Last week I was lucky enough to attend the PR Detroit kickoff event, PR|D Symposium - Renewing Detroit: the Role of Public Relations which was held at Wayne State University.

PR Detroit is a newly formed group of Metro Detroit-based public relations professionals and companies working together to communicate positive messages for Detroit. Our mission is to facilitate positive news and information about the city with a vision of changing the national conversation to encourage positive change and growth in Detroit.

The symposium was intended for southeast Michigan public relations professionals to explore the challenges and opportunities for communicating positive message about Detroit within the context of the municipal bankruptcy. The symposium included a call to action and engaged the PR community to develop creative strategies for constructive, positive communication.

The entire event was packed full of powerful and influential speakers who are passionate about Detroit and here are some of my highlights and takeaways.


The Welcome
The PD|D Symposium's opening speech was given by Matt Segar, Dean of the College of Fine, Performing, and Communication Arts at Wayne State University; Bill Nowling, Spokesperson for the Office of the Emergency Manager of the City of Detroit; and Alexis Wiley, Director of Community Engagement and Spokesperson for the City of Detroit.

It only takes you a few seconds to find a world class photo of blight. That is a huge problem. #PRdSymposium #Detroit
— Katelyn Davis (@katelynshelby) March 24, 2014

"Everybody is honestly working 24/7 to change the way we do business" @AlexisWileyNews #PRDetroit #Detroit
— Katelyn Davis (@katelynshelby) March 24, 2014

RT @AlexisWileyNews: "When you look at the city, it's like looking at the hope, pride and aspirations of those who built it. " #PRDetroit
— Katelyn Davis (@katelynshelby) March 24, 2014

Challenges and Opportunities to Communicating Detroit's Story
This section was given by Peter Kageyama, author of For the Love of Cities.

We are in a relationship with our places. @pkageyama #PRdetroit #detroit
— Katelyn Davis (@katelynshelby) March 24, 2014

Not enough of us love our places...we need to be the ones who step up to show that. @pkageyama #PRDetroit”
— Katelyn Davis (@katelynshelby) March 24, 2014

How to build a loveable city: it has to be functional, safe, comfortable, convivial, and lastly, FUN!… http://t.co/u65HMbiM7w
— Katelyn Davis (@katelynshelby) March 24, 2014

Those who go out there & break the rules are the ones that unjam the system. If you can't be a risk taker, support those who can #PRDetroit
— Katelyn Davis (@katelynshelby) March 24, 2014

We need more places to play to grow our relationship with the city, such as public art. #PRDetroit
— Katelyn Davis (@katelynshelby) March 24, 2014

A good tip to cities: If children are happy, parents are happy. #PRDetroit
— Katelyn Davis (@katelynshelby) March 24, 2014

City rituals and traditions keep people engaged and committed to their relationship with their city. #PRDetroit
— Katelyn Davis (@katelynshelby) March 24, 2014

Just like with the Marche du Nain Rouge where for 300 years, on the Sunday after the Vernal Equinox, Detroiters have celebrated liberation from the Nain Rouge, the fiendish embodiment of all that holds us back. Revelers dressed in costume converge at or near Cass Park and hope for better things for Detroit’s future, celebrating whatever is good and working in the city: happiness, success and freedom from the antagonism of the Nain in the new year.

Instead of trying to irradiate negative behavior, try and turn it into something positive. #PRDetroit Like the commissioned graffiti!
— Katelyn Davis (@katelynshelby) March 24, 2014

A perfect example of turning something negative into something positive can be seen while enjoying a nice bike ride down the Dequindre Cut Greenway, an urban recreational path, officially opened to the public in May of 2009. The 1.35-mile greenway, developed through a public, nonprofit and private partnership, offers a pedestrian link between the Riverfront, Eastern Market and many of the residential neighborhoods in between. Formerly a Grand Trunk Railroad line, the Dequindre Cut is a below-street level path for bicyclist and pedistrians. This greenway is well-known for its urban artwork and graffiti, often times commissioned by famous graffiti artists.

