Players in Uganda’s PR & communications sector are in for interesting times following the introduction of an innovative mode of disseminating and sharing information amongst themselves.
The campaign dubbed Public Relations over Coffee (PROC) is an organization that serves members directly through monthly PR meetings and special events, and virtually via rich web content, online resources and social networking community. Just as the name suggests, the meetings that commence in Uganda starting June will be monthly series over a cup of coffee focusing on different sectors of the economy.
Headquartered in Austin, Texas, the company maintains satellite “Chapter” or “Group” locations in cities across the United States, Canada and the rest of the world.
Joseph Kanyamunyu the Managing Director, Hill & Knowlton strategies who heads the East African chapter intimates that “these series will give members & companies involved in the sector, both large and small platforms to share ideas in a formal setting.
“Through PR over coffee meeting series the companies are better educated about and more prepared to successfully increase their publicity and media coverage, resulting in positive growth for both their business and the media outlets,” he says.
Commenting on the mechanics of the meetings, Kanyamunyu says that the meetings will work in such a way that each month, we host a Speaker Series, This one to one-and-a-half hour informative presentation is open to all, and consists of one guest speaker who are experts in various sectors including, ICT, Oil & Gas, public health, media and etc. members are invited to interact with industry experts and the media and get attention from the Media. For instance the SMEs learn from the Speaker then pitch to the Media while the media come to get rich content from the Speaker and the SME’s.
“The speakers’ series will offer the market an innovative alliance connecting them with the local, regional & international media resulting in an increase of their publicity and news coverage efforts that result in a rich variety of stories that grows and expands their business through any kind of media.”
Adding, “For the members, there is always something they take out each time they attend, e.g. free webinars, professionals development tools, stay current on emerging trends, networking with more than 21000 members across the United States, Canada and the rest of the world and the climax of which will be a unique awards ceremony.” He concluded.