reporter Out) and The Geek Factory, Inc., this special seminar offered by PRSA-San Francisco will teach the skills needed to stand out from the crowd. This event is a great opportunity for PR professionals looking to bolster their PR prowess.

Staying true to our mission of bringing national-caliber speakers to our area, we’re bringing Peter to San Francisco! This event will sell out so get your tickets now. Peter spends the majority of his time on the road, keynoting corporate events for clients including American Express, Sheraton, Saudi Aramco, Cisco, SAP, Sprint, The US Department of Defense, Walt Disney World and many more. In his little spare time, he is a NASA Advisory Board member, angel investor in multiple start-ups,

This session will address:
●  The era of transparency: Honesty and the Media
●  Journalistic Relevance: How to get it when it matters
●  Brevity: Why you have 2.7 seconds to reach your audience
●  Top of Mind: How to stay "first to thought" in journalist's heads, 24/7.

Date: 
Wednesday, May 18, 2016
8:00 a.m. -- 12:00 p.m.

Location: 
Wells Fargo Training Center 
333 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94104 

Pricing:

Regular Price:  $149/members, $199 non-members

PRSSA Member Student:  $100 (Limited Tickets)

PRSSA Non-Member Student:  $125 (Limited Tickets)

NOTE:  Special group pricing for groups of 4 or more from the same company.  Group price is $110 each for group attendees.  If you would like to attend as a group, email our office at info@prsasf.org if you would like to attend as a group. 

Agenda:
8:30-9:00 a.m.  Registration and Networking 
9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. – May PD Workshop

Pitching in the era of the ADHD Journalist and Buzz-fed producer

Journalists receive hundreds of PR pitches a day, so it’s unlikely that they will spend more than 30 seconds reading your email. So how do you get them to pay attention? You get creative!

Sometimes, a cat-GIF is more powerful than an exclusive. This session will focus on teaching strategies to reach the most elusive journalists. Using a mix of traditional and non-traditional PR methods, Peter will lead a workshop on how to get creative.

Listening to the Digital Wind: Understanding the pitfalls and the perils of the shifting communications landscape, and learning how to take advantage of it. (Role Playing included)

There’s nothing like putting what you learned into action, and that’s what we’re going to do. This session will allow attendees to role play the new strategies they’ve learned throughout the day. Utilizing information on the consolidating media landscape and how to cut through the noise to stand out, participants will be able to work through a variety of situations facing the communications industry in real-time.

Q and A with Peter Shankman  

Q:  What are three takeaways you are hoping attendees to leave with from your PRSA SF Professional Development workshop? 

A:  Transparency | Brevity | Top of Mind Presence

 Q:  How do you reach and engage elusive journalists?

A:  Again, do your homework. No one is 100% elusive. Even if you just figure out what they're reading, or figure out their writing style, that's something. It's not hard. But it does take work.

Q:  What are some pet peeves you have when it comes to PR professionals these days?

A:  Again, laziness. How hard is it to google me before you pitch? Truly? How hard is it??  

Q.  What are your thoughts on how PR has evolved over the years?

A:  PR has become quicker. We need to be more aware, do more homework, and be smarter. There's no room in this business anymore for laziness.

Q:  Has social media and the “24/7” news cycle helped or hurt the communications industry?

A:  It's done neither. We simply need to adapt to a different way of working. We figure out the way the journalists we're targeting work, and track and pitch accordingly.

Q:  What are your thoughts on who anyone arguably can be a journalist due to social media?

A:  Anyone can produce content. Very few people can produce quality content repeatedly. That's what differentiates.

Q:  What are some PR trends you see emerging in our industry?

A:  Mobile. We need to assume no one owns a regular computer anymore. Also, understand how a journalist likes to be contacted, and reach out accordingly. Do NOT waste time trying to get a journalist to adapt to you. Adapt to THEM.

Q:  Do you have any tips/advice to offer someone new in the PR industry?

A:  Make sure you truly love it before you dive in. If you don't truly love it, you'll never be any good at it.