As a professional communicator, there are few places that you can immediately connect with peers and share common experiences on a personal and professional level, and that is why I loved attending the annual CPRS-VI Annual General Meeting (AGM) – Privacy and Public Relations & AGM 2018 – on June 6.
The event was a great opportunity to talk, share and laugh with other like-minded professionals about what we do in our work lives. It was also a chance to network with many of Victoria’s employers – from government to not-for-profit – and to make new friends in our island community.
For those that couldn’t make it, here is a short recap.
In her opening remarks, CPRS-VI President Peggy Kulmala APR gave us the brief overview on what is in store over the coming months, including:
CPRS National is getting a new website! (Did I hear you say woot woot?). We were treated to a little sneak peek at the AGM and it looks fabulous, fresh and a great showcase for public relations in Canada. CPRS-VI will likely to be able to tap into the new design, which is exciting – more news on that to follow.
CPRS National continues to build on the white paper released June 2017, and released its strategic planning framework, which redefines CPRS’ vision where our members are recognized as champions for ethical, strategic public relations and communications management.
CPRS-VI is busy planning the next Beyond the Hype for November 23, 2018. The biennial conference brings together public relations practitioners and leaders from across British Columbia to connect with each other and to learn about emerging trends and issues affecting our community of practice.
Peggy also took the time to thank all those who helped make 2017/2018 a success: our volunteers, donors and sponsors as well as all the great employers who chose to list their career opportunities through CPRS-VI. For more information on these fantastic folks and organizations, check out our 2017/2018 Annual Report!
Next up was the AGM itself, Treasurer Celia Sollows APR gave us an overview of our financial standing and we voted in our 2018/2019 board of directors, including myself!
Then, we moved on to some professional development. Jason Woywada, a seasoned comm pro with a specialization in privacy protection, presented Ethical Considerations of Privacy in our Practice. This is an important issue that Jason has been studying for his Master’s thesis, brought to the fore by the Cambridge Analytica and Facebook data breach. Jason made the point that privacy issues are complex and that as communicators we need to make sure we educate ourselves to legislation. Not being aware of privacy issues is not acceptable any more and these rules are changing all the time.
We ended the formal programme with announcing the recipients of over $1,000 in door prizes, thanks to generous donations by local artisan Dennis Atkinson and our friends at BC Ferries, the City of Victoria and the Royal Bank of Canada. Elana Ilott, Janet Stewart and Virginia Keast walked away with beautiful jewellery, free ferry trips, wine and tea plus gift cards and piggy banks. Wow – congratulations to all!
Thanks to all our event volunteers: Beth Atkinson (lead organizer), Elana Ilott (photographer), and Kash Akinkuowo(registration) and to our speakers: Peggy, Celia and Jason. It was a great event!
Look out for more news and events coming from CPRS-VI soon – don’t miss an opportunity to learn and connect with your fellow public relations practitioners – you never know what doors may open for you!
More event photos in the CPRS-VI FlickR album here.