Events

Beginning in 1968 with the professed pursuit to present important aspects and trends of public relations, All India Public Relations Conference used to take place in every alternate year till 1980s when it was made an annual event to meet the aspirations of more Chapters desiring to host this national meet.  Two core objectives of the conference are:

• It aims to introduce PR as a management discipline in non-user organizations.

• It seeks to improve the professional ability of its own members by exposing them to the wider applications of public relations techniques and tools

Prominent personalities from the Government, top management of public and private sector organizations, the media, education, science and technology and international make educative deliberations on topics as diverse as media relations, consumerism, financial PR, employee relations, relations with the government, community relations, crisis communications and ‘disruptive’ communication tools among others. Political leaders like I.K. Gujral, Vasant Sathe, L.K. Advani and V.N. Gadgil have been closely associated with the PRSI activities on several occasions.

At the 1974 PRSI Conference, a presentation was made for the first time on the PR involvement in lowering the level of production waste at a tyre plant that for its merit was eventually published in the PR News of New York.  Consequently the presentation of case studies has become a regular feature of the Conference.

The Kolkata Chapter hosted the National PR Conference seven  times in the years of 1972, 1980, 1989, 1998, 2004, 2010, 2018

Engage, launched in 2012 as eastern India’s first ever Social Media Summit, is the signature event of PRSI Kolkata Chapter. It is recognition of the new digital era and the acknowledgement of the same by top Indian brands in the marketplace moving forward in digital innovation and communication, whole new knowledge economy, growing expanse of social media, cyber security and boom in data analytics. Every year Engage presents ideas and innumerable innovations that are being recognized as game changers on the digital platform.

Stalwarts of the industry have required little persuasion to take the stage and share their knowledge and experience thus offering stellar opportunities for the audience to interact with some of the most brilliant minds of the digital world.

Engage highlights

• EASTERN INDIA’S FIRST DIGITAL AND SOCIAL MEDIA CONFERENCE
• OVER 400 DELEGATES, BRANDS, CUSTODIANS AND DIGITAL MARKETERS
• INSIGHTFUL DELIBERATIONS BY RENOWNED PROFESSIONALS FROM THE INDUSTRY
• AN EFFORT TO HELP THE MARKET PLAYERS IN THE EASTERN REGION REDEFINE OPERATIONS AND STRATEGIES

In 1968 April 21 was declared as the National PR with a pledge to rededicate to the cause of Public Relations and scale up professionalism in the PR fraternity across all businesses and services.   Every year PRSI, Kolkata Chapter too observes the Day to foster camaraderie among PR professionals with programmes centred around themes that are relevant to both the nation and the profession.

Over the years the day is being celebrated on various themes of national concern.

Yet another project that mirrors the dynamic thinking associated with PRSI Kolkata Chapter. The chapter has till date hosted four editions of Better City Better Life – an Interactive symposium to find solutions to the problems plaguing Kolkata as an urban habitat.

Kolkata Chapter brought about a widely acclaimed musical programme “Give Peace A Chance Concert” to pay homage to the heroes who laid down their lives as well as bravely fought to win in 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai.  Renowned Tabla Maestro Pt. Tanmoy Bose presented a brilliant nonstop fusion of Jazz, Blues and Indian Classical in which peace and brotherhood of man dominated to soulful effect.

National Anthem Jana Gana Mana was first sung on December 27, 1911 before the annual conference of the Indian National Conference in the colonial Calcutta by its author-composer Rabindranath Tagore. PRSI Kolkata Chapter organised an eventful centenary celebrations to highlight the importance of reviving the glory of the national anthem by creating awareness among the younger generation. The programme was held at the National Library Kolkata with the participation of leading performers and eminent academicians of Kolkata.

Gosai  Bagan was an idea of bringing face to face an artiste and the poet who wrote one of the artiste’s all-time hit song. Poet Joy Goswamy and singer Lopamudra Bhattacharya engaged in a conversation that had Lopa in the shoe of an interviewer. As the tete-a-tete progressed the thickly attended space at Conclave, Kolkata enlivened with well curated question and answers about poetry music and their r inter-relationship.

