An EuroAtlantic summit of senior social media and public relations academics and practitioners will take place, as already indicated in this and other blogs (www.euroblog2008.org) , in Bruxelles from March 13 to 15.
The still preliminary, but almost definite, (I am a member of the organizing committee) seems to me rather juicy, as it combines the theoretical thinking of academics and scholars with the practice-oriented approach of senior practitioners from both sides of the Atlantic.
The event is organized by an unprecedented partnership between Euprera (Europe’s most relevant association of scholars and academics in public relations www.euprera.org) and Edelman, the world’s largest independent public relations firm with a thorough, pioneering and intense engagement (although somewhat bumpy, as is often the case for pioneers) in social media and also organizer of a truly stimulating North American pilot project, last summer in New York .
As much as this partnership has succeeded in its inception in raising a few eyebrows amongst discontented Edelman competitors (who even said that Euprera was acting as a front group without knowing they would not even pass a college freshman exam as front groups do not declare their partnerhips otherwise they would not be called ‘front’…), as well as isolated stiff and tight upperlip academics, I wish to take at least part of the responsibility and say that I am very proud and confident that this project will pave the way for many more cooperative ventures between industry and education, which is what both professionals and scholars have always said they needed most (at least this is what they say in research….).
The title of the conference is:
Social Media and the Future of PR: new ideas, new research, new business.
The highly diversified sessions (interactive panels, keynote addresses, presentation of papers) will cover the following themes:
°why social media matters to public relations
°teaching social media
°what is next for new media: thinking and acting in the new environment
°five years back, five years ahead
°social media in action
°where we need to go and what we need to get there
°evolutionary, psychological and social drivers
°ethics, policy and public sphere
°lessons learned and future directions.
The 50 scheduled presenters will be from at least 13 different countries including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, USA, UK.
In the truly impressive line up of presenters I won’t single out any names, as they are all much too relevant to risk a selection.
Just look at the program!
I can’t think of any event with this level of active participants.
If I were you and you, like me, were an educator and/or a professional concerned about the relationship between social media and public relations, I would seriously think of registering immediately before the 100 cap number is reached.
