Whether new to Counselor's Academy or you've been joining us for years, you don't want to miss our preview of 2024's April Conference: Oasis in the Desert, Refreshing your Agency in 2024 and Beyond. Led by Conference Chair Ben Finzel, President of RENEWPR, a Washington, DC-based public affairs communications firm, and Co-Chair Missy Hurley, APR, CEO of B2 Communications, a St. Petersburg, Florida-based PR agency that works with growth-minded companies in technology, private equity and professional service sectors, you'll learn WHY you should join us this year and get a sneak peek of keynote speakers, conference seminars and MORE.

Don't risk FOMO. Mark your calendar for February 7th at 3:00 pm (Eastern) and register today.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year: time to get your agency house in order. From developing leadership, to developing a better performance management plan, to removing roadblocks you keep kicking down the road, it’s time to get the help you need to make 2024 your agency’s best year ever! Join us for the webinar that will give you the information and push you need to get started. Moderated by Ken Jacobs, PCC, CPC, ELI-MP, COR.E Leadership Dynamics Specialist of Jacobs Consulting & Executive Coaching, Peter Van Dyke is CEO of VVK PR + Creative and Kate Snyder, APR, CEO and Founder at Piper & Gold Public Relations will walk you through strategies for the new year in our Getting Your House in Order – Planning for 2024webinar. Be sure to reserve your spot today!

Moderator – Ken Jacobs, PCC, CPC, ELI-MP, COR.E Leadership Dynamics Specialist

Ken Jacobs is the principal of Jacobs Consulting & Executive Coaching, which helps empower public relations and communications agency owners, CEOs, and senior leaders to achieve and surpass their organizational, career, and personal goals by becoming more inspiring, inspired, and effective leaders. It does so via leadership coaching. 

His company also helps agencies 1) Grow business; 2) Manage business for profitability; 3) Improve client service, and 3) Enhance team performance, communications, and leadership. It does so via consulting and training.

Prior to launching his companies, Jacobs spent 25 years in management and leadership positions with a number of PR agencies, including Ogilvy & Mather PR, Maloney & Fox (a division of WE), Lippe Taylor, and Marina Maher Communications (MMC), where he founded the agency’s training program, “MMC Masters,” which was cited for excellence by The Holmes Report.

Panelists 

Peter Van Dyke is CEO of VVK PR + Creative, an integrated communications agency based in Detroit, with an office in Charleston, SC, serving clients nationally. He oversees business strategy and growth for VVK’s 20-person team, as well as leads public relations services for the company, which range from local nonprofits to national corporations.

 Prior to forming VVVK with his partners Jamie Kaye Walters and Michael Sherman, Peter served as CEO of Van Dyke Horn Public Relations for six years.  Peter and his then partner acquired this firm, formerly named Berg Muirhead Associates, from its founders after 10 years of working for the agency. Under Peter’s leadership, Van Dyke Horn doubled its staff size and tripled its revenues. This garnered several awards for the company including Small Business Association of Michigan’s “50 Companies to Watch in Michigan” and Corp! Magazine’s “Diversity Focused Company” and “Best of Michigan Business.”

 Peter is a Detroit resident and deeply involved in serving his local community. He serves as chair of the board of visitors for Wayne State University’s College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts, and on the executive committee of Detroit Public Theatre. He is also on the honorary board for the Detroit Artists Market, where he served as chair.  Additionally, in 2016, Peter developed a scholarship at his alma mater, Wayne State University, to honor Van Dyke Horn agency founders Bob Berg and Georgella Muirhead, and then in 2022 developed the “VVK Student Scholarship.”  Both scholarships support advancement for students of color.,” and Dbusiness Magazine’s “30 in their Thirties.”

Kate Snyder focuses her head and heart on creating communication that makes our world better for everyone. She is dedicated to uplifting women in business, she’s a passionate advocate for the arts, and she makes it her mission to ensure those blocked from the microphone have a partner in fighting their way up to the stand.

Kate is a savvy PR practitioner and veteran strategist who inspires and empowers her clients to connect with their audiences and customers in new, dynamic ways.

She writes and speaks about working with government, nonprofits and businesses to be more conscious of their messages, build valuable relationships, and always – ALWAYS – focus on how their efforts connect to their strategic goals and purpose to achieve measurable results for their work.  

She has built a company committed to doing big work in a small community, and she will motivate you to do the same.

