Pass the Gavel: Communications Trends 2025
January 23, 2025
11:30 AM - 1:45 PM
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Buckhead Club
3344 Peachtree Rd
Atlanta, GA 30326
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As PR and communications teams are finalizing plans for 2025, questions about the economy are looming. How are key industries performing? How is the job market?
Join us for our first in-person professional development event of 2025 to learn local, regional and national insights – with a primer on all necessary jargon – to help PR pros prepare their firms and clients for 2025.
Before this insightful program, we’ll witness the annual Pass the Gavel with 2024 Chapter President Daniel Groce, APR officially passing the gavel to incoming 2025 Chapter President Melissa Smith, APR.
Schedule:
- 11:30-12:15 p.m.: Networking & Lunch
- 12:15-12:30 p.m.: Pass the Gavel
- 12:30-1:30 p.m.: The 2025 Economic Trends: A Forecast for PR & Communications Pros
Please Note:
- Free parking will be available
- Member price: $45; Nonmember price: $60
Speaker: Jennifer Jones-Mitchell
With nearly thirty years of public relations and digital marketing experience, Jennifer is known for making a brand’s narrative inescapable to target audiences across paid, owned, and earned media. Having held senior positions within Porter Novelli, Publicis and Ogilvy, Jennifer also served as the president of the Brandware Group for several years.
Since 2023, she began combining her marcom expertise with the incredible power of AI as CEO of Human Driven AI. In this role, she helps agencies and in-house marcom teams operationalize and productize AI through custom team trainings, custom prompt libraries, and AI product development. Jennifer is often quoted saying, ‘AI will not take your job. Someone who knows how to use AI will.” This embodies her belief that technology should serve people, not replace them. As such, Human Driven AI also licenses certificate classes to high schools, colleges, and universities, preparing the next generation for an AI world.
Jennifer is a frequent speaker on AI for Marketing Communications and served as the Conference Chairwoman for ALI's AI for Communicators Conference. Her podcast AI Central was ranked the 5th “Best AI Marketing Podcast” by FeedSpot and Clutch recently named Human Driven AI the Top AI Consulting Company in Georgia. Her work with Human Driven AI has also been recognized by ADWEEK and earned the AI Breakthrough Award for Generative AI Innovation.
Jennifer holds a B.A. in Communications from Oglethorpe University and an AI for Marketing Certification from Cornell University. She resides in Decatur, Georgia with her music composer husband and their dog.
Speaker: Brandon Butler
Brandon Butler is seasoned marketing and creative leader. He is the CEO of ButterATL, Atlanta’s definitive culture channel that highlights the people, places and things that make Atlanta great.
Most recently Brandon brought recording legends Antwan “Big Boi” Patton and Micheal “Killer Mike” Render into the ButterATL ownership group. With Brandon at the helm, Butter has grown to hundreds of thousands of followers and readers across the region. He is also a Partner and Chief Content Officer for Majority, AdAge’s 2023 Breakthrough Agency of the Year, co-founded by Shaquille O’Neal where he leverages content to increase internal and external brand awareness across digital/traditional media channels. Throughout his career Brandon has led successful digital and creative teams at organizations such as Accenture, Edelman, NPR, and NBA Digital.
Named to Adweek’s Creative 100 in 2021, and Atlanta Magazine’s 500 Most Powerful Leaders of 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 Brandon has become an in-demand speaker and panelist in the region and beyond. Brandon obtained his bachelor’s degree of Information Technology from Georgia Southern University and received his MBA from The Georgia Institute of Technology.
Speaker: Maija Ehlinger
Maija Ehlinger is a journalist with a background covering business, technology, economics, and international affairs. Ehlinger is the Editor-in-Chief of Hypepotamus, where she covers the startup and venture capital community across the Southeast region of the US.
She is an Emmy Award-winning journalist and producer, having worked with CNN International on global stories such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Israel-Gaza War, and the Southport riots.
Maija holds an undergraduate degree from Emory University and is a graduate of Columbia Journalism School’s Lede Program for Data Journalism, where she honed her skills in data-driven reporting. A native of Ventura County, California, she is now proud to call Atlanta home.
Tickets
$45.00 PRSA Georgia Chapter Member
$55.00 Non PRSA Georgia Chapter Member
$60.00 after 01:35 pm January 17
$35.00 PRSSA Student Ticket
