With the rise of social and the changing winds in the media industry, is the role of the PR professional dead as we know it? Absolutely not. In fact, as Aedhmar noted during the panel, “with the evolution of communications landscape, the role of the PR professional is more paramount than ever.” In order to service clients better and surf through the changing waters, it is important for PR professionals to have a steady finger on the pulse of the industry and what the public is using.

For example, while social media is undoubtedly huge and here for good, what may be hot in the social media landscape now, may not be so next month. Pointing to the fall of the once dominant MySpace, Aedhmar noted the necessity of not just knowing the hot tools of the moment, but also what drives users and consumers to these tools. Understanding how and why social media tools are trending is a key importance for every PR professional.

Panelists who spoke alongside Aedhmar included Matt Harrington, Edelman U.S. President and CEO; Peter Land, PepsiCo Beverages Americas, SVP, Communications; and Martin Murtland, Dow Jones & Company, VP, Solutions for Corporate Communications.

I spoke with Aedhmar briefly after the panel to get her key takeaway – the importance for PR pros to make messages distinctly heard above the continuous chatter:

I was asked to participate as a member of the editorial team to help ensure that the content was relevant not only to individuals at the executive level, but to junior agency staff as well. Our firm’s first contribution was this video, where some of our digital natives talked about how we use peer media both inside and outside our organization.

If you have any feedback you’d like to share about the newsletter, please do so in the comments.

Aaron Uhrmacher, NYC

Text 100′s CFO Bruce Bishop also participated in the PR Agency Management conference, joining a panel discussion on "Setting and Achieving Key Financial Ratios to Increase Agency Profits."

Joining Aedhmar at the PRSA event this week will be fellow Text 100 employees Aaron Uhrmacher, peer media consultant, participating in a panel discussion on PR for Web 2.0, Erin Humphrey, vice president, presenting with client Xerox on Silver Anvil successes and Jessica Ward, account executive, who will be joining a recent graduate track aimed at PRSA attendees and recent graduates.

Six presentations in one week – thanks to all of our presenters!

Bulldog Reporter

On another note, Text 100 recently announced an alliance with Zuberance to create services that will help business communicators develop more trusted relationships with their constituencies.

-Radley Moss