gearing up for #trustmebrum

It's fitting our 650th post is about an event that will challenge convention and involves a number of bright people we rate.

by Dan Slee

When we first kicked around the idea for what comms2point0 would look like we had this idea that it may be a place for ideas to be shared.

We were also keen to make it a place where people could challenge conventions. So, it's rather fitting that our 650th post should be about an event with one of the most iconoclastic authors we've ever written about.

Robert Phillips has become something of a pantomime villain to some of the PR community by writing his landmark book 'Trust Me, PR is Dead.' There are those that hate it and wish he hadn't, as Robert says 'called bullshit' on the industry.

It's a book we've reviewed previously and we're hugely pleased he agreed to come along to speak at our event at Impact Hub Birmingham on Wednesday March 25 from 6pm to 8pm. If you've got a ticket, well done you. If you haven't, then we'll we live tweeting through the event using the #trustmebrum hashtag.  

Here's a quick reminder of what the event will look like:

Part one: 'Trust Me: PR is Dead' with Robert Phillips

In an age of individual empowerment, power is shifting from the state to citizen and employer to employee. As the time of PR and so many industries comes to an end, Robert optimistically attempts to answer the question: 'If everything is dead, what comes next?' and argues that activism, radical honesty and transparency should be at the heart of business and politics today.

Robert Phillips is Head of Chambers at Jericho Chambers in London and a former (EMEA) President and CEO of Edelman the world's largest PR firm.

Part two: 'Militant Optimists: Making Activism Real in Brum with Lorna Prescott.

A group of militant optimists in Birmingham have already shown that connected activism can begin to make changes. After coming together to stage the Birmingham TEDx events a diverse group coalesced around the idea of building an Impact Hub in Birmingham. This could be a place where new start-ups could flourish and ideas could build with the aim of building a better Birmingham.

Lorna Prescott works at Dudley CVS and is part of a team who helped raise more than £50,000 in just a few weeks to make Impact Hub Birmingham happen.

Part three: 'How Do We Join the Future?'

So, we've heard what the future may look like. Is this just for Metropolitan elites? How do we join in? With a panel to include Robert Phillips (head of Jericho Chambers and author), Lorna Parsons (Dudley CVS and Impact Hub Brum) Eddie Coates-Madden (local government head of comms and customer service) and Nick Booth (former BBC journalist and Managing Director of Birmingham-based Podnosh).

Part four: A Twitter Q&A

There will be a Twitter Q&A on the night at around 8.30pm so if you couldn't grab a ticket there's a chance to put a question to Robert. Use the #trustmebrum hashtag.

Dan Slee is co-founder of comms2point0.

Picture caption.