Bloggers Convince PRSA to Add Blogging Workshop to PRSA 2004 Conference

A handful of bloggers, spurred on by me, has moved a 30,000-member international organization to change course. Bowing to pressure from me and other bloggers, a blogging workshop has been added to the PRSA 2004 International Conference. "Straight Talk about Blogs and PR," on Tuesday, Oct. 26 from 8:30 - 9:45 am, will be produced by Steve O'Keefe of the International Association of Online Communicators (IAOC.) It features O'Keefe, me and Steve Rubel. I'll also be blogging live from the conference.

As Rick Bruner so aptly noted in Business Blog Consulting: Blogging 1, Old School PR 0: they caved.

The workshop will cover "how blogs work, how they can hurt you, how to influence them, and how to manage the time toll they take." (You won't see it online, at least not yet, because PRSA is not using a blog for its conference site and therefore has to wait for IT people to update the program.)

PRSA got a sample of the power of blogging with this week's online conversations and sniping about their lack of awareness of current marketing and PR tools.

Anyone who enters "PRSA 2004 Conference" in Google will now find my posts about the lack of a blog workshop in the top 20 results and other bloggers who commented on my posts moving up quickly. And that happened in a matter of days because search engines love blogs and their constantly updated, link-laden content.

In addition, on November 8 to 12, IAOC will present an online BlogFest, in which "five blog experts in five days will discuss public relations and blogging.

Confirmed blogmasters so far include B.L. Ochman, Steve Rubel, and Kevin O'Keefe, president of lexBlog, a company that builds blogs for law firms and attorneys (no relation to Steve O'Keefe). Since Ochman and Rubel have been sniping at each other online, we are referring to this week-long presentation as "The Thrilla' in Mozilla"! Please see the IAOC website for the final schedule and list of presenters."

Comments

Posted by: Alice Marshall at October 15, 2004 8:45 PM

Posted by: Steve Rubel at October 15, 2004 8:55 PM

Posted by: Steve Rubel at October 15, 2004 8:56 PM

Posted by: B.L. Ochman at October 15, 2004 9:11 PM

Posted by: Neville Hobson at October 16, 2004 10:31 AM

Posted by: Don Dunnington at October 16, 2004 5:14 PM

Posted by: Yvonne DiVita at October 17, 2004 6:34 PM

Posted by: B.L. Ochman at October 17, 2004 7:57 PM

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