My First SunCon: A Summer Energy Refresher 

My First SunCon: A Summer Energy Refresher 

By: Malorie Reid

You never know what to expect when you attend a professional development conference. 

PRSA SunCon 2025 already had a couple things working for it — Jacksonville’s close proximity to Orlando, and the fact that I had such an enriching experience at my first PRSA ICON conference last October. So, I went into my first SunCon with high hopes for both enrichment and entertainment, and I am pleased to report that SunCon delivered on both.

Though I have a creative writing and journalism background, I consider myself a newbie to this side of communications. Because of this, I was excited to attend sessions to pick up tools of the trade to use  going forward in my career. I ended up receiving not just tools but life advice as well. 

Here are just a handful of my takeaways from the sessions I attended at SunCon 2025:

• Motivational speaker Bob Kodzis opened the conference with a truly rewarding “workLIFE” session. His talk was a great way to set the energy for the rest of the conference, and focused on ways to shift your perspective, which can be applied in life as well as business. He delivered tips on avoiding burnout, and offered many quotables, such as, “The only person responsible for your security is you.” His talk was whimsical, fun, and still grounded in useful practices. He even taught us a magic trick that highlighted the power of perspective. I would try and describe it for you, but you just had to be there. Know that lots of laughter was involved.
  
• The “Keywords to Coverage: SEO Strategies for Online Visibility and Earned Media” session, led by Sherry Sanderford and Kendra Hand, both of Wounded Warrior Project, was full of useful strategies for developing content with SEO in mind. The most valuable takeaway for me was to evaluate the performance of past content and then create editorial calendars with that performance in mind. The session also highlighted finding evergreen content that works for the focus of your organization.
  
• Lastly, the “Bridging the Divide: How to Manage it All When You’re the Solo PR Person” session with Melissa Ross and Heather Schatz, both with the City of Jacksonville, provided useful tips on how to get out into the community and see if there are ways to volunteer your services in order to build relationships, as well as to attend things outside of your bubble of expertise or focus. I will certainly be using plenty of the tips offered in this session, and all the sessions I had the privilege of attending.

My SunCon 2025 experience was a quick energy refresher filled with advice on how to make both my work life and professional life both a bit easier and more productive. I had the opportunity to listen to some engaging speakers, gain insight, and in my downtime, enjoy the Jacksonville coastline. 

I am very grateful to have had this opportunity, and a big thank you goes out to PRSA Orlando for providing a grant for me to attend. I would highly recommend attending this conference next year!