When Hurricane Mathew hit the Western Atlantic and the south eastern United States I took a quick trip down memory lane to October 2012 when Hurricane Sandy in the north east United States disrupted travel plans of the big wigs of the world of PR for the inaugural global PR Summit organised by The Holmes Report in Miami. The dates have remained almost the same and the venue has not changed.
I was fortunate to be part of the first two editions while I was still employed at Edelman Chicago. I could not make travel plans in 2014 and 2015. However, it has beautifully worked out that I can be in Florida to attend the edition in 2016 during my whirlwind 10-day tour of five cities in the US. I’m able to make this trip after a successful fifth edition of PRAXIS – a summit for communications professionals in India I co-founded in 2012. I’m also honoured to be a part of the Class of 2016 of the Holmes Report Innovators 25 list in Asia Pacific.
I have managed to convince half a dozen friends in Indian PR to make this investment of time and money to attend what I think is the world’s finest gathering of men and women in Public Relations. I’m hoping Hemant Gaule, Ajit Pai, Vineet Handa, Sonia Dhawan, Amit Misra and couple of others will find this as worthwhile as I did in 2012 and 2013.
Here are five reasons to attend the upcoming edition –
- Some of the finest minds will be speaking on some very interesting topics. Five speakers I have heard before and I am looking forward to hearing once again include my favourite Alan Vandermolen of WE Communications, Don Baer of BM, David Armano of Edelman, Rob Flaherty of Ketchum and Aaron Shernian of UN Foundation.
- I’m also keenly looking forward to meeting for the first time at least five superstars including and not limited to Sonia Madeira (fellow Innovator 25), Guillaume Herbette of MSLGROUP, Renee Wilson of the PR Council, Mark Penn of The Stagwell Group and Chris Lewis of Lewis PR.
- Some of the topics being discussed are certainly going to be eye-openers. Few that stand out are: Earned Influence and the Power of Integration; From Followers to Creative Disruptors focusing on Chinese companies; Micro Tribes and the Future of Marketing; Culture Wars: A Conversation with Brands on Leading Culture, Not Following It; Micro-Tribes & the Future of Marketing – these are the five I do not want to miss out and more details are at http://events.holmesreport.com/gprs/programme
- The Welcome Reception and the Sabre Awards Dinner are two memorable evenings not to be missed including some great event management by Dreinull. I think there is a lot to learn from these smart professionals.
- Miami, Bal Harbour and St Regis are amazing as a city, a locality and a hotel. If nothing else, the vibes they offer are enchanting. I would give an arm and a leg to be in this part of the world once a year.
Paul Holmes and Arun Sudhaman are fine human beings and together they have built a fantastic platform. All it takes is some smart planning to be at this great few days of learning and sharing. I will be there. You should make it too. If not in 2016, then next year for sure. Hopefully the hurricanes will not play spoilsport.
He is also the Founding Dean of the School of Communications & Reputation (SCoRe).
He can be reached at @amithpr on twitter.
Be the first to comment on "Why attending PRovoke 2016 is such a big deal?"