PRoSummit 2025 Agenda:
PR, Media & Strategy in Action
Plan your experience at Pro Summit 2025.
This 2.5-day event is packed with high-impact sessions designed for PR professionals, agency leaders, and communications teams preparing for 2026. From emerging media trends and crisis response tactics to measurement, influencer strategy, and brand storytelling — this is the agenda that fuels forward-thinking strategy.
Use the schedule below to explore keynotes, workshops, and networking opportunities.
As technology continues to advance, both the nature and role of public relations is rapidly shifting, even as new technologies and trends continue to advance at a blistering pace. In this thought-provoking presentation, world-famed futurist Scott Steinberg explains how PR professionals can adapt to a world of fast-changing times, tools, and platforms… and deliver more impactful services and messaging on every front. From new advancements in AI technologies to real-time communication, data-driven strategies, and personalized content, you'll discover what tomorrow holds for PR pros – as well as how to build stronger relationships with stakeholders and stay one step ahead of an increasingly unpredictable world.
Generative AI Search As The New Narrative Architecture: Elevating PR Strategy In The AI Era
In today's world, AI tools like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Perplexity are often the first source of information for customers, journalists, and other stakeholders. This means PR professionals need to think beyond simply distributing content to strategically designing narratives that work well with AI systems. This session will cover:
By attending, you'll learn practical ways to incorporate AI considerations into your PR strategy, transforming standard press release distribution into a powerful tool for shaping narratives in the AI era.
Working With Humans: Unexpected Hacks for Sanity and Success in 2026
We have so many powerful ways to connect with clients and colleagues: every system, software, and service we can imagine to help us work better and more productively with others. So, why are people still so annoying to work with? Why don’t they follow through? Why must we have the same vexing conversations over and over, despite all the resources we have for setting people up for success? In this session, you’ll learn three hacks to help you decrease the daily annoyance factor and make your management and communication tools work better for everyone, especially you. This session will help you better understand how to make better use of client feedback, performance-management systems, and strategic priorities while feeling clear, calm, and confident in the year ahead.
Three Journalists and a Publicist Walk Into a Bar…
Moderated by a seasoned publicist, this panel brings together three journalists—from a daily newsroom, a lifestyle outlet, and a national TV show—for a refreshingly honest take on how media relationships are evolving. You’ll get real-time insight into what they actually want from a pitch, how their workflows have changed, and how communicators can step up (or step back) to be more helpful. It’s everything you wish journalists would tell you—served straight up.
Kick off the first night connecting with familiar faces and meeting new friends.
Join Garrett Graff, Pulitzer Prize finalist, historian, and author for an intriguing session. In this conversation, Graff will anchor strategic communications in historical insight—demonstrating how understanding the past is not just enlightening, it’s a competitive advantage for crafting future-proof PR strategies. Expect a prescient, data-driven, and story-rich session that empowers communicators to not just react—but to lead creatively, ethically, and boldly.
Local restaurants are ready to host your group discussions! When you register, select a restaurant to gather with your group and keep the conversation going. Dinner is pay on own.
Rise and shine for yoga in the Lynx Fitness Club.
We have been navigating the rough waters of the dynamic rules (or lack of regulations) surrounding artificial intelligence and how it plays into the media landscape. David will help part the clouds and shed some light on a clear path through and what 2026 may bring.
Break the Wall: Why and How to Democratize Digital in Your Organization
Digital transformation is not just adopting technologies or revising individual tasks. Instead, it is all about the interaction of vision, task and talent throughout the organization. You will be introduced in this session to the nested adaptation model, which is key to ensure the gears turn together, with the business wheels spinning as fast as the customers change, while IT and top management provide the technical and vision framework in which business can be successful. Just as you wouldn’t exercise one muscle to get fit, it’s essential to ensure all people and all functions learn how to work together to enhance the overall ability to deliver better solutions for the customer. This session provides an integrative framework based on actual client settings, and combined our academic insights with interviews and examples from leaders across positions and industries.
From Service Journalism to Brand Marketing: Making Connections that Drive Change
What do health stories, licensed content programs, and breastfeeding pods have in common? More than you'd think.
