by Emma Polen | features editor
March 23, 2022
Pittsburgh’s Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) is hosting its annual conference at Duquesne and Point Park universities on April 1 and 2. This year’s conference, themed “Get to the Point,” will teach local college and high school students, as well as young professionals, skills for navigating the ever-changing world of public relations.
“Attendees will hear from professionals in the PR industry,” said Alyson Huth, president of the PRSSA chapter at Duquesne. “They can engage in a panel with young professionals and ask questions about their careers, and they will have the opportunity to network with public relation professionals in the community of Pittsburgh.”
Over the span of two days, PRSSA student organizers from both Duquesne and Point Park will lead attendees across campus-wide activities that will prepare them for a career in the field of public relations and advertising. Activities will include keynote addresses, breakout sessions, agency tours, networking, and a young professionals panel featuring Duquesne alumni.
The event begins Friday, April 1, at Duquesne.
From 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., PRSSA student volunteers will lead attendees through agency tours of Downtown Pittsburgh BCW, Red Havas, Highmark and Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership.
Following registration at 6 p.m., a keynote address by Deana Tomaselli from Motherhood and networking will end the night at 8 p.m.
On Saturday, April 2, attendees will start with registration at 8:15 a.m. at Point Park and a keynote address by Paul Furiga, president of WordWrite. Saturday will also feature multiple speaker sessions by public relations professionals from around Pittsburgh until 4:15, when attendees are invited to converse with the young professionals panel.
The district conference will conclude at 6 p.m. with a final keynote address about networking by Dan Ayer, co-founder, writer, director of PR and social media at Oyster Creative.
The event will bring together influential individuals from across the Pittsburgh public relations community.
“The public relations community in Pittsburgh is very strong. They really support students and their efforts to enter the field,” said Camille Downing, faculty advisor of
PRSSA at Point Park. “Having that time to meet face to face is invaluable.”
The networking portion of the conference will be beneficial to students looking to expand their connections in the professional PR world. Public relations professionals will be there for a variety of reasons, and some might be searching for potential job candidates.
“Networking is one of the most important aspects of the PR field,” Huth said. “Most of the time it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. You never know who’s hiring, and maybe you’ll come out of the weekend with a job!”
Guest speakers will be discussing a variety of interesting emerging PR techniques.
“Students will learn about selling your story and network, TikTok and Social Media, PR During the Pandemic, Non Profit Communications, Remote PR, and Successful Campaigns,” said Huth, naming a few of the events that students will have the chance to listen to at the conference.
The PRSSA 2022 Get to the Point District Conference is open to anyone looking to gain knowledge of the ever-changing PR industry.Registration is open through March 30, and attendees can purchase a full-access ticket for $40 at 2022gettothepoint.com.
