I was in Morgantown this past weekend for the Integrate Conference. This conference keeps getting better and better each year – I always wonder what Chad, Rick, Briana, Shelley, Cathy, Aaron and Nicole are going to do to top it? Again, this year’s conference was sensational. I truly had an amazing time and experience.

I actually created two Ptchs to illustrate my fantastic time at the conference. First day was all about setting up presentations and meeting everyone who came to the conference. So many people from all over the US were at this event from students, faculty, professionals, and representatives from major companies. It was very exciting to see all of the discussions related to the field of IMC.

The second day was also great. We heard from Scott Cuppari from Coca-Cola at the very beginning. It was great to hear all about brand love and storytelling from Scott. I did find myself captivated with the essence and community Coca-Cola was creating with their brand communities and what they are doing with Coca-Cola Freestyle – so much that I had at least three or four cokes during the conference. Good marketing. πŸ™‚

We also had a chance to hear from Jason Falls who discussed how IMC and other associated professions need to create a “Holy Smokes!” reaction to their campaigns and message strategies. Creative insights along with strategic planning is the key to success in the field right now in IMC.

Joe Cohen (PRSA President Elect) discussed the future of PR as well at Integrate. I had a chance to talk with Joe on the way to the airport yesterday and I think he shared and presented some excellent points on where PR is and where it needs to go.

My presentation was about visual storytelling and crisis communications – and the presentation is available on Slideshare to download in case you are interested. I highlighted on some of the core points associated with both fields and discussed two cases (Kevin Ware at UofL and the Boston Bombing situation) while sharing some best practices. It was a fun presentation to give and I was excited to get some great questions and comments at the end! πŸ™‚ Thank you all who attended the presentation.

It was truly wonderful to meet up and chat with some fellow professionals and students at the end. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Morgantown. I left the conference excited and filled with a lot of wonderful knowledge I know I am going to be using in my teaching, research, and professional duties. One of the major themes from the conference was storytelling and communities, and I felt not only we see this happen with brands, but also within this conference as well. Very fabulous!

Thanks to all of the brand ambassador bloggers who really captured all of the great points and insights from the conference! Really appreciate you all sharing this with us! Kate Spaetzel created some great Storifys for all of us from the conference. Β Thanks, Kate!

Special shout out to the IMC team (Chad, Rick, Shelley, Nicole, Cathy, Aaron, Rachel, Briana, and Maryanne) for all of your support, dedication, and commitment to setting up this great event. Was wonderful to be a part of it! Had a fabulous time! πŸ™‚ It was wonderful to see you all again! πŸ™‚

Hope you all are having a great day!

Best Wishes,

Karen