Sexism, reproductive health, gender-based violence—these are a few topics that often come up under the subject of women’s issues. Acknowledging the historical basis of inequality and oppression that have contributed to the sexism that women face relentlessly, PRSI Kolkata Chapter brought together in this dedicated function a few eminent personalities known for advocating women’s causes at Hotel Taj, Kolkata. They deliberated and discussed all major pejorative issues and perverse perceptions associated with them.

An earthquake of 7.8 magnitudes, the deadliest in 81 years struck Nepal on April 25, 2015, leaving over 9,000 people died, more than 22,000 injured, 600,000+ homes destroyed and more than 288,000 damaged.  PRSI Kolkata Chapter organised a rare of its kind concert with West Bengal’s arguably the most celebrated musical couple to raise a fund for relief that was handed to the Consulate of Nepal .

PRSI completed the 60 years of the Society’s journey through umpteen highs and lows of social, political, economic and cultural transitions making a captivating history. The Kolkata Chapter, one of the first stakeholders of the Society and arguably the most happening one unfolded a series of action packed thought provoking time innovative programmes with a multiplicity of takeaways.

Beginning with Vayali Bamboo Band as the Curtain Raiser, celebrations around diverse cultural, business and profession specific themes continued for the whole year and finally wrapped up with a mega grand finale at Swabhumi, The Heritage Plaza – one of its kind destinations for varied ethnic attractions.

Shri. Sovandeb Chattopadhyay, Hon’ble MIC, Power & Non-Conventional Energy Resources, Government of West Bengal delivered a well-crafted speech underlining significant impacts of PRSI and its Kolkata Chapter had left on the business and public communications. Studded with a host of stellar performances and presentations by cultural glitterati and professional front liners, the event had the Chapter Chairman unveiling #BengaltoNation campaign. The concepts behind the campaign was to shortlist and subsequently celebrate 50 major business brands with their origins in West Bengal made it big on the national landscape of business.

For a better glance into it, please go to Think Book in our ‘publication’ section.

In one proceeding in the programme, MAKAUT & PRSI signed an MOU to start PR courses at undergraduate as well as post graduate levels. Dr. Saikat Maitra, VC, MAKAUT and Soumyajit Mahapatra, Chairman, PRSI, Kolkata Chapter oversaw the signing and promised fast implementation.

PRSI Kolkata Chapter set out on the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations with a grand curtain raiser presenting India’s first eight-member folk ensemble from Kerala who performed with musical instruments they had crafted out of bamboo on February 11, 2018 at Nazrul Tirtha Auditorium.

. All of Vayali’s projects and bamboo bands works are based on the idea of ‘culture nourished in nature.’  According to them “without nature, culture can’t exist. Without culture, society can’t.”

Performance by them was simply magical with compositions galore that included Tagore’s Ekla Cholo Ray, Bankim Chandra’s Vande Matram to many foot taping numbers from A R Rahaman and other musical legends from Mumbai and South India.  In the evening, the Chapter also felicitated classical guitar Guru Debashish Bhattacharya, Deb Sankar and Jyoti Sankar of ‘Violin Brothers’ fame and Classical Odissi Dance Soloist Guru Sangeeta Bhattacharya.

A Special Awareness Event for empowering differently abled

Indian Census 2011 (updated in 2016) has recorded about 2.70 crore disabled population who have been the victims of abject negligence and cruelty.  PRSI Kolkata Chapter has always recognised the committed effort by some organisations especially  NGOs to rehabilitate this un-privileged  section of the population. On December 16, 2017, the Chapter collaborated with PR signal, a start up by Sumit Agarwal, an outstanding young leader with 70% disability to organise DIGI-ABILITY to encourage and educate others to gain a better understanding of people affected by a disability. Another goal was to raise awareness about the benefits of integrating people with disabilities into every part of life, from economic and political life to social and cultural life.

DIGI-Ability, with speakers as eminent as Padmashree Dr. Sudha Kaul, Founder Principal Centre for Special Education and former Executive Director IICP, Shri Mukesh Jain, CEO National Trust, Shri Pankaj Maru, Expert Member of Central Divyangjan, Advisory Board, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India, exhibition of crafts by the differently-abled artistes and irresistibly energetic musical and cultural programmes by the students of a few well known rehab institutes, left a desired impact