Kate is a proud Disneyphile, an unabashed musical theater geek and professional caller-of-bullshit.

Janet Tyler

As leaders, one of our biggest challenges is fostering accountability within our teams while maintaining a positive and supportive work environment. In this session, we will explore the formula for healthy accountability that combines clear goals, continuous feedback, and a supportive culture. By aligning your team's goals with your company's vision, taking calculated risks, and embracing open communication, you can empower your team members to take ownership of their roles and achieve outstanding results. Learn how to create a compelling scoreboard, normalize feedback, and lead by example, turning accountability into a powerful tool for growth and improvement. Together, let's transform our leadership approach and inspire greatness in our teams through healthy accountability. Don't miss this opportunity to learn from experienced leaders and become a more effective, respectful, and impactful leader. Register now and embark on a journey of positive change!

Register today for the webinar!

Presenter – Zach Montroy, CEO and Founder, The Intention Collective

In this webinar, Workamajig representative, Penny Kooy, is going to walk you through how Workamajig:

• Manages the full spectrum of agency needs, from sales, to financials, to resourcing, and business metrics

• Facilitates excellent communication and transparency

• Gets the whole agency on board and working as a team

Presenter – Penny Kooy, Workamajig

Register today for the webinar!

This joint webinar with Independent Practitioners Alliance and Counselors Academy Sections will explore how indies and agencies can work together to grow their respective businesses. Many agencies are adding alliances with indies to increase their capacity or fill skill gaps, and a number of indies are working with agencies to add recurring revenue streams.

During this session, you’ll learn:

• Why we’re better when working together

• How to structure the relationship for success

• How to set expectations

You’ll hear from two agency leaders who regularly partner with indies, and two indies who are currently successfully working with agencies.

Register today for the webinar! Note: you’ll need your PRSA login info.

This webinar is co-hosted by the Independent Practitioners Alliance and Counselors Academy sections.

Paid registration for non-IPA or non-CAPRSA Section members includes the live webinar and video playback for one month.

In recent months, new developments in generative artificial intelligence (AI) have been emerging at breakneck speed — captivating the curiosity of consumers and agencies alike. While tools like ChatGPT, DALL·E 2, and Google’s Bard create a world of opportunities, they also introduce a host of pressing legal and practical risks.

In this session, Davis+Gilbert attorneys will cover how these new technologies—built on machine learning algorithms — could fundamentally change the communications and marketing industry by analyzing examples from actual searches.

Key takeaways from this webinar include:

• Best practices for considering the usage of generative AI applications as business tools.

• Deeper understanding of how to use generative AI while minimizing potential legal liabilities and infringement claims.

• Insights into how client contracts may need to take into account the use of generative AI.

Register online at PRSA.org. This webinar is free for Counselors Academy members, with a small fee for PRSA members who are not Counselors Academy members. Non-members can join for a fee, too.

Most agencies are born from practitioners who are very, very good at their craft. So, they started an agency or solo practitionership. But the growing work becomes too much, so they hire a person or two or 15 … and BOOM! They have an agency.

While they’re good at their craft, when it comes to running a business, generally, they are not.

Whether through metamorphosis or osmosis, we expect our staff to be able to run, grow and manage a business without ever teaching them. These expectations are inevitably met with: “They just don’t have it. They are just a tactician.” Yes, because you never taught them how to be in business.

In this session, we will discuss the importance of and the “how to” of developing agency professionals that are business-savvy and poised to grow.

Register for the webinar.

About the Presenter: J. Mark Riggs, founder & CEO, Pemberton

Mark is the founder and CEO of Pemberton,  a management consultancy that exists to be the go-to resource for marketing/communications agencies to discover and reveal pathways to organic account growth and organizational growth through fiscal and operational efficiencies by changing the mindset of an RFP-obsessed industry.

Mark has a reputation as a business-builder and a strategic counselor and has experience in leading client services, insights and planning functions, as well as developing talent. A creative thinker and problem-solver, Mark believes that great thinking can “come from anywhere,” it’s the ability to harness it and leverage it for clients that makes the intellectual property of the agency valuable and an integral part of the marketing mix.

Before starting Pemberton, Mark spent 20 years in the agency world working for IPG’s Mullen Lowe, an Ad Age A-List Agency, Taylor, the Holmes Report’s Consumer Agency of the Decade, MWWPR and French/West/Vaughan, the Southeast’s largest independent agency where on six different occasions he grew small accounts into multi-million-dollar accounts.