You can also see more commissioned graffiti on a well-traveled section of Woodward between downtown and Midtown on the front facade of the Detroit Museum of Contemporary Art.

We need to be open to solutions that don't looked like any other solutions we've dealt with before. @pkageyama #PRDetroit
— Katelyn Davis (@katelynshelby) March 24, 2014

We also need to be open to solutions from people who are not the traditional solution finders. #PRDetroit
— Katelyn Davis (@katelynshelby) March 24, 2014

Panel Discussion: Current Efforts and Activities
Moderated by Marge Sorge, Executive Director of the Detroit Regional News Hub, this panel consisted of Ken Cockrel Jr., Director of Detroit Future City; Mary Kramer, Publisher of Crain's Detroit Business, Dave Lorenz, Manager of Industry Relations and International Marketing for Travel Michigan; and Paula Silver, formerly of Quicken Loans and Opportunity Detroit public relations.

RT @LambertEdwards: "The opportunity to make a difference is a big draw [to a city]." - @pkageyama #PRDetroit
— Katelyn Davis (@katelynshelby) March 24, 2014

RT @evan_sotnik: Hipsters, tech, and entrepreneurs seem to be a theme in improving Detroit and selling its image. #PRDetroit
— Katelyn Davis (@katelynshelby) March 24, 2014

Downtown Grand Rapids once looked like Downtown Detroit and now it's gorgeous thanks to business leaders that invested. #PRDetroit
— Katelyn Davis (@katelynshelby) March 24, 2014

"If you don't like what people are saying about you, change the conversation." - @KenCockrelJr2, a page out of Don Draper's book #PRDetroit
— Katelyn Davis (@katelynshelby) March 24, 2014

Based on the conversations that took place, these are the new unofficial guidelines came out of the PR|D Symposium:

• Do not refer to a Detroit business, landmark, restaurant, or shop as a “hidden gem” 
• Do not describe Detroiters as “gritty” 
• Do not support “ruin porn" -- In fact for every picture of ruin porn you come across, post 5 more favorable and positive images of Detroit
• Bring out of town guests to Detroit and let them experience it for themselves
• Have elevator speeches prepared in case your encounter negative reviews during your daily life
• Think outside of the box!

This was a fantastic event with a lot of great speakers and a lot of great suggestions from attendees on what we can do to make a difference using our PR superhero powers:

• Create an online resource for educational materials and elevator speeches that we can use as PR professionals when asked to speak on behalf of Detroit and our business in the area
• Work positive messaging into business materials and advertising about Detroit
• Keep PR|D going

Now that event has come and gone, what will come out of PR|D? I'm hoping it is something big. Something great. It could be a dinner on the Ambassador Bridge, a citywide pillow fight, or more public art. At the very least, I'm hoping for a strong, singular branding campaign that melts together Detroit, its people, and the businesses that support it. More importantly, I'm hoping for a round two where steps will be taken to build a cohesive, active PR presence for the city as a team.

NOTE: The PR|D symposium was sponsored by PRSA Detroit, the Detroit Regional News Hub, and Wayne State University, with support provided by General Motors, Airfoil Public Relations, and Quicken Loans.

Final thought: You don't have to convince the world, you have to convince yourselves. @pkageyama #PRDetroit
— Katelyn Davis (@katelynshelby) March 24, 2014

When I graduated from Grand Valley State University in 2010 and moved back home to Detroit I wasn't sure what I was going to do. I studied hard for four years to earn my Bachelor of Science Degree for Advertising and Public Relations but I couldn't find a job. Before I found employment a year after graduation, I had applied for some 200 jobs and went on dozens of interviews. The job market was tough back then (and still is). So I decided to go back to school and I really wanted to find a program in social media to give me a boost above the competition--that's when I found this great new program at Wayne State University in Detroit.

WSU's College of Fine, Performing & Communication Arts offers a Communication & New Media Graduate Certificate program in which focuses mainly on online and digital communications. I completed the program last semester (but I wish I could do it all over again!).

