 A standing-room-only crowd packed the SMWLA main stage auditorium for PRSA-LA’s June 13 panel.  Representin’ – PRSA-LA Past-Presidents Dennis Kaiser (left), Stefan Pollack and Erik Deutsch were part of the chapter’s contingent at SWMLA.  Panel topics ranged from L.A.’s storytelling DNA to FTC guidelines. |
On June 11, PRSA-LA teamed up with Social Media Week Los Angeles (SMWLA) for L.A.’s largest annual gathering focused on the intersection of social media, creativity and business. PRSA-LA’s panel session, titled “L.A.’s Hometown Advantage for Branded Content,” attracted a standing-room-only crowd at the main SMWLA stage. Sponsored by PR Newswire, the panel featured Rob Jones (Edelman), Lorrie Boula (Soul Kitchen Management), Clint Schaff (DARE/USC Annenberg), Tony Fur (CAA) and Brian Grant (The Wonderful Company). It was moderated by PRSA-LA Immediate Past-President Erik Deutsch (ExcelPR Group), with an introduction by 2001 PRSA-LA President Stefan Pollack (The Pollack PR Marketing Group).The hour-long discussion explored how local PR pros are leveraging L.A.’s unrivaled storytelling infrastructure and talent, not to mention its creative spirit, where storytelling is part of the collective DNA. The panelists then examined the issue of just how much branding should be in branded content. It wrapped up with each panelist giving his/her prediction for where branded content is heading in the years to come. Questions from the audience dealt with topics ranging from Instagram best practices to FTC guidelines for brands, influencers and other content creators.
This year’s L.A. edition of Social Media Week was held June 8-12 at Bergamot Station Arts Center in Santa Monica, and was one of three such events held internationally during the same period (the other two were in Rome and Mexico City). It marked the third such collaboration between PRSA-LA and SMWLA. A wrap-up and full video of last year’s PRSA-LA panel (titled “From Headlines to Hashtags: How Social Media is Transforming News Coverage”) is available on the L.A. Connect blog. Speaking of video, this year’s panel was live-streamed, and we’ve been told that an archived version will be available shortly. Stay tuned for more info. (We’ll post the video to this page as soon as it’s available.) |
