Preparing for the Digital Future
Jenny and Sophie recently attended the Chartered Institute of Public Relations 2019 National Conference, held at the British Library in London. With over 150 PR pros attending, the event covered a wide range of interesting topics relating to this year’s theme of preparing for the digital future.
There was an impressive line-up of speakers including Joanna Blackburn from the Government Digital Service, Peter Cheese from the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development, Tony Langham from Lansons, researcher and broadcaster Stephanie Hare, Lawrence Ampofo of the Digital Mindfulness podcast and Adrian Ma from Fanclub PR.
Despite the speakers coming from a variety of backgrounds, disciplines and industries, there were some core themes threaded throughout the event:
- The pace of change and rapid adoption of new technologies have changed everything – across all aspects of how we live and how we work.
- We are living in increasingly uncertain times, which is fuelling the breakdown of trust.
- Trust is declining everywhere – whether that is with governments, brands, media or institutions.
- In this time of misinformation – reputation has never been more important.
- Democracy and what it means, is being questioned from all sides.
- Ethics, particularly in terms of technology and data, are an increasingly hot topic and is something that brands must take a firm stance on.
As well covering these big, important topics, the conference also covered a range of practical, hands-on tips for PRs. These included:
- How to harness the valuable data from google searches – the modern day “confessional box” (top tip – check out free tool Ask the Public!)
- Plenty of award-winning inspo from successful campaign case studies
- Tips on how to make the most of opportunities presented by voice speakers, organic search, paid search and shoppable content!
We left the conference with a clear understanding of some changes we can make to our work now, to give our clients a real digital advantage.
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