PR Congress, who is impressed?

So I went by the PR Congress at the JW Marriott. I did not buy a ticket and did not have an invitation. I just crashed the party. Let me just say this, I am glad I did not spend any money on it.

There was a plethora of expert speakers. However, the audience was too ignorant of the subject matter. I walked in briefly during a CSR lecture where someone asked if they should concentrate on one activity or a multitude of them. A legitimate question but a no-brainer if you have been in the business (it all depends on your budget, doesn't it?). Then there were the rhetorical questions of "You are only after profit, and your CSR activities are not genuine." That is the moment when I wanted to snap, so I left.

To answer the lady at the back's question: Who cares what the intentions are. What matters is the result. It is important to remember that if CSR activities were not motivated by business results, it wouldn't of have existed. Quite frankly, a business that has 'pure' intentions to only do CSR and gain nothing out of it is a company I would be very uncomfortable doing business with. Because that means they don't understand business.

Unfortunately I did not have the time to attend the Gala Dinner (and I also thought crashing that would be a bit more difficult). I'm not sure who won the "PR Professional of the Year" but I can definitely say it's not me. If anyone knows who that is, please leave a comment here.

Overall, the event was okay (though lacking security from the likes of DMO). It is probably a good place to send your fresh PR executives.. but anyone who has been doing this for over a year has nothing new to learn. Even if they did, they would not change as a result.