Folks who attended our January 10 PRSA-WF program with Peter Giles acknowledge it's hard not to get excited about all the new "Technogadgets" that are available to PR Professionals. 

Among the products that drew a lot of interest was what Peter described as a "brand new category" - a tiny portable projector from Pico that looks to revolutionize presentations. Peter noted that the brightness still needs work, but it promises to lighten the load we tote to client meetings considerably. 

For those of you who are Flip aficionados, innovations include a new waterproof  model from Kodak for capturing underwater shots and a new model from Sony that can rotate the lens to shoot images of yourself. A Gorilla Pod flexible tripod was on Peter's must-have list.

Other camera innovations include a model from Nikon that comes with its own projector and a new Wi-Fi enabled SD card that facilitates photo transfer.

Peter also addressed our critical data storage and backup needs. A multi-drive unit from Drobo may relieve concern about that hard drive you use for backup crashing. New USB 3.0 devices provide super-speed transfer. And Peter noted that "Cloud Computing" from a number of sources offers cost-effective online backup.

We also heard about developments in computers, netbooks and tablets, including an iSlate that Apple will unveil this week, as well as mobile devices and their associated apps.

There's so much more - PRSA-WF members should be sure to check out Peter's slide deck, posted in the Member Downloads section of our website, for his list of "essentials" and tips for looking and sounding good on VOIP and Skype calls.

What new technology for PR professionals have you discovered you can't live without in 2010?

- Wendy Van Parys, PRSA-WF President 2010

Online chatter to the contrary, it appears that the press release is not dead in 2010. A study released this week by Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism examined a week of news reporting in Baltimore, Maryland. Among the many interesting findings of the study was this conclusion:

"As news is posted faster, often with little enterprise reporting added, the official version of events is becoming more important. We found official press releases often appear word for word in first accounts of events, though often not noted as such."

Blogger AdamSherk observed that "smaller news sources in particular do in fact use that content in full or repurposed form." Companies can increase pickup of the text of their press releases by bloggers and traditional media alike "by giving them a more news-like tone and dialing down the marketing hype," he said.

What role are traditional press releases playing in your PR practice in 2010?

-Wendy Van Parys, PRSA-WF President, 2010

The launch of our new PRSA Westchester-Fairfield chapter website, along with our chapter's social media channels, enhance the opportunity for dialogue with our members, the media, and the communities, businesses and organizations we serve. This chapter blog is our newest communications platform, offering points of view from a variety of your board members and two-way communication with you, our readers.

The public relations profession has evolved over the past few years with the impact of the Internet and "Web 2.0" user-generated content, radical changes in the media industry, and a tight economy. At our program last November, Marsha Gordon and Chris Bruhl, presidents of the business councils of Westchester and Fairfield counties, respectively, shared their forecasts for the new year. Public relations professionals, they said, will play a key role in molding public opinion about the health and well-being of our communities as the economy recovers.

As professionals in a communications-fragmented environment, we are constantly learning about new, exciting places and ways to reach and speak with our "publics" - and to measure the success of our efforts.  The profession always has been, and will continue to be, fundamentally about nurturing "People Relations."

What do you think? How can we help you reach your goals for 2010?

-Wendy Van Parys, PRSA-WF President, 2010