Come see me speak Wednesday March 25

Far be it for me to turn this site into a latent self-promotion tool, but such is life. Part of the reason I haven’t had much of anything useful to say lately is because I’m preparing for these things that are popping up all over the place. The first I’ll tell you about is the March PRSA luncheon at Harrah’s next Wednesday.

I’ll be the guest speaker in front of what could amount to a tough crowd. I was asked to come talk about things in the “new media” realm, which I’m sure will make a few of you sick. Except when I was asked, Kevin Knutson, the Co-VP of Programming, said that he was especially intrigued by the pretty heated and lively discussions on this site and Reno Baby! on the topic. His idea was that I should be able to put something together that addresses what the heck is going on out there and how might PR professionals become a part of it. Here is the idea:

By now, just about everyone in a communications profession knows that they have to take things like blogs and social networks seriously. But what does that really mean? As someone who has been a part of those things since the early days and has had success in fostering some very lively and relevant discussions, Ryan will talk about how the different communities built on those online tools work and what your participation on them can do for you and your company.

I plan on keeping it very conversational. I don’t like to give speeches. I like to discuss. I will go into what makes a community actually work, as opposed to a bunch of people strung together and broadcasting. I love the Reno Baby! model for this, as there are tons of people there who I have never met, but have jumped in much more enthusiastically than ever happened on any blog I read. There are also people who could use a pointer or two on how to properly conduct themselves inside those communities.

If this interests you at all, come check it out. The luncheon is for the PRSA, but anyone can attend. You just have to RSVP. If you’re not a PRSA member, it’s $30. I’ll see you there.