Counselors Academy 2023 Conference Chair LaTricia Harper Woods, APR, founder and president of Mahogany Xan Communications, secured the experts who can elevate your business, advocate for you and your employees, strategize your business growth and join you in having another drink – or sharing another great idea!

Each year, the conference gets rave reviews for its quality content and the willingness of attendees to share experiences, insights and best practices. During this session, Woods will share highlights from this year’s conference agenda, which includes national speakers and experts in growing agencies.

In this webinar, attendees will learn:

• Which conference presenters can help them lead their agency in 2023

• What conference elements can facilitate networking among attendees

• How to participate in community service elements

• How members can get plugged into the Counselors Academy network

Register for the webinar on March 29 to learn why senior agency executives, decision-makers, advisors and partners are planning to attend the conference May 8-10 in New Orleans.

Speaker: LaTricia Harper Woods, APR, founder, Mahogany Xan Communications
LaTricia Harper Woods, APR is a member of Counselors Academy’s Executive Committee and is the chair for Counselors Academy’s 2023 Conference.

In addition to her leadership roles for Counselors Academy, Woods is founder of Phoenix-based Mahogany Xan Communications. She frequently presents on a variety of topics that include multicultural communications, diversity in public relations, personal branding and communication strategies.
In 2019, Woods and five other agencies launched The Change Agencies, the first national network of independently owned multicultural and LGBTQ public relations firms. She is the co-author of “A Girlfriend’s Guide to Social Media.”

Unfortunately due to a schedule conflict with our presenter, we are canceling tomorrow’s session: Navigating the New Era: How to Achieve Exceptional Presentation Delivery in a Virtual Environment,” We hope to reschedule this session in the future.

Our FREE virtual conference is set for Tuesday, May 18 live from Music City Nashville! The day will start at 9 AM ET and end at 4:45 PM ET. We have an amazing lineup of speakers, including a fabulous end to the day on The Centered Leader with Elise Smith Mitchell.

The full agenda and registration will be coming out soon, but mark your calendars now to spend the day with your peers learning and getting inspired.

In addition to running an agency, over the past year, Shauna has worked intimately with PR agency owners, helping them navigate the operations, project management and workflow challenges that came with running a business during a global pandemic. 

During this masterclass, she’ll share the top opportunities for agencies to improve today’s common bandwidth issues, including: 

• The baselines and best practices that are here to stay and which are getting thrown away.

• The capacity planning myth that’s costing agency owners hundreds of thousands of dollars each year.

• Industry trends that agencies can leverage to improve bandwidth and grow their firm, while keeping clients & team members happy.

Hosted by the Counselors Academy Section. Paid registration for non-Counselors Academy members includes the live webinar and video playback for one month. Register here.

Presenter:

Shauna Nuckles is the founder of Advocation, which provides training and strategic operations support customized to PR agencies. She also owns a boutique firm focused on consumer product and digital health brands. 

She began her career in journalism at a top daily newspaper but soon shifted to public relations, finding her home within agency life. She started packing press kits, eventually becoming number two at an award-winning lifestyle firm and serving as a fractional COO inside multiple others. Inside of her training company, she’s translated that experience into a proven framework for agency employees to proactively lead, retain and grow client accounts, while providing owners and senior leaders more bandwidth to focus on the future of their firm.

How are you faring as we close our Q1 2021? Was the impact of 2020 on your cash flow “normal”? Are you spending more time chasing down late payments than you should be? In this session, we’ll explore historical (“standard”) industry data for average recovery numbers (DSO), recovery rates, the age of debt, etc.  We will then discuss how those standard numbers changed beginning in March of 2020 – and how those numbers show the same trend across industries.

We will discuss the best solutions for collecting on owed debt, as well addressing solutions to new problems, such as customers who have always paid on time but now are not paying at all. We plan to allow time for a healthy Q&A session at the end of this presentation so bring any questions or concerns you may have in regard to current or past situations! 

Hosted by the Counselors Academy Section. Paid registration for non-Counselors Academy members includes the live webinar and video playback for one month.

