The second reason we are excited to attend is that our President and Founder, Cynthia Baker, is a panel moderator discussing how the convergence of media online affects marketing and public relations.

Media and communications are changing daily in response to technological advancements and societal change. Google, search engine optimization and RSS feeds affect the distribution of press releases and marketing online. The world of marketing and public relations is not the same; and businesses need to adapt their marketing and PR to keep up with the times.

Cynthia will address these issues as the lead of a distinguished panel that includes Jon Lebowksy – President of Polycot Associates, Clint Howell – New Media Specialist from BusinessWire, Adam Weinroth – Director of Product Marketing from Pluck, Omar Gallaga – Reporter and Blogger from Austin American Statesman, and writer Stacy Higginbotham.

The panel will discuss how social media has doubled the content of traditional media and that because of this; newspapers like USA Today and the Washington Post are racing to add social media to their Web sites. The panel will also discuss what the role of a PR agency is in the interactive news world and the challenges that PR professionals and news services are facing as the number of publications keeps growing.

Cynthia Baker, a third-generation native Austinite, and Accolades PR serves both regional and national clients in the technology, financial, franchise, advertising and business sectors. She is a member of the Austin Corporate Growth and Bootstrap organizations. Cynthia also is a co-founding member of the Austin Social Media Club and is considered a leader in new media public relations.