Learn How to Increase Business Acumen for You and Your Team

Business acumen has emerged as a critical competency for professionals at all levels of the field. To become trusted advisers to clients and the C-suite, public relations professionals need to demonstrate how their counsel helps advance business goals and objectives.

In this session, you’ll gain tips to help increase your level of business acumen so that public relations gets — and keeps — its seat at the table. You’ll learn:

·         The importance of business acumen to PR success.

·         The state of business acumen education and training.

·         What specific knowledge senior leaders expect in this area.

·         Examples of “Business 101” training and development programs.

·         Actionable tips and exercises for building business acumen.

Presenters

Ron Culp, professional director, PR and advertising graduate program, DePaul University

Culp is professional director of the graduate program for public relations and advertising in the College of Communication at DePaul University. He has received numerous awards that recognize his leadership in public relations; he also writes a popular career blog, Culpwrit. Prior to joining DePaul, Culp was a partner at Ketchum, where he headed the global agency’s North American Corporate Practice. Previously, he headed the Chicago office of financial communications firm, Sard Verbinnen and Company, after serving as senior vice president of public relations and government affairs for Sears. Earlier in his career, he held senior communications positions at Sara Lee Corporation, Pitney Bowes and Eli Lilly.

Matt Ragas, Ph.D., academic director, PR and advertising graduate program, DePaul University

Ragas is an assistant professor and academic director of the graduate program for public relations and advertising in the College of Communication at DePaul University. He has authored three books and more than 60 articles, book chapters, papers and reports. A recipient of the Nafziger-White-Salwen dissertation award from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), he has been a fellow of the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism at Arizona State University, The Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations at The University of Alabama and a Coleman Foundation faculty entrepreneurship fellow. Ragas also holds an M.S. in Management and a B.S. in marketing from the University of Central Florida.

Event Details