Presenters: Greg Wilson and Daniel Traynor

Greg Wilson and Daniel Traynor have 50 years of experience between the two of them in collections and asset recovery. They work with a wide array of clients at Stuart-Lippman and Associates, including those in the medical, media, entertainment, automotive, architectural, engineering, industrial and manufacturing sectors.  They have managed and recovered aged receivables for companies of all sizes, ranging from small PR and marketing agencies to global corporations such as Equifax and GE Capitol.

The Counselors Academy's Membership Committee invites you to spend an afternoon connecting and sharing with your fellow members.

Sign up to secure your spot: https://docs.google.com/.../1FAIpQLSdticsd3so1WF.../viewform

Join us on March 11 from 4:00 to 4:45 p.m. ET for a Zoom-free chance to learn, chat and even kvetch a little with fellow members virtually.

CAPRSA members are welcome to bring a friend or colleague who could benefit from connecting with Counselors Academy - even if they aren’t a member of PRSA (yet!).

We'll introduce you to some of the country's best public relations practitioners, help you build your network and create lasting partnerships and friendships.

Every new presidential administration brings change to Washington, and that change often impacts public relations clients in a variety of disciplines around the country. Now more than ever, politics and policy impact business and daily life. How can we counsel our clients in the short and long-term about navigating this new year? What factors should we consider? What resources exist to help us?  What are the opportunities for us as counselors, and the pitfalls to avoid?

Join this interactive panel with three Counselors Academy Executive Committee members who work on public affairs issues day in and day out with clients both inside and outside of the Beltway. After this informative session, you’ll have insight and perspective to consider in counseling your new clients – and potentially in winning new ones!

Hosted by the Counselors Academy Section. Paid registration for non-Counselors Academy members includes the live webinar and video playback for one month. Times shown are Eastern.

Panelists

Ben Finzel is president of RENEWPR, a Washington, DC-based public affairs communications consulting firm. Ben and his team of five independent PR professionals provide advice, counsel, and outreach on strategy, messaging, media, and partnerships to association, corporation, non-governmental, foundation, alliance, and coalition clients tackling energy, environmental and LGBTQ issues, and opportunities.

Brenda Jones Barwick worked 15 years in Washington, DC, providing media and public information and writing speeches. She served in The White House West Wing and at the U.S. State Department for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush. In 2001, she founded Jones PR that has been listed five times on Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies. Jones PR has won a Gold Lion Award at the Cannes International Festival of Creativity, a Silver Anvil, and several Bronze Anvil awards. In 2020, she received the Enterprising Women of the Year Award from Enterprising Women magazine.

Jennifer Curley, President and CEO of Curley Company, is a business strategist, expert communicator, and passionate entrepreneur. Jennifer sets the strategic direction for the agency and is hired by her clients to advance their reputation, mitigate their risks and make an impact with thought leaders in Washington D.C. With White House, Capitol Hill, and PR agency experience, she is considered an expert in the people, processes, and politics of Washington D.C.

Registration for the webinar can be found on the PRSA website.

Join fellow CAPRSA member Elizabeth Edwards as she shares a curated list of the top no-cost and low-cost productivity and production tools that not only add hours back to your week but new skillsets for agency teams that add immediate new revenue streams. In this fast-paced, resource-packed hour we will cover more than 20 proven (and many lesser-known but equally life-changing) tools that can increase your productivity, decrease your stress and expand your agency’s capabilities with new reporting and design abilities any team member can easily command.

Register today at https://bit.ly/34RwLs0.

We're clearly not back to normal, or the new normal, or the next normal, whatever that means. We're not yet in the post-COVID19 environment, and we don't know when we will be. While your clients may be sending encouraging signals, and some of you are experiencing a thaw, we may not back to
2019 levels for some time. More important, despite Zoom Happy Hours and our leadership efforts, many of our people are exhausted by the ongoing uncertainty, with no end in sight.

You may be exhausted too, but your teams, your partners, your clients and associates need your leadership now more than ever. So the question isn't are you leading, but how effectively?

But there's good news: You're up to the challenge of leading through these ongoing uncertain times, and we're going to help! This leadership webinar will give you a dose of important strategies, thought-provoking insights, and most important, practical steps you can implement to step up, and take the lead.

And when you do so, you'll be more successful at implementing all the agency management, profitability, and business development, and marketing actions you've learned about via CAPRSA's Virtual Spring Conference and webinars over the summer.

