The Boston Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America elected its 2017 Board of Directors at its annual meeting recently at The NonProfit Center of Boston. Dan Dent, APR, Media Relations Manager at Draper, was named president. He will join a board of 14 that includes immediate past president Loring Barnes, APR, principal and chief communications officer at Clarity Communications Group, and Erin Callanan, APR, principal of Callanan and Klein Communications, who will serve as president-elect. The new board represents a wide range of sectors, including non-profit, corporate, consulting, and agency, with geographic reach from Boston to Central Massachusetts.

“You can find public relations at work in more places than ever for one simple reason: PR builds community,” said Dent. “For 66 years, PRSA Boston and its members have served as brand-builders, advocates, reputation defenders, social media leaders and creative consultants, and we invite all those with a passion for communications to join us as we head into a great year ahead.”

In addition to Dent, Barnes and Callanan, the 2017 PRSA Boston board includes: Michael Arnum, APR, Vice President of Membership; Matt Bashalany, Secretary; Mercedes Carrasco, Treasurer; Kelley Chunn, Director-at-Large; Sofia Coon, Director-at-Large; Julie Dennehy, APR, delegate; Josh Gitelson, APR, delegate; Sarah Leaf Hermann, Co-Vice President of Programing; Darlene Hollywood, delegate; Maureen O’Connell, Co-Vice President of Programing; and Diane Pardes, delegate.

A highlight of the annual meeting was a C-Suite Conversation with GE’s Chief Communications Officer Deirdre Latour. Latour spoke about GE’s recent move to Boston, its community engagement and philanthropic plans, and the company’s adoption of what Latour calls adaptive communications for innovative business sectors.

At the meeting, PRSA Boston awarded its 2016 Diane Davis Beacon Awards to two of Greater Boston’s most accomplished and generous public relations professionals—Mark McClennan, SVP at MSL Strategies and 2016 Chair of PRSA National, and Hank Shafran, recently retired Director of Communications at Bingham McCutchen LLC.

The evening concluded with the unveiling of the 2017 events schedule, which features more than a dozen opportunities for members, sponsors, partners and students to network, advance their careers, and gain valuable skills and knowledge, at the local, regional and national levels. Details of the schedule, which features PRXNE17, the Social Media Summit, monthly programs, and PRSA’s 2017 International Conference in Boston, are available on the PRSA Boston website.

About PRSA Boston (http://www.prsaboston.org, @prsaboston, #prsabos)

The 66-year Boston Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (registered 501c6) connects members to the world’s largest association for public relations professionals. PRSA Boston offers year-round thought leadership, Accreditation certification (APR), educational content and networking programs. PRSA Boston also proudly supports public relations education at area universities, extending its mentoring and professional development efforts to six campuses with chapters of the Public Relations Student Society of America and others with PR-preparatory curricula and clubs.