At the PRSSA 2017 National Conference, I was inspired by the hundreds of PR students who charged into meeting accomplished professionals, networking with their peers and immersing themselves in revolutionary ideas. Because this was my first time attending a national conference, mingling within a vast, driven network and soaking in an immense amount of innovative insight was a bit overwhelming. If you’re not a seasoned conference attendee, I found that these simple tips helped me throughout my #PRSSANC experience: 
 
1. Get out of your comfort zone and network. As the largest gathering of PR students in the country, the PRSSA 2017 National Conference welcomed attendees from across the U.S. and South America. I quickly learned that conferences are amazing opportunities to meet industry peers with diverse backgrounds, experiences and ideas. If you’re intimidated by networking or are unsure where to start, try conversing with one person at a time, then with one group at a time. Don’t let your comfort zone stop you from meeting new people. The opportunity to make connections with hundreds of driven, diverse professionals is rare, so take advantage of it!
 
2. Attend sessions outside your expertise. We all have special interests and niches, but sessions outside of your expertise will expose you to valuable, new ideas. When I attended the session Message in Motion: Visual Storytelling, I dived into video content creation — which I have no experience in. Although it was out of my comfort zone, I was inspired and intrigued by the key information that was outside of my niche. By the end of the session, I was grateful that I exposed myself to a completely different aspect of the PR industry. Opening yourself to new ideas will give you a diverse perspective and understanding of our ever-evolving industry. You may even apply new information from different niches to your career.
 
3. Implement a digital detox to fully enjoy the sessions. I discovered dividing my attention between speakers and my mobile device was counterproductive. Don’t get me wrong, I love following the rapid tweets that are shot out throughout large events like these. The consistent online conversations during PRSSA’s national conference were awesome opportunities to engage with other attendees. However, I fully enjoyed the conference’s sessions once I put my phone in my bag, took handwritten notes and immersed myself in the innovative ideas that were being presented. Jump onto your social media platforms before, between and after sessions. I guarantee those online conversations will still be there.
 
4. Connect with speakers in-person and online. Don’t forget that you can make connections with the conference’s speakers as well. If you feel inspired by a speaker’s presentation, tell them either in-person, online or both. Keep an eye out for any contact information speakers provide such as social media handles, LinkedIn links or emails. This way, you can connect with them or ask follow-up questions. Make sure that you express what part of the presentation really resonated with you. If you’re authentic and kind in your questions and thank you notes, you’ll definitely make a good impression.
 
It’s important to make the most out of your conference experience! My PRSSA 2017 National Conference experience taught me to get out of my comfort zone and charge into the various opportunities that await professionals at these valuable industry events. What are some of your personal conference tips?

​The bustling city streets of Boston gained quite a few visitors during the week of the PRSSA 2017 National Conference. I was fortunate to be among the crowd that strolled through tall buildings encasing changing fall leaves as we made our way to sessions that would teach us about the field we would soon be entering.
The lessons I learned during my four-day visit spanned far past the behavioral differences between east and west coast dwellers. It gave me tangible objectives to secure a guaranteed spot as a new PR professional.
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New Pros Drop Truth Bombs
 
The first morning of the conference, I looked through sleepy eyes (thanks to jet lag) at the Dunkin’ Donuts menu for the first time, clueless as to what I should order. That same unfamiliar confusion can be applied to how many of us graduating students feel when navigating what to look for in a future job. Thankfully, PRSA gathered an entire network of people, the PRSA New Pros, to teach a conference session on what they learned from their first few years in the field.
 
The main lesson the PRSA New Pros addressed was calculated confidence. While they cautioned eager millennials, like myself, not to be the “hero” of the workplace, they conceded that we will be hired for a reason; our future workplaces want to know our skills and our unique perspectives.
 
There were tidbits of insightful advice flying from every direction of the room, but one stuck out to me in particular.
 
“You only get to be in an entry-level job once,” PRSA New Pro Chad Furst said. “That responsibility is coming, and embrace it when it does, but enjoy where you are now.”
 
Perhaps this resonated with me because of my overachieving nature, and perhaps it reminded me of a mantra I believe to be vital to our personal happiness — be mindful and content in the present moment.
 
Failure is an option and it’s…good?
 
Michael DiSalvo of Ogilvy and filmmaker Morgan Spurlock have two things in common: they captivate an audience with their humor and they’ve failed… a lot. They encourage us to do the same. DiSalvo taught us how to make a creative career out of just about any job position and to be fearless no matter what. He speculated all the possibilities with us. What if you get rejected?  Great, he told us, keep failing. It means you’re closer to your goals than before.
 
