This toolkit is free for students and members. Lunch will be provided. Non-members can attend this program by purchasing a non-member ticket for $60. The cost of non-member tickets includes lunch as well as pro-rated membership for the remainder of 2025 and through 2026! Parking info and agenda below.

Parking Info and Meeting Location

Park outside the ACIPCO credit union building (first building on the right before the Visitor Center). To reach the ACIPCO Community Room, enter the first set of double doors and walk down the hall on the left, and you'll see a "Community Room" sign hanging from the ceiling, just outside the door.

Address - 1500 32nd Ave N, Birmingham, AL 35207

Toolkit Agenda:

Session 1 (10 a.m. - 11 a.m.) - AI: Your Partner in PR

Guest Speaker: Nia Johnson - Associate Professor, Samford University

It seems like we are all finding new ways to use AI each day, and if we are not careful, it can get us into trouble. Learn how Nia Johnson, associate professor in the Department of Communication and Media at Samford University, believes PR and communications professionals can best harness the power of AI as a productivity tool while avoiding ethical compromise.

Learn more about Nia: Virginia "Nia" Johnson, a native of Birmingham, has been teaching in the JMC department at Samford since 2014. She came to Samford from the University of Alabama where she taught as an adjunct and graduate teaching assistant in the College of Communication & Information Sciences.

Johnson's professional interests include public relations, advertising, sports media, health communication, crisis communication, political communication and communication education. Nia enjoys books, movies, traveling, and amusement parks. Her husband, Johnathan, is the youth minister at Deerfoot Church of Christ in Pinson. They have two sons, Joshua and Nathan.

Session 2 (11 a.m. - noon) - Rational Machines Meet Irrational Minds

Guest Speaker: Jake McKenzie - CEO, Intermark Group

The future of marketing is not AI vs. psychology, it’s AI and psychology.

If you are not using AI you are falling behind, but if your AI output is not being supplemented with psychology, you are missing the boat entirely. Research shows that the future of marketing isn’t about choosing between AI and human intelligence but combining them. AI and humans optimize data and recognize patterns in very different ways. AI delivers speed, scale, and precision, but it’s the evolutionary driven “irrational” human psyche that provides the emotional resonance, storytelling, and biases that drive real decisions among consumers.

Join us to explore why consumers make what seems like less than “optimal” choices and how those human quirks can be effectively leveraged alongside AI; Participants will learn practical ways to build campaigns that are not just streamlined, but also emotionally resonate and more persuasive.

Learn more about Jake: Jake McKenzie is the CEO of Intermark Group. His background is in psychology, which gives him an unparalleled view of changing customer beliefs and behavior. Employing PhD Psychologists to apply well-documented human psychology, Jake has helped shape such successful brands as Toyota, Krispy Kreme, Progressive Insurance, and hundreds of other flourishing companies around the country. Jake is also an avid reader and outdoors enthusiast, in addition to being a father of four. Jake holds a BA in Psychology and Political Science from Vanderbilt University, as well as a MPPM from Birmingham-Southern College.

Session 3 with lunch (noon - 1:30) - TBD

PRCA-B Toolkit: AI & Beyond, navigating a rapidly evolving PR landscape