In this session, Nicci Micco—a journalist-turned-CMO—traces her journey from service journalism to brand-side content leadership. She’ll explore how foundational storytelling skills, a sharp sense of audience need, and the ability to synthesize research and other complicated information into clear, compelling narratives translate seamlessly (and powerfully) into the world of brand marketing. Attendees will gain insight into how content and community can create not just clicks, but cultural shifts—and how the best brand work still starts with the audience, not the agenda. Whether you’re redefining your content approach or aiming to create more meaningful brand impact, this session offers a practical guide to work that informs, inspires, and drives change.
The New Media Equation: Balancing Credibility and Discovery in 2026
What if the traditional press isn’t the primary audience anymore, but still the most powerful validator? In 2026, media relations isn’t about press releases and pitching alone. It’s about understanding a new ecosystem where trust and reach are decoupled. In the age of Generative Intelligence Optimization (GIO), where authoritative signals shape discovery, traditional journalism remains essential—but it’s only one part of a wider, faster-moving story. Jon unpacks how smart brands are rebalancing their media strategies: embracing legacy outlets as credibility engines and building influence across creators, niche platforms, and algorithm-driven channels that increasingly define audience behavior. This is a session for anyone rethinking what it means to “earn media.”
Pick a table and join the group for a lively discussion over lunch.
Zero-Click Search Hits 60%: Why PR Will Lead Your 2026 Survival Guide
The search landscape is undergoing a seismic shift that most marketers aren't prepared for. With zero-click searches now representing 60% of all queries, the traditional SEO playbook is dead. In this data-driven talk, Alec will reveal why PR strategies are becoming the cornerstone of search visibility in an AI-dominated world. You'll discover:
Coming Soon
The Future of Crisis Communication: Navigating Brand, Public, and Media Expectations in a Rapidly Shifting World
From product recalls to public scandals to global disruptions—crisis communication has never been more complex or more critical. This panel brings together industry leaders who have managed high-stakes issues from inside the world’s biggest brands and top-tier agencies. Moderated by Junapr CEO Nicole Junas Ravlin, the conversation will feature:
Together, they’ll explore how to lead with transparency, build stakeholder trust, and stay ahead of the curve in an always-on media environment. Attendees will leave with real-world strategies and forward-thinking ideas to strengthen their own crisis playbooks.
Elevate Your Eminence with AI-powered Thought Leadership
Using real-world survey data published in the book “The ROI of Thought Leadership,” this workshop will outline how thought leadership creates business value for the organizations that produce it. It will also discuss how AI can accelerate the process of producing high-quality thought leadership for organizations of any size.
The Power of Inclusive Storytelling and The Future of DEI in PR
As we look ahead to 2026, the intersection of culture, brand purpose, and DEI is shifting rapidly. In this candid and forward-looking session, Claudia Romo Edelman will explore how inclusive storytelling is evolving and why it remains a critical tool for building brand trust, audience connection, and long-term relevance. Through trend analysis, real-world examples, and actionable insights, Claudia will break down what's working, what's not, and what's next. Expect a thoughtful conversation on emerging terminology, the new rules of engagement, risk mitigation in polarized environments, and how to stay true to your organization's values without swinging from one extreme to another.
This session is designed to equip PR and communications professionals with a grounded, strategic approach to inclusion—one that's future-ready, audience-centric, and purpose-driven.
From Guessing to Knowing: How to Identify the 2026 Trends That Will Shape Your Industry
In this session, Becca Brown with the marketing strategy and consumer insights firm, Uppercase Industries, will walk you through a human-centered road map for understanding the market forces and consumer dynamics that will impact your clients and your customers over the next 12 months.
Join TBD sponsors at Top Golf for an exclusive event.
Take a break from the conference and enjoy a chance to get an insider view of Boston's highlights:
Choose from:
Join Tina McCorkindale, President and CEO of the Institute for Public Relations, for a deep dive into the most recent research and revelations.
Coming Soon
Purpose Beyond Profit: The Strategic Value of Cause Marketing in PR
Heather will share her expertise on integrating philanthropy into agency business models, demonstrating how purpose-driven approaches create meaningful impact while enhancing client relationships and team engagement. Complementing this agency perspective, Allyson brings valuable insights revealing how brands that embrace philanthropy gain competitive advantages. She will provide a forward-looking analysis of philanthropic PR trends expected to shape the industry in 2026 and beyond.
This session offers practical strategies for PR professionals seeking to align business goals with social responsibility, creating sustainable growth that benefits both their bottom line and the greater good.
Coming Soon