GUWAHATI, MAY 6: Dr Bhupen Hazarika Centre for Mass Communication & Journalism (BCMJ), Cotton College, Guwahati hosted the ‘SBI Public Relations Summit’ on Saturday. The daylong programme, for which students and teachers from ten institutions from the North East and beyond had converged, saw leading PR practitioners of the region deliberating and interacting with the participants. Presumably this was the first PR Summit of its kind to be hosted by an educational institution in North East India.

Speaking as the chief guest at the inaugural session, Nirada Devi, Principal, Cotton College said, “There is a growing importance of Public Relations in all walks of life today and if we are not aware of it, we will be overtaken by others in whatever profession we may be.” She expressed the hope that the Summit will not only create more awareness about the different fields of Public Relations but also help youngsters present at the Summit to look for suitable employment opportunities in this sector.

Earlier at the outset of the programme, a message received from MB Jayram, Chief Mentor of Public Relations Council of India (PRCI), wishing the Summit all success, was read out to the audience of the event in which there were students from ten different institutions of North East India.

Hamad Berlashker, MD & CEO, Tangent PR, who was a special guest, told the students that all who study Public Relations need not end up with a PRO’s job. He stated, “But what is important is that whoever has the skills of Public Relations can use it at any job and derive mileage from it.”

Sandipan Nair, DGM, Sales & Marketing, Dalmia Cements Ltd, elaborated on the ‘Young Achievers’ programme of the Company under which several outstanding achievers from the North East have been felicitated by the Company. In Saturday’s Summit, the Company felicitated Nang Monroe Gogoi, an alumnus of Cotton College, who has by now made a niche for herself as a pioneer adventure biker all over the country. She will lead an all women bike expedition to Ladakh this year and another to a South East Asian destination in the coming year.

Major PR related topics such as use of digital and social media in Public Relations, the intricacies involved in running a PR agency or department, the inside stories of PR set-ups in Govt departments and PSUs, best practices in Corporate Social Responsibility activities, and role of Public Relations in the hospitality sector were deliberated upon at the Summit by experts in the field.

Among invited speakers were Syed Mohsin Raja, Strategist & Consultant, Digital & Social Media; Jayanta Deka, Vikash Sing, and Rooplin Sharma, co-founders of a leading PR firm “Life’s Purple”; Jayanta Kr Sarma, PRO, NF Railway; Saurabh Pant, Director, Sales & Marketing, and Bipasha Saikia, PR & Marketing Manager, Hotel Radisson Blu, Guwahati.

The Summit special issue of the quarterly newsletter ‘Unadulterated Public Relations’ was unveiled by the invited guests present at the event. The event was organised by BCMJ in collaboration with an activity group ‘Learning & Promoting PR’ (LeaP PR). It was sponsored by SBI and supported by Dalmia Cements Ltd and Tangent PR. TMN