The Life of a District Conference Coordinator: Q&A with Elena Erdley
What’s it Like Being a District Conference Coordinator?
As the submission deadline for the 2026 District Conference Application Form approaches, we wanted to gain more insight into the experience of being a District Conference Coordinator! Our Vice President of Events & Fundraising sat down with 2025 Conference Coordinator Elena Erdley to discuss her key learnings from the process.
In March of 2025, Erdley and the Temple University Chapter hosted the Mid-Atlantic District Conference, Game On: PR in Sports, welcoming 82 attendees from 13 universities and 12 speakers. With sessions about crafting sports media strategies and the new age of college athletics, Erdley and her team utilized Philadelphia’s sports heritage to help PR students to enhance their playbook, exchange ideas, and forge valuable connections in the world of sports media.
- Tell us a little bit about your time as a District Conference Coordinator.
As we planned Game On, we were passionate about making it a District Conference. Not only because of the support and the promotion from PRSSA, but also because it was a new challenge—our Chapter had done District Conferences before, but not during our time at Temple. Once our bid was accepted, I went to ICON, met with other District Conference Coordinators, and started talking to potential attendees. I felt like it was really going to come together, and that people were interested in coming.
In terms of the planning process, we were a small team so it was a lot of work. I think it’s a good experience to have a project that could have consumed all of your time. It gave me a chance to set up good work-life boundaries.
- What was the most challenging part of being a District Conference Coordinator and how did you overcome it?
The most challenging aspect of planning a conference is managing your time effectively. When planning an event, times where you feel like nothing is pressing, but you can still do things for yourself ahead of time. For example, I started designing our program at the end of December because no one was responding to my speaker inquiries during the holiday season. I thought, “I have all of this time on my hands. What am I able to do to help myself in the future?”
It can also be challenging to express the value of your conference to other Chapters. Your conference can be spectacular, but that doesn’t mitigate the travel and accommodation expenses for other Chapters.
With Game On: PR in Sports, we had the privilege of being in Philadelphia. Because of our location, we had access to wonderful professionals in sports PR, and created a unique opportunity for attendees to meet them at one event. We had some major representation there—people who work with the Eagles, the Flyers, and the ‘76ers—which was a big selling point. This allowed us to draw attendees from 14 PRSSA Chapters.
- What was the most rewarding part of being a District Conference Coordinator?
The most rewarding thing was getting to see all of the attendees enjoying themselves and learning. We had a group of students that were truly invested even in the early morning. I really loved seeing everybody’s pens moving in their notebooks and students stopping speakers after sessions to network. I know good relationships were built, and I got a lot of joy from walking by them and hearing attendees talk about the sessions!
- Tell us about the moment when everything came together.
For me, it was when we confirmed our keynote speaker, Katie Kizitaff, who is in charge of team publicity for the Flyers. She had been someone I really wanted at our Conference throughout the whole process. I knew it was a reach to have her speak, and I was getting really worried because I had my heart set on her.
When I got the email back saying she could make it, it was an internal deep breath and realization of, “I’m good now.” I knew that we were going to get more publicity from Temple channels because she was a Temple alum, I knew that we were going to get more people interested because she was with the Flyers—just so many things lined up with her, so it felt like an angel moment.
- What was one idea you didn’t get the chance to implement?
One idea that I wanted to implement—was to have some of the mascots from the Philly teams attend our welcome event the night before or stop by at Game On. It would have been fun and interactive, and people could have gotten photos. Most importantly, it would have been something really unique. But mascots are really expensive,. so it’s okay that we didn’t get them. If I could go back and do it again—I don’t even know how, but—I would have made it happen.
- What is one piece of advice you have for this year’s District Conference Coordinators?
Use the connections that your professors have. Inviting your professors to speak is great—they’re people with experiences, too—but keep in mind that they want to help you, and they know people who work everywhere. In the same vein, your university will have alumni who may want to help. I did a lot of searches with variations of “Temple University alumni in sports communications” and it was a great starting point when first messaging potential speakers. Reach out to your professors and your college because that will get you a lot further than a random cold call.
Still on the fence about hosting? The PRSSA International Committee is here to help you! Contact the Vice President of Events & Fundraising at vpevents@prsa.org.
Elena Erdley is a senior at Temple University majoring in Public Relations with a minor in Event and Entertainment Management and a certificate in Children’s Media. This year she is the vice president of Temple’s PRSSA Chapter.
