The first thing I recognize — just by looking at the agenda — is that the industry has realized that it must embrace online tools — and is ideally suited to be the driver of the online communications efforts within the organizations it serves.  There are numerous panels (I’m attending most of them) on social media tools, as well as the changing face of the “journalists” traditionally pitched by PR professionals.

I’ve written and spoken extensively about how I believe the PR departments within organizations need to be the owners of online communications programs — simply because it is absolutely, 100% within their job description.  140-character Tweets of today are akin to the 400-word press release of yesterday.  Sometimes a short Facebook status update is as powerful as a 5-minute media call.

That being said, I can certainly tell (from some audience questions) that there are some public relations professionals who are stuck in the PR mold of yesteryear.  You know — the old press release-and-pitch-the-traditional-media mold.

I also have been troubled (although not surprised) that, in all the discussions of social media tools — email (the first and largest social media tool) — was never mentioned.  Twitter and Facebook may be hot — by email is the solid, steady tool.  Embrace it.

In addition, the keynote speaker on the first day was Arianna Huffington — publisher of the successful online publication The Huffington Post.  Her politics aside, Huffington provided a great discussion about the changing face of the media — taking a few overt swipes at the MSM — and how PR professionals need to adapt to the changing environment.  My favorite quote from her presentation:

“You consume old media sitting on the couch.  You consume new media galloping on the horse.  You engage.”

That quote about sums up the challenges — and opportunities — facing the PR industry in the changing media climate.

How do we engage the media — and, more important, how can we use new tools to actually become the media and engage consumers directly?

Get on the horse…

More updates tomorrow.