Event preview/highlights

As chair of Mass Communication Week, I have to say that I think we have an outstanding event this year. As a blogger, however, I’ll tell you that it’s true and the line up is kick-a$$. There are so many speakers I want to see and am unsure how I will be able to, with all the other stuff I have to make sure happens. Event details are here, but below are some of the sessions I’m most looking forward to.

Of course, there’s the keynote, Scott McClellan, former press secretary to President George W. Bush and author of What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception. He will speak Tuesday, Oct. 21 at 6:30 p.m. in the LBJ teaching theater. A book signing will follow. What I think is so cool about this is that Scott has agreed to do it Inside the Actor’s Studio-style. I applaud him to opening himself up to that.

I’m also looking forward to Heloise, the Helpful Hints columnist and Texas State alumni, who will headline Mass Communication Week at the Round Rock campus. Her presentation, “What form of communication is best? From e-mail to snail mail,” is Monday, Oct. 20 at 10:30 a.m. I didn’t get to see her on the main campus when she was here three years ago because the room was packed.

Other than the keynotes, I’m looking forward to:

• Ron Oliveira, KEYE – the changing world of broadcast news. Should be really interesting, especially with all the issues going on with other stations and cable companies.
• Robert Quigley and Tony Plohetski, Austin American Statesman – Twittering the news: Covering hurricanes in 140 characters. I’m addicted to Twitter and was riveted to their @TrackingIke coverage.
• Valerie Hausladen, Enfatico — The one-stop shop: Is it the agency of the future? This was the global agency created less than a year ago by WPP just to serve Dell. The creation of this agency (formerly known as da Vinci) was big news in the advertising and PR industry as it combined all the services Dell needs into one agency. Valerie heads the Austin office.
• James Aldrete & Frank Guerra – Targeting multicultural audiences in elections. This is a hot topic in the election. In fact, the Statesman had an article about it.
• Sheila Scarborough, Every Dot Connects & Omar Galaga, Austin American Statesman – Web 2.0 in the real world. Okay, Sheila is a friend, but she teaches this stuff ad I think it will be good.
• Kerri Qunell, Capital Area Food Bank – Non-profit PR: Using social media to spread the message. They’ve been doing some really cool stuff at CAFB.
• Rachel Elsberry, News 8 Austin — Covering a presidential family: Lady Bird and the Johnson family. When Rachel was hired several years ago, she was told her entire job was to cover the passing of Lady Bird. She has some great stories.
• Paul Burka & Eileen Smith, Texas Monthly – Covering politics: Traditional vs. new media. Eileen was great when she spoke during Mass Comm Week three years ago, long before her Texas Monthly days.
• Dress for Success fashion show, sponsored by PRSSA. Learn how to dress for interviews and internships.
• Mike Chapman- Using new media in political campaigns. Social media guru. Follow him!
• Dave McNeely and R.G. Ratcliffe — Covering politics, Texas style. I’m currently reading Dave’s book on Bob Bullock. The stories are great.
• Michael Pranikoff, Director of emerging media, PR Newswire. He’s coming from DC to give us insights on how to use new media in our PR campaigns.
• John MacCormack, San Antonio Express-News- Investigative reporting. I’ve wanted to have John speak ever since I saw him a few years ago on A&E. He broke the story about the death of Madeline Murray O’Hair, the atheist leader who got prayer out of public schools.