Around 600 students and pros attend first-ever Global Youth Public Relations Convention
Around 600 communications students and PR professionals from around the world attended IMPACT: The Global Youth Public Relations & Communications Convention, recently held last November 29 to December 2. Organized by the Global Alliance, the online event provided new knowledge and tools that will help the attendees succeed in their profession.
This is the first-ever online international convention that engaged both the professional and academic sectors in the PR and communications industry.
Attendees from North America to Asia, the Middle East to Latin America, and Africa to Europe gathered to learn from highly-acclaimed thought leaders in the PR & communications field.
FOUR DAYS OF LEARNING
The four-day global convention started with Jennifer Muir, the principal adviser, Communication and Engagement at the Commission, and her talk Putting the Spotlight on Mental Health: Driving Conversations through PR and Communication.
Muir discussed the foundations of effective communication from Australia’s experience, the power of using behavioural insights and research, and effective communication in COVID-19 and the pandemic.
The session was moderated by T. Serra Gorpe, APR at the University of Sharjah College of Communication.
On November 30, Group Managing Director of CMC Connect (Perception Managers), Yomi Badejo-Okusanya shared his insights in What's The Plan?: Understanding Crisis Communication.
Okusanya provided several case studies to better understand the different realities of past crises and how, through effective PR & Communications, professionals and students alike can contribute real-life solutions.
Making it an engaging discussion was Patience Nyange, who moderated the session.
On December 1, Ángel Alloza talked about Approaching the Future 2021: Trends in Reputation and Intangible Asset Management. He discussed the main trends on reputation, brand, sustainability, transparency and business ethics.
Moderated by Hemant Gaule, dean of the School of Communications & Reputation, the session dove deep into the trends of reputation management.
The last day of the convention was all about Maximizing Your Personal Brand with Jacqueline Strayer and Mei Zhu. Strayer is a communication and marketing expert, consultant, educator, and cultural enthusiast. She is the founder of the Global Brand Convergence℠ and graduate faculty member at New York University and Columbia University.
In her talk, Strayer talked through how to conceptualize, organize and advance personal brands. She also shared practical tactics on how to strategically address personal brands to support career growth.
Strayer was joined by her former student Mei Zhu, a human-first, data-driven global digital marketer. Zhu shared her own The 90-Second You℠ video, Strayer’s proprietary process to help people reimagine how to present themselves digitally.
The session was moderated by Peter Finn, executive director of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC).
THE GLOBAL IMPACT
Out of 600 registrants from different parts of the world, more than half (64.6%) of the registrants were students, while 35.4% were professionals.
"Overall, I am glad that it pushed through. It was a privilege on my end to work on the first-ever Impact convention," says Ana Pista, Global Alliance's director and chair of the Student's and Young Practitioners Month. "I've always been an advocate of including the young professionals and students for they are the future leaders of this industry."
These communications professionals and graduating students are currently or will be advising different brands and government leaders in deploying communications programs for various causes. IMPACT hopes to share knowledge that will help accelerate progress in society.
"This convention would not have been possible without the cooperation and help extended by the GA family," Pista continues. "It is thanks to them that this project was a success."
MISSED THE LIVE SESSION?
Those who were not able to attend the live sessions can still catch up on discussions during the four-day convention.
"No excuses not to learn," Pista adds. "Students and young professionals are still welcome to watch and access the recorded sessions on the Global Alliance website."
The recorded sessions will be available up until January.
"We aim to do this on a yearly basis," says Justin Green, President and CEO of Global Alliance. "The Student & Young Practitioner Month will be a continuous effort from Global Alliance to reach out to students and young professionals and help them expand their knowledge and their networks."