PRSA Tampa Bay is bringing together top media experts for a must-attend event! Dive into a lively panel discussion on the evolving media landscape and the best strategies for pitching your stories. Plus, experience rotating interactions (think speed-dating style) for exclusive networking moments with our media pros.

Last year, the event sold out. Secure your spot and register today!

Thank you to our sponsor USF Credit Union
USF Credit Union, based in Tampa, Florida, is a full-service financial institution dedicated to exceptional service and the credit union philosophy of "people helping people." Guided by its EPICC values—Excellence, Passion, Innovation, Community, and Collaboration—USF CU fosters a culture of continuous improvement and member-first service. It has earned top honors, including Forbes’ #1 credit union in Florida, a USA TODAY Top Workplace, and The Sterling Council’s top award for excellence. With industry-leading member satisfaction and employee engagement, USF CU sets the standard for performance, innovation, and community impact in the financial services sector.

Thank you to our venue host Port Tampa Bay
Port Tampa Bay is Florida’s largest port, supporting 192,201 jobs and generating over $34 billion in total annual economic impact. In addition to being a top 10 U.S. cruise port, the port handles a wide array of bulk, break bulk, containers, and roll-on/roll-off cargoes, and is a major shipbuilding and repair center. For more information, visit www.portTB.com.

Meet the panelists

Emcee: Lissette Campos, Florida This Week
Lissette Campos is an eight-time Emmy Award-winning journalist. Her work has been recognized by the National Association of Broadcasters, the Society of Professional Journalists and Florida Associated Press. Lissette is currently the host & moderator of WEDU PBS’ Florida This Week. 

She began her career more than 30 years ago at the Spanish language affiliate of Univision in Miami. As a reporter and news anchor, she worked for CBS in Miami and ABC in the Tampa Bay media market. In our region, Lissette is best known for creating the nationally recognized “Taking Action Against Domestic Violence campaign during her 11-year tenure at WFTS ABC Action News as Director of Community Affairs. 

Her award-winning storytelling includes undercover reporting in Russia and Cuba. Over the years, Lissette also produced a series of special reports from the U.S. Navy Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba where she reported on the detention camps for Haitian and Cuban refugees in the 1990’s and Camp X-ray where suspected Taliban and Al-Qaida members where being detained in 2002 after the 9-11 terror attacks on U.S. soil.  

As a communication and media strategist, her career includes executive roles at the Disney Company’s Public Affairs Division in Orlando, the University of South Florida/USF Health, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Florida and the Tampa Bay Chamber.

Camille Knox, CBS News
Camille Carolyn Knox is an award-winning journalist and author who has spent the last 20 years in print, digital and broadcast journalism, in addition to media relations. She has been interviewed by NPR, The Penny Hoarder and her alma mater’s award-winning college newspaper, The State News at Michigan State University.

As a newspaper reporter, Knox was part of a team that won runner-up honors in Gannett’s Well Done Award in the First Amendment: Project Enterprise category for a project in The Clarion-Ledger newspaper on the homicide rate in Jackson, Miss.

She is a former president of the Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists and founder of Write Knox Press, which specializes in content development, editing and media consulting. She currently works as a senior editor at CBS News.

Kathryn Varn, Axios Tampa Bay
Kathryn is a reporter for the daily Axios Tampa Bay newsletter, covering everything from politics to arts and culture in the region. She previously worked for the USA TODAY Network - Florida and the Tampa Bay Times. She lives and works in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Mark Wilson, Fox 13 Tampa Bay
In his 28th year at FOX 13, Mark Wilson has more than 30 years of experience traveling the world and sharing the stories of the people of the Tampa Bay area. While he anchors the 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts each weeknight, he prides himself on his reporting and has been awarded nine regional Emmys for his stories. Mark hosts FOX 13’s "What’s Right With Tampa Bay," and hosts and produces FOX 13’s award-winning "Mak’n Waves," covering stories on and about the precious waterways connected to Tampa Bay. 

Mark joined FOX13 in 1997 after graduating with honors from Florida State University and then anchoring the top-rated newscasts in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he also worked as a regional correspondent for NBC News. He's since been honored for his reports from Ground Zero in New York, Hurricane Katrina, and the scene of the deadly Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando. Mark was also the only Tampa Bay area reporter to travel to Iraq during the height of the war in 2005, embedding with a Clearwater-based Army Reserve unit flying Blackhawk helicopters in and around Baghdad.

Mark Gordon, Business Observer
Mark Gordon is the Managing Editor of the Business Observer and has been with the news outlet since 2005. He has written about companies, development, entrepreneurs and how government intersects with business, among other topics. He currently oversees the paper’s coverage from Tampa to Naples, in print and online, overseeing a staff of reporters and photographers, in addition to writing stories. He has written a biweekly leadership column, "Leadership Matters," since 2021 in the Business Observer. And in 2023 he began hosting a weekly podcast for the Business Observer, "From the Corner Office."

The Business Observer is part of the Observer Media Group, which publishes six weekly newspapers across Florida and was founded in 1995. Started in 1997 as the Gulf Coast Business Review, the Business Observer is the leading provider and most authoritative source of business and economic information affecting the Gulf Coast from Polk to Collier counties. It is published in print each Friday, with a daily email newsletter. 

Tina Karagiannis, Bay News 9
Tina Karagiannis, senior manager of news gathering operations, started at Bay News 9 in 2003 after gaining experience at WFTS & WTVT. Tina is a graduate from Marquette University and grew up in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. As a team leader at Bay News 9, Tina's job requires wise decision making on a quick timeline. Inquisitiveness with the ability to assess a situation with settled discipline.

Matthew Peddie, WUSF
Matthew Peddie is the host of WUSF’s weekly public affairs show "Florida Matters," where he indulges his curiosity in people and explores the endlessly fascinating stories that connect this community. 

Originally from New Zealand, Matthew has lived in Florida for more than a decade. Among his first assignments as a radio reporter in the Sunshine State were covering the retirement of the iconic space shuttles and the dawn of the new commercial space race. He’s also reported on Central Florida’s booming economy and its flip side: the affordable housing and homelessness crisis, and I’ve covered hurricanes and closely watched presidential elections. Before WUSF, he spent 10 years at WMFE in Orlando, where his roles included transportation reporter, acting news director and hosting the public affairs show Intersection. Working as a journalist in Florida has honed his skills as a host and developed my appreciation for the power of public radio to help illuminate complex issues. Prior to moving to the US he worked as a radio reporter in New Zealand, and his journalism career has taken me as far south as Scott Base, Antarctica. Outside of work, he enjoys sketching, street hockey, watching cricket and exploring Florida’s great outdoors with my family.

Sharon Wynne
Sharon is an editor who writes, or maybe a writer who edits. She spends time poring over hundreds of events and fun diversions in the Tampa Bay area. Sharon previously covered City Hall and now rides rollercoasters on a workday. But she views this as a consumer beat. She is always looking for deals and intends to call out what’s lame or magical. She is a lifelong St. Petersburg resident and University of Florida grad. Sharon cut her teeth covering politics for the Fort Myers News-Press, where a county commissioner she investigated went to jail. She joined her hometown Times in 1994 where her love of pop culture led her to tbt* and now the features team.

Venue & Directions 

Cruise Terminal 6
1331 McKay Street
Tampa, FL 33602

Access this link for an interactive map and where to park: https://www.porttb.com/cruise-terminal-6
Parking is free for attendees.