Praxis 2016 sees largest gathering of PR professionals in India

 4th October 2016    PR News 
 Paarul Chand

Praxis 2016, the annual offsite gathering of communications professionals in the country concluded with over 550 professionals attending the event in picturesque Aamby Valley in the Western Ghats.

Organized by ‘The PRomise Foundation’, nearly 30 speakers spread across two days, shared their views on topics under the broad theme of “Reputation is Everything.”

The keynote speaker, Dr. A Velumnai, founder of diagnostics giant Thyrocare spoke about his journey from a village in Tamil Nadu to owning a company worth millions. With a mix of home spun advise in life and work, with a generous does of Rajnikant ‘Kabali’ attitude he received a standing ovation from the audience and was literally mobbed later.

On a more serious note, the issue of talent availability and retention was flagged off as a key issue by speakers.

Gregor Halff, chair of the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management and Deputy Dean – Singapore Management University had some sharp comments to make about the quality of education being provided for PR. He said that there is a collusion between PR schools and agency owners to keep entry level salaries low. Half also commented that a complete rehaul of curriculum for PR and communication is required and that academia is not focused enough on this task.

With regard to handling reputation in an fast changing world, Alan Vandermolen (international president – WE Communications), pointed out that  Blackberry is a cautionary tale with regard to deciding your actions looking at your reputation in the rear view mirror; implying that brand must keep on top of their current market perception.

Praxis 2016 concluded with the first ever Fulcrum Awards organized by PRmoment India and Event Capital and supported by SCoRe. Fulcrum Awards ended up trending in the top 10 all India trends:

Adfactors PR, which also won the award for large consultancy of the year, swept the awards in several categories: 

The next Praxis will take place in north India on the 15th and 16th of September, 2017.