PRSSA National Assembly

By Gabrielle Woodard 

Attending national PRSSA events always gives me a sense of a bigger purpose in PR and reminds me of why I love PR so much. A few weekends ago I was able to attend National Assembly, in Austin, Texas.  National Assembly is like a smaller version of National Conference. There are representatives from many of the chapters from across the countries and the purpose is to vote on bylaw changes and elect the new national committee for the organizations.
 
During this year’s national assembly we were able to hear from Brandy King, a spokeswoman for Southwest. She spoke about professional tips, how she got into PR and why enjoying your career is important.
 
At the end of assembly we heard from David Grossman and the speech was not what anyone expected. Grossman didn’t tell us about his amazing career or how he got to his current position, he told us about the struggles he faced when he wasn’t being his “authentic self.” Grossman discussed the importance of being authentically you before trying to lead others thus making yourself an authentic leader.
 
National Conference can be very overwhelming. You are surrounded by 1000 other PRSSA members and have sessions all day, where you can hear from amazing professionals. I really enjoyed National Assembly being a different change of pace. We only had sessions until about 4p.m. Also not being surrounded by members of your own chapter, everyone was forced to branch out and get to know other people.
 
National Assembly made me so excited to attend National Conference in November. I am eager to introduce members of PRSSA Kent to the many amazing people I met at National Assembly and let everyone expand their networks. I really hope everyone will consider attending National Conference in Indianapolis this coming November. 

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