At noon today, the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) issued a news release cancelling the trade organization's 2005 International Conference due to the potential impacts of Hurricane Wilma to host city Miami, Florida. The PRSA conference was scheduled to start tomorrow and run through Tuesday, October 25. Wilma is projected to reach Miami sometime on Sunday, though forecasters have revised their estimates of the timing and strength of the hurricane several times in the past two days.

As late as 9:00 p.m. ET last night, PRSA was still holding out hope for a favorable turn in the forecast. PRSA President and CEO Judith T. Phair said in a written statement "we are teaming with local officials to identify safety triggers that will guide future decisions." One of those triggers was the declaration of a state of emergency. Florida Governor Jeb Bush declared a state of emergency on Thursday and this morning the PRSA cancelled the show.

I was scheduled to present a workshop at the PRSA Conference but had to cancel due to complications from Katrina. The PRSA did the right thing to cancel in time for everyone to evacuate if necessary. We all remember hearing about convention visitors stuck in New Orleans who later ended up evacuating after eduring days without electricity or running water. The PRSA Board put safety ahead of the organization's finances, which are sure to take a severe blow courtesy of Wilma.

The PRSA is going to need our help in the coming year to recover from this set-back. If you have suggestions for what we can do to assist the PRSA, why don't you post them here and we'll see what we can do to make them happen?

In Sympathy,
STEVE O'KEEFE
Vice President, IAOC
and still a Katrina Refugee...