The major issues of the PR field today via the PRSSANC

This past weekend, I was given the amazing opportunity to attend the PRSSA National Conference. The entire event was extraordinarily beneficial and a huge learning experience for a young, future professional. The lessons learned and the speakers who discussed them will forever remain imbedded in my mind and I wish that I was able to share all of their insights with you. However, that is not possible, and I have instead decided to share two speaker's intuitive perspectives regarding the major issues young PR pros need to be concerned with today.

The session was entitled "Meet the Living Legends of PR" and the speakers were Mary Beth West of Mary Beth West Communications and Keith Burton of Brunswick Group. Here is what they concluded regarding the matter:

• "Change will always be a part of your life, prepare for it"
• Have a mindset of lifelong learning
• Invest in yourself

• "PR pros need to be business leaders"
• Understand how the world works

• "Measurement is at the heart of what we do"
• Be sure to always provide return and validity

• "Be aware of the role we play as mentors for older generations"
• Teach them the best ways to utilize social media

• "Remember that PR is more of a science than an art"
• Our work is quantitative, reinforce that

• "Be wary of the PR PR problem"
• Advocate for the profession and reflect the highest values of what we do

• "Do the basics incredibly well"
• Write well, speak well, and manage projects well
• Sweat the small stuff

• "Go back to the things that have not changed and master them"
• These include communication, relationships, and reputation

All of these points are incredibly important and essential for all of our future careers. Ultimately, this session, along with numerous other ones, was powerful and truly epitomized the extraordinariness that is public relations. I can confidently say that I left the conference with a sense of belonging and a true belief that "if you find something you love, you'll never work a day in your life.