Spurlock, a speaker at the PRSA general session, tells us about the times he failed to garner support for his projects and even personal goals. His perseverance won every situation in the end and taught him more about himself than the successes.
 
“Everyone wants to be first to be second,” Spurlock said — referring to people finally joining the bandwagon of his ideas.
 
The two men’s personal anecdotes and accomplished careers convinced me to embrace the word “no” as a stepping stone. No matter what, though, DiSalvo says to let your persona shine through every facet of your work.
 
“Experience gets you in the door, but personality gets you a job,” DiSalvo said.
 
Main Takeaways
 
Every moment of the weekend was filled with motivating, fire-igniting information that made me determined to fill my last semesters of college with intentional professional development. And so, I will. I never dreamed that my major choice would lead me to such a dynamic field filled with the most compassionate, social professionals, but I’m sure glad it did.
 
In the true spirit of PR, I will look for opportunities to give the community and PRSSA the opportunities and hope for the future they have given to me throughout my college career. In the meantime, I’ll be connecting with my new PR best friends from around the country on LinkedIn and dreaming of firms I will someday have the opportunity to collaborate with. 

I regretted my decision at first.

It had been a long week filled with the usual problems a senior in college faces: assignments, deadlines, meetings and more than one phone call to my mom asking her to remind me why I work so hard for what can feel like so few results.

The last thing I wanted to do was give the majority of my weekend to anything but my bed, but that was exactly what I signed up for. So on a Saturday morning, I left the comfort of my sheets and rubbed sleep out of my eyes as I hurried to Hotel del Coronado to volunteer at the Arthur W. Page Society Annual Conference.

Here’s how what felt like a huge sacrifice turned into the reminder I desperately needed:

I basked in the glow of PR royalty. Before the event, I knew about the Arthur W. Page Society and how the Page Principles serve as the gold standard for public relations practitioners. However, it wasn’t until I looked closer at the attendees list that I realized that the Arthur W. Page Society membership is made up of the absolute best in our profession. From CCOs of Fortune 500 companies and CEOs of global PR firms to distinguished faculty who teach at top communications and business schools, you’d be hard pressed to find a group of more accomplished individuals in PR. (And if you’re wondering, SDSU is represented in this elite membership by School of Journalism and Media Studies Director Dr. Bey-Ling Sha. So yes, JMS is as awesome as you think.)

As a student, the opportunity to interact with these thought leaders, and lightly stalk them on LinkedIn, was nothing short of inspirational. In college, it can be easy to forget why you’re there and why it matters. Shaking hands with someone who was once just like me, and has since found incredible success, helped me understand that every step of my journey is important — no matter how difficult and never-ending it seems.

I had thoughtful conversations. In my day-to-day life, I don’t have nearly enough good discussions. I talk with people, but the conversations are usually surface level, with the focus being on achieving something rather than engaging in ideas. For me, it always seems easier to talk to someone over a shared task, and there’s no better place to do so than when you’re volunteering. Whether it was putting together binders for the conference staff or manning the registration desk, I found myself able to speak more candidly with my peers than I would in a normal scenario. Each conversation seamlessly accompanied the work we were put to.

I even had the opportunity to speak with a Page Society staff member, who told me about her college years as a PR student and how she discovered her passion for event planning through her current job. She was so forthcoming with her story and her advice to a young pre-professional, but I would have never felt comfortable asking her questions if we hadn’t built rapport over our tasks throughout the day. Sometimes as a volunteer, your responsibilities can be tedious, but using the simple work to start conversations led me to an eye-opening discussion and food for thought when I got home.

I left with passion and drive. As hard as it is to give up my free time, I have never gone to a professional event and left disappointed. This experience was no exception. It always feels good to volunteer your time and contribute to something you care about. That feeling grows even stronger when you leave feeling reaffirmed in who you are and who you aspire to be. At the end of the weekend, I drove home still as physically tired as I was when I arrived, but my mental energy was restored. I realized that there are always going to be periods of my life where my victories feel few and far between, but that doesn’t mean I’m not making progress.

It’s important to put your experiences — both positive and negative — into perspective and understand how they fall into your bigger picture. I’m at a point in my life where I feel incredibly uneasy and indecisive about my future, but I know that I want to continue improving by supporting the PR and communications profession in any way I can. For that reason — and for the aforementioned experiences discussed — I am thankful I volunteered my time at the Arthur W. Page Society Annual Conference.

How has volunteering reignited your passions? Let us know in the comments below!