Left-leaning PR flacks, spin doctors host media training

PR people hate being called flacks. And they despise the word “spin.” 

But not the left-leaning PR pros hosting the True Spin Conference Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 in Denver,  Colorado. It’s a media relations training session with panels, workshops and networking.  

“This conference brings together flacks from progressive advocacy groups around the country to exchange ideas and learn new and creative PR tactics,” the press release says. “Officials from giant corporations meet all the time to share their latest and greatest media relations strategies. This is our turn. It’s the only national conference of its kind.”

Keynote Speakers are Dr. Lori Dorfman of the Berkeley Media Studies Group; Alan Jenkins of The Opportunity Agenda and David Sirota, syndicated columnist and author of Hostile Takeover.

Most PR training conferences I attend have workshop titles more potent than Ambien. Not these:

• Do Progressives Suck at PR?
• Journalists Turned Flacks
• Using Web Tools to Megaphone and Hone Your Message (See “Let Bloggers Create Publicity for You.“)
• Be like PETA!
• Pranks with a Purpose: A Report from the Front Lines of the New Creative Activism

With fun titles like that, it’s no wonder last year’s Spin Conference sold out.