In less than two weeks, I will be making the long flight to go to Beijing, China to present at the Reputation Institute’s conference on Corporate Reputation, Brand, Identity, and Competitiveness. I am SO excited! 🙂 It is going to be a great opportunity for me both in public relations professionally as well as academically. This is my third conference presentation this year– amazing how time flies when you are busy! 🙂

But before I leave for China, there are some things that we have to know about the culture, public relations profession, and business practices in the country. For example, it is very important to have business cards on hand to present at the conference– it is a great way to network and get your own personal brand out there. Plus, it is also important to make sure that you have the tools and resources to get around– like travel and language books. Another great resource that I found as well is the latest National Geographic magazine for this month– it is all about China! I highly recommend that you guys check it out! 🙂

So basically, the more research that a public relations professional can do beforehand to understand the overall environment and culture of a country– the better informed they will be, and that is what I have been trying to do to prepare for this trip and conference.

I am also very excited that Kristin is going to be here with me on this trip! We will be arriving a few hours apart, but we will have a couple of days where we can play tourist– there are just so many things to do in China! 🙂 From the Great Wall to the Forbidden City to the new Olympic Stadium– all very exciting! 🙂

Hope all is going well and have a great day!

Best Wishes,

Karen 🙂