Learning Objectives
1. Understand how your leadership energy and emotional intelligence affects everyone you lead
2. Gain a dozen practical actions you can take to help you effectively lead your team members, your clients, your business partners, and yourself through these uncertain times, regardless of when things might return to normal.
3. Learn how to be a more inspiring leader that those groups will actually choose to follow regardless of the environment, and especially during uncertain times, as well as a dose of inspiration around your leadership talents.

Speaker:
Ken Jacobs, ACC, CPC, ELI-MP, is the principal of Jacobs Consulting & Executive Coaching, which
empowers PR, communications, marketing and advertising leaders to achieve and surpass their
organizational, career and personal goals by becoming more inspired and inspiring leaders, and
helps PR and communications agencies grow and manage business, improve client service, and
enhance staff performance, communications, and leadership skills.

Jacobs has provided coaching, consulting, or leadership training for firms of all sizes across the
country and is an active member of Counselors Academy, is a PRSA NY Mentor, and serves on the
board of PRSA NJ where he leads its Senior Professionals Group. The chapter awarded him the
Pyramid Award for Chapter Service in 2014. His leadership column, "Taking The Lead" appears in
PRSA Strategies & Tactics.

Register at https://prsa.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEvdOirqDotGNFBdZb0uFLbkcTm0JZAU4Bx. Time show is Eastern Standard Time.

When Kate Snyder kept hearing from new clients they were changing agencies because of a lack of ideas, she went on a quest to infuse creativity into her boutique agency culture and operations. Rooted deep in research ranging from sociology to neuropsychology, Kate will share why you should invest the time and energy into building a creative culture, and how to do so in a way that will lead to strategic solutions for your clients.

This interactive session will cover different brainstorming techniques -- and the research behind them -- that can be used with teams and clients alike in developing engaging and effective solutions – in particular amidst uncertainty. We can always use tips and techniques to inspire creativity, yet in light of health, racial and financial pandemics – when is the right time to start pitching big ideas? What criteria need to be in place? How to assess when to put forward big ideas? How to inspire creativity remotely? With EOY budget planning in sight, these are questions our members need to consider before putting big, or small, ideas forward.

To remain competitive, we need to remain creative. But some good, old-fashioned project management and operations techniques are required to help our teams do so. Come get creative, while learning how to ensure your team is able to do the same.

Presenter: Kate Snyder, APR, Principal Strategist, PIPER & GOLD PUBLIC RELATIONS

Thursday, July 16, 3 p.m., EST

Register: https://prsa.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAvce2tpzgiGdMQ7dKCoSV_D26Zv3XbF1CP

Join Conference Co-Chairs Greg Abel and Natalie Ghidotti as they share all the details about the upcoming Spring Conference. Bring your questions and have them answered in this interactive hour.

All times are Eastern.

Join Zoom Meeting
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Meeting ID: 247 943 548
Password: 502091

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The College of Fellows has mentoring sessions available to anyone interested. 

Connect, ask and benefit from a lifetime of experience: College of Fellows Mentoring at the PRSA 2017 International Conference

Make the most of your PRSA 2017 International Conference connections, share your experiences and career goals with a member of PRSA's College of Fellows, a distinguished group of accredited PRSA members with more than 20 years of professional experience.

The College of Fellows hosts 30-minute mentoring sessions from 4-6 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 8, and Monday, Oct. 9. Sessions are offered as a premium benefit (at no cost) for PRSA members.

These one-on-one professional development sessions are available to PR practitioners at all stages of their careers:

• New professionals (career planning and advancement)
• Mid-career (business skills and leadership)
•  Senior professionals (personal growth and development)

Mentors do the following: 

• Provide professional, confidential insights based on extensive experience in the practice of public relations
• Make creative, yet proven suggestions for handling public relations challenges
• Offer encouragement and assurance
• Provide a fresh perspective on your career goals and timelines

Sign-up to be a mentor:  apps.prsa.org/iconmentoring.

Sign-up deadline Thursday, Sept. 28.

If we know as agency leaders that running a PR agency is a serial exercise in winning new business, why do so many of us lack new business plans to guide us on our quests for growth? Learn the six reasons why your agency must have a written new business plan, and how to get started on one that will change how you think about finding and winning new clients. Ken Jacobs will present a modified version of his workshop on this critical topic, which has been featured for two years running in our Spring Conference Pre-Con. As principal of Jacobs Consulting & Executive Coaching, Ken helps agencies grow and manage business, improve client service and relationships, and enhance staff performance. It does so via consulting and training

Register here