What’s next for WaddsCon: May report and future events

We’re going to continue running WaddsCon as long as people find it useful. Here’s a report from the May event and what’s coming up in June.

The May edition of WaddsCon covered a range of topics from the COVID-19 impact on client/agency relations to the impact on print, and from measurement frameworks to professionalism in public relations. You can catchup with the replay on YouTube.

• Farzana Baduel, founder and CEO, Curzon PR described how public relations has been recognised as a management discipline during the crisis however professional services have become transactional, leading to challenges for agency management.

• Asif Choudry, director, We Are Resource talked about how his printing-led business had seen a boom in packages sent by employers to employees. It is an innovative means of internal engagement that often spills out onto social media.

• Orla Graham, account director, CARMA spoke about measurement and shared a practical approach to developing a framework. Measurement is a frequently requested topic in feedback from WaddsCon delegates.

• Ursula Ojiji, MBA student, University of Ulster shares my view that public relations should be recognised as a profession. That requires qualifications, continuous learning, a robust code of conduct.

Developing the WaddsCon community

WaddsCon is a high energy, fast paced and fun learning and development event. Its goal is to provide a platform for original contributors to cover a diverse range of topics related to marketing, media and public relations.

The event is recognised as a learning and development activity by both the CIPR and PRCA. You can claim attendance as a continuous professional development activity.

WaddsCon is free to attend but we ask for a voluntary donation to The Bay Foodbank in Newcastle. We’ve raised £1,000 over the past two events. The conference format emerged from the House of Marketing, Media and PR community during the first UK lockdown. More than 700 delegates have taken part in the four events.

We are going to continue running events for as long as people keep pitching to speak and delegates turn up. We are currently booking speakers for July and September. Please let us know if you have got a topic that you think would inspire the WaddCon audience.

We’re also opening up events for sponsorship to provide an opportunity for vendors to showcase a tool or service. We’ll limit this to one vendor slot per event. If this is of interest to you please get in touch.

WaddsCon: June – 1-2pm, 25 June

We’re four more great speakers lined up for the June event – 1-2pm, 25 June - covering topics including accessible communication, lifting energy levels in PR teams post-lockdown, socio-economic diversity, and attracting talent to the public relations industry.

Please follow this link for booking information. I hope that you can join us.