District Conference Recap: ImPRoving: The Revolution of PR (Universidad de San Martín de Porres 2021)
For the second time in its history, the Universidad de San Martín de Porres (USMP) PRSSA Chapter hosted a District Conference. In this opportunity, the Peruvian Chapter hosted a three-day virtual conference that received more than 290 students each day. “ImPRoving: The Revolution of PR” was held on April 6, 7 and 8, being the last District Conference of the year.
There were fifteen speakers from Peru, USA, and Latin American countries. They shared with the audience their experience in communications and covered different topics.
The first day started with a keynote panel, where Ursula Block, Nadia Castro, and Ruben Sanchez discussed strategies to maintain productivity and assertiveness in organizations during Covid-19. In Peru, panelists were recognized for implementing rapid communication actions in order to avoid a strong impact on their organizations during the first months of the pandemic.
After that, Ricardo Sifuentes, politic communications specialist, explained some strategies to manage a political crisis. Sifuentes showed how problems that took place in the region were managed by some government’s authorities and the impact on their reputation and approval among the population.
Day two had an international panel that included Lilian Denham from Chile, CEO at RED EG, Jorge D’Garay from Mexico, member of the PRSA Board of Directors, and Gabriel de la Cruz from Peru, president at Presente NPO. The moderator was Andrea Gils, who discussed with them the role of the social communicator in cultural diversity and how important the development of diversity and inclusion is in companies and society. Speakers agreed and told attendees: “The strategy is to persuade the environment to become more diverse and prevent them from attacking the one they consider different”.
From Mexico, Inés Guardia, an expert in social responsibility, demonstrated the importance of applying sustainability techniques to our society and bringing long-term benefits for companies.
At the end of the day, National Committee’s Rachel Meltzer and Haniya Shariff connected with students in the PRSSA Leadership Summit. They shared interesting updates from PRSSA National and the benefits that any student can get in the Society. In addition, Meltzer recognized the work done by the conference committee and Shariff congratulated Latin American members for taking part in initiatives such as hosting a District Conference and have representation through the International Ambassadors and National Subcommittees.
The last day of the conference started with two simultaneous workshops. Sonia Cáceres and Madeca Palacios were able to share with participants all their experience in soft skills and personal branding, respectively. They interacted with the students by some activities in group, like checking their resumes and sharing some feedback.
Mariano Iovine, Faculty Adviser of the Argentinian Chapter, told assistants how to be an effective leader in times of crisis. “To be a good leader, believe and be your own leader, communicate effectively and show interest in others”, he stated. After his session, Zoom’s chat was full of questions and comments he answered.
Finally, the Peruvian Chapter closed the event with a cultural session, where Aldair Sánchez, professional singer of afro-criollo music, performed some songs that motivated everyone to start dancing.
ImPRoving was supported by three students from Florida International University PRSSA Chapter who helped with live language interpretation, so people that didn’t speak Spanish could understand all the sessions.
In summary, “ImPRoving: The revolution of PR” was an amazing conference that allowed members from USMP Chapter to connect and network with Latin American and US members, as well as professionals from different parts of the region. Topics and speakers showed attendees how the industry is changing and how the next generation of PR professionals can improve.
If you would like to learn more about ImPRoving, scroll through USMP PRSSA’s Twitter to view a live Twitter chat, and visit the USMP PRSSA website.
Rodrigo Poblet is a senior Public Relations student at Universidad de San Martín de Porres (USMP) in Lima, Peru. He is the current president of the Peruvian Chapter. Also, he had the opportunity to lead Firma PR USMP, USMP’s Student-run Firm. In his free time, he works as a strategic planner, broadcaster, and magician. Connect with him on LinkedIn.
Dieter Tirado is a senior Public Relations student at Universidad de San Martín de Porres (USMP) in Lima, Peru. He is a PRSSA National Publications Subcommittee member, USMP PRSSA International Ambassador, and the assistant director of Firma PR USMP in his Chapter. During his free time, you can find him singing, connecting with people from around the world, and watching any kind of videos online just for fun. Connect with Dieter on LinkedIn and Twitter.
