By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR: Bhubaneswar Chapter of Public Relations Society of India (PRSI) held its annual meeting at the Press Club of Odisha premises. Setting the context, Chapter Chairman Amar Jyoti Mahapatra in his welcome address mentioned on how the COVID19 pandemic has impacted the public relations sector and greeted all the members present at this annual meeting, which was the first physical meeting of the members since COVID19 began in early 2020. Four new members were also formally welcomed and felicitated on this occasion.
Presenting the annual activity report, Chapter Secretary Sanjay Sahoo recounted various activities undertaken by the chapter amidst the pandemic over the year. Major activities undertaken by the chapter included ongoing work on a commemorative book on Loka Seva Bhavan, a webinar on ‘Changing PR and Media Landscape because of COVID19 pandemic’; PR Talk on ‘Emerging Communication Scenario and its Impact on Digital Public Relations’; National PR Day Celebration on the theme ‘Public Relations for Public Awareness: Lets build a COVID Free World’ etc.
As part of continuous Industry- Academia Collaboration initiatives undertaken by the chapter, PRSI Bhubaneswar partnered with Birla Global University for a webinar on the theme ‘Public Relations in the post COVID19 Era: Opportunities and Challenges’. PRSI Bhubaneswar Chapter also collaborated with KIIT School of Communication of KIIT Deemed University for the virtual Public Relations Summit on the theme ‘Public Relations and Media during COVID19’ wherein PRSI National President Dr. Ajit Pathak presented the key-note address.
At the annual meeting, PRSI Bhubaneswar Chapter Treasurer Krushna Chandra Mahapatra presented the book of accounts and membership status for the year 2020-2021, while Chapter Vice-Chairman Dr. Bibhudatta Mahapatra presented the vote of thanks. Members from leading corporate houses, PSUs, communication agencies and media institutions participated in this annual meet making it a grand success.
It has been proposed in the meeting to prepare a detailed plan and initiate the process for organising an All-Odisha Public Relations Summit in the coming year. Among other planned activities in the year ahead, it was decided to organise an event to recognize the best efforts and initiatives in the realm of social media, which played a far greater role in recent times, especially during the pandemic.
It is worth mentioning here that PRSI Bhubaneswar is operating as affiliated to Public Relations Society of India. In line with the national council, the chapter has been taking up various activities to promote the recognition of public relations as a profession and to formulate and interpret to the public the objectives as well as potentialities of public relations as a strategic management function.
