PR Boutiques International 2017 Annual General Meeting Focuses on Collaboration, Innovation

BERLIN, Aug. 14, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- PR Boutiques International™ (PRBI) recently completed its Annual General Meeting in Berlin, Germany, where the agency network connected counterparts worldwide to share insights, best practices and ideas, while learning from guest speakers throughout the five-day conference, June 13-17.

The meeting highlight was a visit to the Axel Springer publishing house, one of Europe's largest publishing companies and publisher of Politico's European edition. The group toured the modern complex and gained insight into how the publisher continues to innovate in the digital world, while still being rooted in traditional journalism values – an important topic for public relations practitioners.

Other guest speakers included Dr. Andrew B. Denison, a political scientist, publicist and frequent media commentator based in Germany, who discussed transatlantic relationships between the USA and Europe through a communications lens. The group also received a presentation from Sarah Kübler of HitchOn, who has successfully built an agency focused on YouTube influencers and shared their successful campaign insights.

"The Annual General Meeting is the heart of PRBI and camaraderie at its best," noted PRBI President Lee Weinstein, of Weinstein PR in Portland, Ore. "The meeting is a chance for dozens of boutique agency owners from all of the world to meet face-to-face to collaborate, learn from others' successes, discuss how we can better provide value through the network, and leave feeling energized and ready to reinvigorate our individual businesses and the collective network."

Prior to departing, PRBI also elected its 2017-2018 board of directors and officers. Weinstein was elected to a second term as President, and Debbie Hagen of Hagen and Partners, Leawood, Kan. is Vice President. Lynnette Werning of Blue Water Communications, Bradenton, Fla. is secretary, and Pawel Osowski of Warsaw Consultants, Warsaw, Poland is treasurer. Paul Furiga of WordWrite Communications in Pittsburgh, Pa. is at large, and Kai vom Hoff, vom Hoff Communications, of Dusseldorf, Germany is ex officio.

Elected to the board are: Julia Labaton, RED PR, New York, N.Y.; Jessica Nuñez, TruePoint Communications, Dallas, Texas; David Eichler, DecibelBlue, Phoenix, Ariz. and Denver, Colo.; Caraline Brown, Midnight Communications, Brighton, United Kingdom; Vivian Li, Geni-Plus PR Consulting Company Beijing, China.

PRBI's 11th annual meeting will be held in June 2018 in Boston. PRBI currently has 39 member agencies in 15 countries, including representation in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.

About PR Boutiques International:
PR Boutiques International™ is an international network of independent public relations firms. The principals of each agency are experienced practitioners who have held senior positions in large PR agencies and/or corporations and now put service first working directly with clients. Members' specialty areas include corporate, consumer products, health care, beauty/fashion, investor relations, crisis management, business‐to‐business, economic development, not‐for‐profit, academia, government, financial, technology, legal, multicultural and international PR. Member practitioners have won the highest levels of professional awards, with qualifications ranging from PhDs to former top journalists.

SOURCE PR Boutiques International