The Communication & New Media Graduate Certificate Program emphasizes theory, production, and application of new media technology. The program reflects developments in communication, computer, and telecommunications technologies.

Admission requirements for this program are as follows:

• An earned baccalaureate degree from a college or university of recognized standing
• Adequate preparation with discernible ability to pursue graduate studies in the major field elected
• Minimum GPA of 3.0 in upper division coursework
• Personal statement regarding interest in the program

Once you're admitted into the program you have to complete 12 credits from the following courses (these might change from semester to semester) all of which are 3 credit courses (with exception to the last two listed (4) and the individual project):

• New Media Practices (required)
• New Media Theory (required)
• Publishing on the Internet
• Audience Measurement and Survey Techniques
• Dispute Resolution and Communication Technology
• Journalism and New Media
• Advanced Desktop Publishing
• Individual Projects
• Facilitation of Online and Face-to-Face Learning
• Public Relations and Social Media
• Message Design and Display
• Foundations of Distance Education

My favorite two classes were the two required courses New Media Practices and New Media Theory. The instructor that was assigned to those classes at the time was extremely knowledgeable and kept abreast of the quick changes in tech and media. We did a lot of exercises around augmented reality and virtual worlds which is refreshing when I feel like I'm always bombarded with the Big 3 (Facebook, Twitter, and blogging).

I also enjoyed the Public Relations and Social Media course, in which I took as my final course. This one is an exception to the rest--this class allowed for undergraduate students to register without any prerequisites even though it was a high numbered/level course. In my opinion this was an awful decision by the university. This opened the gates to undergrads of all disciplines asking questions like "How do I tweet?" during discussions about using Twitter for crisis management. You wouldn't go into an upper level physics class comprised of 50 percent graduate students and waste everyone's time asking for an explanation of gravity, would you? But my instructor was great, she kept going through the coursework full steam ahead and helped traditional PR students like myself get a new view on the industry!

I cannot explain just how awesome this program is. Social media programs are getting more and more popular but when I started this one about 2 years ago it was really the only one I had heard of in this area and as far as I know it still remains the most targeted and structured social media program at the university level in Michigan. The biggest perk about this program is that all of the classes are online (with exception of 3 mandatory face-to-face classes at the beginning, middle, and end of the semesters).

I highly recommend this program to anyone who is a new communications, marketing, or advertising grad who is looking to do something after their bachelor's. If you have a true passion for social media you definitely will not have an issue working full time and taking one or two online classes a semester at night.

Click here to find out more information on the GC in Communication & New Media at Wayne State University.

If you have any questions on the program or would like to talk about it, please feel free leave a comment with your email address and I'll contact you as soon as possible.

This is my first real week of grad school classes at Wayne State and they're all online!  I'm really excited to dive head first into my classes but everyone keeps telling me how difficult online classes are.  After my face-to-face introduction class, I'm pretty sure online classes will be a piece of cake.

But here are some of my reservations:

• I'm a procrastinator, so I'll just keep putting everything off.
• My love for multitasking my interrupt my studying/homework.
• If I'm not forced to actually go to class (by attendance policy) will I actually read/listen to the online lectures?
• If I ever get a "real" job, I won't be able to make time for my work.

I just realized that I haven't blogged in awhile and my last entry was about Monsturd--a horror movie about poop--so I wanted to change that and talk about my newest adventure, GRAD SCHOOL!

I never intended on attending graduate school but when I spent 7 months after graduation unsuccessfully looking for a job, I caved in and registered.  Not only am I hoping to have some good Detroit networking experiences but I actually think I'm going to enjoy my classwork.  I'm enrolled in the New Media Communications program at Wayne State University and so far, it is incredibly interesting.

Currently I'm reading eBoot Camp: Proven Internet Marketing Techniques to Grow Your Business by Corey Perlman for class, which I'm hoping to get some good advice for improving Girly Nerdy Goodness's internet presence.

I'm glad that I found something that I truly love.  I love studying about new media.  I love reading about new media.  I practice new media in my free time and one day I hope to make a career out of it... and when that day comes, I will be a very happy girl.