I moderated PRSA Austin's May panel on tech PR, which meant I got a front-row seat to a conversation I found genuinely useful—and I'm not just saying that.

We had four practitioners on stage, each walking through a real campaign with real results. The through-line: the fundamentals haven't changed, but the context keeps shifting, and the communicators winning right now are the ones who've stayed curious and adaptable.

When the problem is education, not awareness

Destin Singleton, APR, presented a campaign for a utility company's time-of-use energy program — a product with an industry-wide enrollment rate of just 2%, largely because complex rate structures require customers to actually understand what they're signing up for. The solution was AI-powered, bilingual conversational outreach at scale via calls and texts. The results: 200,000 touchpoints, 1,150+ enrollments in 75 days, and $400K in staffing cost savings — with more than half of customers never speaking to a human at all. The lesson: match your channel to the communication problem, not just the audience.

Building a brand in cybersecurity

Ashley Houk-Temple, APR, shared her work positioning DXC Technology's cybersecurity practice, placing their Global CISO in outlets including the Wall Street Journal, TechTarget, and CSO. In a crowded space where everyone is claiming expertise, she focused on making the spokesperson the story — through thought leadership, podcasts, and owned content that gave journalists a reason to come back. Coverage compounded over time because the relationship-building came first.

What stuck with me from IBM Think

Evi Sinopidou from IBM shared lessons from managing media at IBM Think, their flagship annual conference. Her framework applies well beyond big events: develop media relationships well before you need them, make every in-person moment count before, during and after, lean on third-party sources to validate your story, and — if you're working with agency partners — be a dot-connector even when you can't be in the room.

Finding your way into a bigger story

My Treble case study focused on Zilliant, a B2B pricing software company navigating a noisy market. The approach: find the story already being told (pricing volatility, tariffs, dynamic pricing backlash), create data to support a point of view, sharpen the message into soundbites, and build on early wins. The result was placement in Fast Company and Axios — not by chasing coverage, but by making Zilliant's perspective useful to journalists working stories they were already writing.

Thanks to our panelists for a candid, practical session, and to Amplify Credit Union for hosting. Watch for details on our next event. Not a member yet? Join us.