Session Presenters Provide Sneak Peek of ICON 2024
By John Elsasser
September 2024
Four of the breakout session speakers gave PRSA members a sneak preview of the robust programming available at ICON 2024 during a virtual town hall on July 31.
Understanding the backlash
“Have you ever wondered why a loyal customer turns into your harshest critic?” asked Boston-based crisis communications expert Molly McPherson, APR. Her workshop, “Behind the Backlash: Understanding Agitators and Controlling a Crisis in the Digital Age,” will focus on “identifying the backlash and why it happens,” she said.
“We see this coming out, mostly, on social media,” McPherson said. "And it eventually lands in the news. I’m going to talk about why this happens and what’s the psychology behind a person deciding to say something online. Why do they go after someone? Is it personal? Or is it just schadenfreude? I’ll talk about what you can do as a communicator to help regain the trust of your stakeholders when something like this happens.”
Becoming a business influencer
Brandon Wilson, APR, Fellow PRSA, and executive chairman of the PR firm Wilbron in Birmingham, Ala., will present a workshop called “From Counsel to Influence: The PR Practitioner’s Essential Role in Shaping Business.”
With his colleague Missy Burchart, APR, Fellow PRSA, Wilson will discuss “the essentials needed to move from being a trusted counselor to becoming a business influencer,” he said.
“Two critical things are causing business leaders to rethink their business models,” Wilson said. “Number one is the impact that artificial intelligence is having on operational efficiency. The other thing that is happening is the impact on inflationary activities, which is causing business leaders to rethink the way they run their businesses.”
Understanding today’s C-suite
Matt Kucharski, APR, president of Padilla in Minneapolis, will present a session called “What’s Keeping Them Awake NOW? Inside the Minds of Today’s C-suite Leaders.” For a new study, his organization is interviewing more than 30 C-suite leaders to gauge “some of the things they’re challenged with,” Kucharski said.
“Their perception of worker well-being does not match employee perception of worker well-being,” he said. “They’ve invested a lot of time and effort in flexible work environments and more pay and new benefits, yet worker well-being is still really low, and they’re frustrated by that.”
Today’s C-suite leaders are “also communicating to four different generations in the workforce,” Kucharski said. “And as a result, they’re not quite sure where they’re supposed to land. ESG, DE&I, response to social issues is a fundamentally different environment now than in 2022, and [leaders are] trying to figure out how to manage that. All of this has implications for us as communicators.”
Making and mastering your point
Netta Dobbins, principal consultant and owner of Netta Dobbins Marketing & Communications in Nashville, Tenn., will present a session called “How to Get Your Point Across Quicker: Mastering the Art of Proactive Communication.”
With companies speaking to four generations in the workforce, “How do we get our point across, where people understand what we’re saying, where people are willing to collaborate with us, where people are willing to work with us to reach a common goal?” Dobbins asked.
“I’ll talk about how to communicate in the workforce and also with your clients and partners,” she said. "The way that we communicate as business owners may be a little different from the way that someone in the corporate workplace may communicate. We’re going to understand the psychology of communications and who you’re targeting.”
