In the third quarter of every year (since 2012), Public relations professionals congregate at PRAXIS to exchange ideas and experiences. The 2015 edition – #PRAXISMysore was my first opportunity to partake in this conference and to a certain extent witness from behind the scenes the thoughts and actions that went into putting it together.
A vividly comprehensive affair, The PRomise Foundation exemplifies creating a practitioners’ conference through PRAXIS, by striking an improbable balance between its formal and informal goals.
Being a first timer at PRAXIS also put me in a vantage point from where I could view the experience through an unbiased and unadulterated lens. From this and my experience in gatherings of similar nature, I will aim to list down aspects of PRAXIS that the Promise Foundation can sharpen.
Related: A Film on PRAXIS6, Jaipur
Firstly the stuff that worked. I was particularly amazed by the indigenous way in which the use of Twitter was inspired in the build up to and during the conference. Most conferences fail to do it this effectively. Twitter was the single most active and reliant media of communication throughout, not just because the short bursts of communique blended well with the dynamic fast paced nature of the event, but also because of the probable and justifiably limited use of Facebook.
Another stark difference from conferences of similar nature was exceptional punctuality. It was by far the first conference that I have witnessed to have started before the scheduled time (which was traditional as I would later hear), and to continue to be on the dot pretty much through to the end. It was assisted in part by a not-so-pleasant ringing of bell that let the panellists/speakers know that they were nearing the stipulated time allotted to them, but largely the credit lay with the organizing team for ensuring discipline of time and its compliance. It can go a long way for the attendees in several ways.
The organizing team was also notably flexible and resourceful. With experience of event management largely limited to PRAXIS, the team managed uncertainties very well. Meticulous as the planning was, unforeseen circumstances tend to spring up in such events, as they did in this one. They team was proactive and innovative in finding resolutions rapidly. I also remarked at the spirit of the team in letting the partners, sponsors and delegates who made the event happen, get as much “visibility” as possible, and more than what was promised, without exception.
With regards to the content and conversations produced on stage, the event covered some highly contextual topics, and hosted a diversely experienced group of practitioners from across the world. This experience spoke really well for delegates representing the middle and senior levels of their companies. The younger lot on the other hand would probably have to think harder to find the applications of these insights instantly.
The more “strategy” was spoken instead of “execution” the more disconnected this lot may have felt. This seemed like a largely lost opportunity to power young professionals with tactics, best practices and tools that they can apply when they would show up for work 2 days later. If there is one platform that can bring the best corporate communications practitioners on a platform and impart their learnings to the young professionals, it is this. This impartment could happen in the form of workshops, simulations etc. While this may be operationally difficult to administer during the event, it could happen before it, in the form of case study competitions that culminate at the conference.
Besides needing different and clear takeaways for different audiences as such, I believe the event could be prolonged to over a day and a half. It could be compartmentalised to cover various areas of communications; digital communications, political communications, corporate communications etc.
In summary this event has several of its fundamentals right, and therefore it is in a healthy position to be scaled up to large proportions. Hopefully we will see it take a larger shape in the future.
