2022 COMMCON

The 2022 Communicators Conference, CommCon, will inspire you and give you new perspectives on your work and your value in the public relations/strategic communications field.

For the past two+ years, we’ve been in extensive crisis mode. While cooped up in our homes, trying to work from a corner of our bedroom or kitchen – sometimes with kids and/or four-legged “helpers” – we’ve managed our own stress, all the while putting out communications that are empathetic and reassuring.

But, we are nothing if not resilient. We are re-emerging to find that we have changed, our organizations have changed, how we work has changed. And our changed world will test our resilience. We are more fractured, yet more committed to equity. We are more connected online, yet more vulnerable to mental health challenges.

CommCon will provide perspectives to make sense of our new reality, to inspire ourselves to think outside of the PR box and view our world with a refreshed lens.

Steve Elkins, literally found the Lost City of the Monkey God in Honduras. Hear how he “used PR skills” to bring a difficult government, skeptical scientists and cynical media outlets together to find and protect one of the most heralded archeological discoveries in our world today.

John Ott, founder of the Center for Collective Wisdom, will teach us how we get back to listening to and understanding each other, even as we are more isolated and fractured as a community and nation. John shares his insights from working with communities to solve our nation's most intractable problems: houselessness, mental illness and trauma.

Serilda Summers-McGee, founder/CEO of Workplace Change, challenges us to think about how we get our internal communications to match what our external communications are saying. Brands get in trouble when they don’t “walk the walk.” Communicating with the public - in particular historically disadvantaged communities - requires authenticity.

Three enterprising young influencers representing brands in lifestyle, travel and food, and outdoors will share their social media secrets and give us a behind the scenes look at the influencer world. Here’s your chance to get an inside look at how it all works, at the same time getting some ideas for your next social campaign.

Spotlight Awards, held during the lunch hour of the conference for the first time, showcases our best PR campaigns and tactics from the year.

Network, Network, Network. Throughout the day, get reacquainted with old friends, and make new ones. The conference is designed to encourage you to interact with your fellow communicators effortlessly.

Online Option: Don't feel ready to meet in person? No problem! Register for the online option. You’ll still be able to hear and learn from our speakers and Spotlight awards presentation.

Bottom line; this is a not-to-be-missed event for the communications industry in the Northwest.

It’s all happening at the zoo! We hope to see you there!

Time: 8:30 AM - Registration; 9:00 AM start; 5:00 PM Happy Hour

Place: Oregon Zoo 4001 SW Canyon Road, Portland, OR 97221

Parking: there is plenty of parking at the zoo; the Daily rate is $8.00