I was in Detroit earlier this week for the International PRSA Conference, specifically to participate in a panel presentation about LGBT inclusiveness in the workplace. It may be surprising to many of you, depending on your perception of PRSA’s pace with industry trends, that this was not the first LGBT-focused presentation at the international conference.
Ben and I presented a session on LGBT marketing and communications two years ago. While that first-of-its-kind 2006 session was pushed to the last slot of the last conference day , it attracted a small but very enthusiastic crowd of communications professionals attending the session and participating in a lively discussion.
This year, the LGBT panel was placed in a potentially prime Monday afternoon slot in a session track themed around niche communications. FH was able to secure panel representative from powerhouse corporate LGBT programs with Chris Crespo, LGBTA Inclusiveness Strategy Leader at Ernst & Young (one of our clients) and General Motors LGBT Media Relations Manger Travis Parham who also is marketing chair for GM PLUS, the company’s LGBT employee affinity group.
I also was pleased to see that we had more than double the session attendees than we drew in 2006. Again, those attending were keenly interested in the topic.
At the same time, PRSA this week is officially unveiling its LGBT affinity group, an organization that was in the making when we spoke at the conference two years ago. To start the conference this past weekend, there even was a reception for the group during the Detroit event.
So, progress is being made at PRSA. Like anything, this too is a process. We’ll provide more information on the PRSA affinity group and its official coming out party in the coming days.
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