SXSW Interactive: More Smart, Less Stupid: PR for Better Business

Panel Discussion, sponsored by the Council of PR Firms
Two Sessions on Saturday, March 10
9:30 – 10:30 a.m
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Downtown Hilton, Austin, TX

The headlines always grab your attention: “Company X Blunders into PR Mess.”  All too often, however, these kinds of stories confuse business mistakes with public relations failures: A company makes a bad tactical decision, it blows up, PR problems ensue. Clean up in aisle 5.  Panelists will dissect several recent real-world examples and debate where the companies went wrong or did it right – and how they could have prevented fixable issues from mushrooming into full-blown crises.

Public relations leaders on this Council-sponsored panel will use “ripped-from-the-headlines” business cases as the jumping off point for a debate on the essential truths of corporate reputation and brand management.

Panelists:

Bob Pearson, President, WCG

Mark Stouse, Vice President & Global Communications Leader, Honeywell Aerospace

Melissa Waggener Zorkin, CEO, President and Founder, Waggener Edstrom

Moderator:

Gary Stockman, CEO, Porter Novelli