3 Ways Attending Professional Development Day Changed My Life

By: Robin Rectenwald, Professional Development Day Co-Chair

You might be wondering how one event can make such a huge impact on someone’s life. I’m not being dramatic – it can happen! In this blog post, I’ll share with you three ways my life has changed in just one year after attending last year’s Professional Development (PD) Day.

1. I kept in touch with one of the speakers and now I’m enrolled in the graduate program she recommended

Last year at PD Day, Bridgette Borst gave a phenomenal media training seminar about techniques to give the best media interviews containing substantial sound bites and confident body language. She encouraged people to reach out to her and keep in touch, which I did. After PD Day, I sent her an email telling her how much I enjoyed her presentation and how I was looking to conduct a similar training at my workplace. She not only offered to meet with me, but she offered to conduct the training! During our meeting, I also asked her for some career advice, including if she had any recommendations for graduate programs. She told me all about her alma mater, West Virginia University, and its top-ranking Integrated Marketing Communications Program. Flash-forward one year later, I’m currently enrolled at WVU’s IMC program and absolutely loving it! It has also been wonderful to stay in touch with Bridgette. It’s connections like these that make PD Day such a unique opportunity that you cannot miss!

2. At PD Day, I met PRSA board members and now I’m a member of the board

This time last year, I wasn’t a member of PRSA, but I decided to go to PD Day because I wanted to meet more professionals in the field. At the time, I had just received a promotion at my job and I wanted to soak in as much information as possible to succeed in my new role. During the networking portion, I was able to meet several PRSA members and board members, who were all so helpful and nice. They told me all about the benefits of becoming a PRSA member and ways I could become more involved. When I was introduced to the President of the Board, she mentioned that a few board positions would be opening and invited me to apply. Not even a month later, I was asked to be the Professional Development Day Co-Chair. I was ecstatic to receive the offer and being a member of the board has been a very rewarding experience.

3. I’ve been able to make valuable connections and friendships with PR professionals that I probably wouldn’t have ever met outside of PRSA

Being completely new to PRSA, I didn’t know anyone when I attended PD Day. But, don’t let that stop you! I was able to meet so many people who were either at the same career stage as me or around the same age as me and we have stayed in touch! I’ve been able to turn the connections I made at PD Day into friendships. I’ve been able to help other PR professionals with questions, such as giving advice on how to recruit interns or how to write a press release. I’ve also been able to reconnect with a former co-worker, Beth Almes, by telling her about PRSA. We’re now working together again as the Professional Development Day Co-Chairs, and we’ve been such a great team! Beth and I are very excited for this event and have worked hard to make this year the best event yet!

If you’re on the fence about attending PD Day, my advice is just do it! The connections you’ll make, the professional tips you’ll receive and the opportunities that may come after will make it priceless to attend!

This year’s PD Day is on Thursday, Oct. 27, and is all about how to “Break Through the Noise.” Find out who will be speaking and what topics they will be discussing on our website. I hope you plan to join us and if you do, please do not hesitate to introduce yourselves to us at the event!

REGISTER FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT DAY HERE!