The seventh Chartered Institute of Public Relations Northern Conference took place last Friday at Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall attracting 120 delegates from all over the UK. It was our third as Don’t Panic and continues to be the biggest and best CIPR event outside of London with a line up which would put most conferences in the capital to shame.
Keynotes included Katie Perrior of InHouse PR on Boris Johnson’s campaign for London mayor; Phil Hall of PHA Media on celebrity crises; Paul Newman of Liverpool Capital of Culture on the rise of all things Scouse and Alex Aiken of Westminster City Council.
Delegates also chose to attend four of the following master class sessions: Reputation - Andrew Fairburn, Regester Larkin; Creativity - Andy Green, GREEN Communications; Crisis Communications - Jenny Hails, Hull City Council; Media City - Brian Greasley & Jason Leggett, MediaCityUK; CSR - Justin McKeown & Paul Thomas, Trimedia; Social Media - Stephen Davies, 3W PR; Budgeting - Paul Willis, Leeds Business School; Ethical PR - Elaine Mitchell Hill, Koan; Futurology - Neville Hobson.
It’s rare to see such unanimously high feedback for an event but every delegate who responded marked the conference, venue and organisation as either excellent or good. I think that says a lot about the commitment of all those involved in the Northern Conference, the calibre of our speakers and the kind of content which is vital to the future of the public relations industry.
Thanks go out to everyone who made it such a memorable day and we hope to see many of you again when we bring the Don’t Panic Guide to Social Media to the Bridgewater Hall on 5 December.
As Lou says, you reap what you sow.