PRSI Bhubaneswar Holds PR Roundtable ‘Celebrating Women In Communication’

Bhubaneswar: Public Relations Society of India (PRSI) organised a roundtable discussion on the theme ‘Celebrating Women in Communication’, aligned with this year’s International Women’s Day theme ‘Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress’.

The roundtable discussion was organised by the Bhubaneswar Chapter of PRSI on the eve of International Women’s Day 2024.

Speaking on the occasion, Rupali Kar, AGM, PR, Media and Corporate Communication, JSW said “as a woman we have to back up our next generation and ensure that the younger girls working with us have a happy life, happy days, and stress-less nights and goes happy to bed and she gets to do whatever she chooses to do. I think as a society we have to promote that, making our girls happier and bolder. We have to inculcate the fighting spirit at a very early stage so that assert themselves as they go along and be bold to ask questions. Giving examples of successful women in leading corporates and PSUs, she asserted that today’s women in communication need to adapt to fast moving technological advancements.”

Sharing her experience as a HR leader, Lagna Pany, CHRO, CSM Technologies said the common notion in corporate houses is that they are very good at HR and marketing, but I will say yes they are very good at HR and marketing because they are very compassionate and sensitive. And they are very good in HR because they can connect with people in better ways. Having said that I must say women are doing exceptionally well in the fields of public relations, media and strategic communication.”

As guest speaker, Nilanjana Mukherjee, Managing Director, Kalinga Hospital asserted that communication is something which the healthcare industry is still lacking to some extent. Citing that women are in majority in healthcare sector, she advocated on the need for better communication skills among healthcare workers and doctors, who often deal with emotional responses of patients and family members. There should be no discrimination whether you are a man or woman, she added.

PRSI Bhubaneswar Chapter Chairman Shashank Pattnaik in his key note address elaborated on inspiring women communication leaders and stressed on the importance of equality and gender sensitivity at workplace.

Speaking at the roundtable discussion, former Chairman of PRSI Bhubaneswar Chapter described how public communication started with smoke signals and cited the example of Rosa Parks as the spark for civil disobedience movement in US with her communication strategy of Being Quiet, which is beautifully portrayed later in a book titled ‘QUIET’, which was uniquely printed in white on a white cover.

The programme was coordinated by Amtrita Kundu, member of PRSI Bhubaneswar Chapter and PRSI Bhubaneswar Chapter Secretary Krushna Chandra Mahapatra presented the vote of thanks. Among others, members of PRSI Bhubaneswar, healthcare professionals attended the roundtable discussion.