2024 Call for Presentations
PRSA 2024 Health Academy Conference
Call for Presentations
October 13 – 15, 2024
Anaheim Marriott
Anaheim, CA
Proposal Deadline: 11:59 p.m. EDT, Friday, March 15, 2024
Be part of the PRSA 2024 Health Academy Conference, a widely attended event recognized for outstanding networking opportunities and targeted programming that addresses issues facing public relations and communications professionals involved in all corners of the health care industry. This year’s theme is “Strategy and Storytelling” – read below to learn how to submit a proposal that fits this year’s theme.
Read through these guidelines carefully to ensure that your proposal meets the criteria.
About the PRSA Health Academy
The PRSA Health Academy is a group of nearly 900 members representing medical systems, governmental agencies, hospitals, pharmaceutical and/or biotech companies, insurers, foundations, charities, nonprofits, associations, societies, and more. We’re focused on engaging health care communicators in dialogue about the latest tools and trends.
We provide in-person programs, publications and virtual networks to help you enhance the value and impact of public relations at your organization.
About the PRSA Health Academy Conference
This conference attracts nationally renowned speakers from all sectors and industries including health care organizations, major media outlets, global publications and public relations agencies. In today’s rapidly changing health care communications and public relations environment, it is more important than ever that conference attendees have the opportunity to learn relevant ideas and skills.
Proposal Guidelines
- To participate in this conference, please submit an innovative and compelling presentation proposal that supports health care communications.
- Submissions that focus on the conference themes of “strategy and storytelling” are preferred.
- Presentations must be relevant to the field of health care public relations and targeted to all professionals looking to improve their practice.
- The practical strategies in your proposal can focus on both traditional and new forms of communication outreach as they pertain to health care transformation — example areas include but are not limited to organizational collaboration or partnership, leadership, media relations, social media, messaging, advertising and integrated or digital marketing.
- Proposals that are generic in nature and not relevant to health care communicators will not be considered.
Who Is Permitted to Present?
- Proposals may be submitted by U.S.-based public relations/communications professionals and educators including individuals from nonprofit organizations and government health agencies.
- Submissions will also be accepted from other field-related experts such as management consultants, advertisers, journalists, graphic designers, interactive communications researchers and social media and communications measurement consultants or practitioners.
- For public relations agencies and organizations that provide services in health care communications, proposals must be noncommercial and submitted with a case study, and the client also must co-present.
Who is Attending My Session?
- Conference attendees represent pharmaceutical, hospital/provider, payer/insurer, government and association/nonprofit, and other sectors of public relations.
- Presentations should be targeted to one or more of these audiences.
- Generally, sessions will be a mix of professional experience in terms of workplace type, experience level, etc.
Topics of Interest for Presentations Include:
- Case studies of combining storytelling and strategy
- Storytelling Lessons Learned: What works, what doesn’t
- Defining and implementing multi-faceted strategies
- Separating tactics from strategy
- Combining content and design in storytelling
- Climbing the communications ladder
- Internal vs. external comms strategies
- Deciding when you need marketing, PR, and/or advertising
- Being an effective supervisor for communications professionals
- Getting leadership buy-in on communications efforts
How Should I Structure My Presentation?
Sessions last approximately 60 minutes and are most effective when interactive, compelling, and engaging. Presentations should have a combined focus on current theory, strategy, and practice. In preparation, ask yourself the following questions:
What can conference attendees take home from my session to use in their own health care communications settings?
How can I clearly convey what does and doesn’t work when it comes to navigating the evolving industry landscape?
What will be valuable and novel for professionals, compared to what they probably already know?
What Do You Need From Me?
This year, submit your innovative and compelling presentation proposal online.
Please note the “Brief Description” section of the online portal is the description that will appear in the conference program should your session be selected. Please ensure that the description accurately defines your presentation.
Speaker Expenses and Compensation
PRSA does not pay for expenses (such as hotel and airfare when applicable), nor offer speaker stipends. Speakers will receive a complimentary conference registration, which includes access to all general sessions and networking functions.
Accepted Speakers and Proposals: Potential Actions
The Health Academy Conference Committee reserves the right to request potential speakers’ participation in general panel sessions in lieu of their proposed session.
Presented Sessions Following Conference
Speaker presentations will be collected and made available to conference attendees and Health Academy members after the conference. Handouts are appreciated and will be posted online.
Sponsorship Opportunities
We have several targeted sponsorship opportunities available. Prospective sponsors should contact the PRSA Sponsorship Team – Jay Goldberg at j.goldberg@jgeco.com and Mike Runkle at m.runkle@jgeco.com.
Additional questions can be addressed to PRSA Events Manager Amy Moore via email at amy.moore@prsa.org or (212) 460-0302.
Questions?
Submit questions to:
Amy Moore, Events Manager
amy.moore@prsa.org
(212) 460-0302
Carrie Strehlau
PRSA 2023 Health Academy Chair
strehlau12@gmail.com
Ilana Ostrin
Health Academy Conference Chair
iostrin@pptaglobal.org