Dhenkanal: The 3rd edition of Public Relations Round Table conference was organised by IIMC Dhenkanal on January 22. The event was held in collaboration with PRSI Bhubaneswar focusing on the theme of public relations in the evolving technological landscape.
In todays world social media platforms like Twitter are becoming an integral part of press releases. Rather than directly going to a person, tweets are now used as quotes. Contents are being repurposed. Press releases are becoming multimedia releases. In the near future Artificial Intelligence will take over mundane jobs. News anchors may be replaced in the future by robots working on AI. Creative jobs however will stand the test of time. Creativity is difficult to replicate artificially, so a person who is creative will be in demand.
Rohit Dubey, VP Corp. Comm. Reliance Jio Infocomm, said, “Technology is an enabler not subservience. Public relations are a constant learning process with young people at the forefront. It is a vast and dynamic subject. The arrival of big ticket investments has led to a boom in public relations.”
A PR person has to overcome the negatives and act as a bridge between the people and the government or a company. Talking about the skills required in public relations, Shashank Pattnaik focused on the importance of being an excellent communicator, being presentable, having patience and filtering information in order to be successful. “If you can keep your eyes and ears open and your mouth shut, then you are an excellent public relations person,” said Shashank Pattnaik, AVP Corp. Affairs, Aditya Birla Group.
The primary goal of a PR person is to uphold the name of the organisation. Ashutosh Rath DGM & Head PR & Corp. Comm NALCO, said, “90% of the data in the world today was created in the last two years.” The rise of big data coupled with artificial intelligence will allow people to understand public emotions better. Big data will become more personal. PR persons will send emails that will appeal to a person personally. Also a shift in the visual content development by PR persons is expected sooner rather than later. Video News Releases (VNRs) will take over press releases. Social media will also undergo a change from organic to paid jobs. Job opportunities will thereby open up for people to manage a person’s social media platform.
Associated with IIMC Dhenkanal for over twenty years, Prof. Subir Ghosh took the audience back in time. When Indira Gandhi was assassinated, communication was not India’s strongest suit. Rajiv Gandhi had to travel all the way to Delhi to find out what had happened. Nowadays public relations are a 24X7 process.
“You can hold an instant press conference here in this room that will reach the entire nation and the world via satellite communication,” said Prof. Subir Ghosh.
Speakers at the PR Roundtable were Rohit Dubey (VP Corp. Comm. Reliance Jio Infocomm), Shashank Pattnaik (AVP Corp. Affairs, Aditya Birla Group), Asutosh Rath (DGM & Head PR & Corp. Comm NALCO), Dr. Bibhudutta Mohapatra (AVP Corp. Comm. Aditya Birla Group), Sudhi Ranjan Mishra (Head Corp. Affairs, Paradip Phosphate Ltd), Sanjay Sahoo (AGM Corp. Comm. Jindal Steel & Power Ltd.) and Prof. Subir Ghosh.
