UT's PR Day 2010

Friday I was able to attend the University of Tennessee's version of PRofessional CONNECTION: PR Day 2010. Being from Knoxville, I am very interested in the PR opportunities there, and was excited to see how UT's PRSSA chapter held the event in comparison to us.

The accumulation of conferences I have attended this year have not only built my professional network, but has begun to straighten the path of my future. Friday's experience was no exception. Some examples:

Networking:

1. I first heard about PR Day in Washington D.C. at PRSSA's National Conference from Mary Beth West, principle practitioner of Mary Beth West Consulting. She was supposed to be a panelist at the event, and encouraged me to look into attending.
2. Gary McCormick, PRSA Chair and director at Scripps Network (a.k.a. my dream job location), was also a primary speaker at PR Day. I had been hoping to set up an informational interview with Scripps when I went home for the holidays...
3. Luckily, our PRSSA Professional Advisor Neil Hirsch knew Mr. McCormick, and sent him an email last week introducing me. We were able to correspond through email, and meet face-to-face Friday.

Now, I have made multiple connections with professionals in both the Atlanta and Knoxville areas.

I think it is fairly obvious that my career path is starting to take shape through the networking examples. While I may not know exactly where I will end up, I am starting to get an idea of the sectors of PR I think I like best, and would best succeed.

This being said, I am definitely keeping an open mind about my options! Check out my quick video introducing PR Day... Yup, I've become that nerdy girl trying out video blogs!!