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The venues are booked and the speakers are set for the “Get Social: A Blueprint for Social Media Strategy” Public Relations Student Society of America regional conference hosted by the IU’s Beth Wood Chapter. All that’s left to do now is get the word out, says conference coordinator Amy Bishop.

“It’s coming together really well,” said Bishop, a junior who is also the chapter vice president. “Now it’s just a matter of letting everyone know about it.”

The conference is April 8-9 and features multiple keynotes, breakout sessions, a networking dinner and a Social Tweet-up. Registration for daytime events is free. Those who wish to attend the networking dinner must pays $20 before March 3 and $25 after. Bishop said the event is open to everyone, including high school and college students, professionals, and faculty members.

“We have a lot of really top-notch speakers we’re very happy to have attending and speaking,” said Bishop. “They will say very inspiring things and provide great insight into using social media strategically.”

Speakers include Bloomington resident Jay Baer, entrepreneur and author of the blog, Convince and Convert. Communications Services International’s Michael Herman is the Saturday evening keynote speaker. His 40 years of experience in national and international public relations earned him the Public Relations Society of America Gold Anvil for Lifetime Career Achievement in 2009.

Bishop said attendees will have an experience that usually would cost hundreds of dollars.

“Given the expertise that’s going to be presented,” said Bishop, “it’s really an opportunity."

Chapter adviser and IU School of Journalism lecturer Dennis Elliott said the chapter has worked as a team to organize the conference. Members have been working since last fall, when PRSSA accepted their bid to host the event.

“It really requires an engagement of the whole membership to pull off a truly professional event of this nature,” said Elliott.

Photo by Ryan Dorgan

Junior Amy Bishop is coordinating the conference. She said the low cost and high caliber of speakers present a real value for attendees.

Other conference committee members include assistant coordinator Darcy Marlett, sponsorship director and chapter president Kristina Hunter, hospitality director Rachel Saltsgaver, program director Lauren Schaefer, social media director Jayne Flax, PR director Ellie Barlow and volunteer director Kelsey Smith.

The experience of campaigning for the opportunity and then implementing the event planning has also been valuable for the students involved, said Elliott, especially given the timely topic of social media.

“Social media right now is one of the hot topics in the PR field, particularly how it’s used with strategic marketing,” he said. “It’s not about how to Tweet, but about when and why you Tweet.”

Elliott, who will host a break out session at the conference especially for high school attendees, also teaches a social media strategy course at IU and said the content is constantly evolving.

“Everyday, I could teaching something new,” said Elliott.

To register for the conference and see a full list of speakers, visit the conference website. And, fittingly, you can find them on Facebook and Twitter.

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