Tomorrow morning I’ll be participating in a panel discussion at Leadership Tech Valley’s Media Day. A collaboration between the Albany-Colonie and Schenectady Chambers of Commerce, Leadership Tech Valley is a year-long professional development program in the region that provides courses and networking to a selected class of participants each year.

Media Day will consist of a panel discussion with journalists and PR professionals, as well as a mock press conference and an introduction to media pitching and coverage. The members of the class are from diverse industries and professions – everything from nuclear engineers to banking to healthcare. Many of them don’t work directly in public relations, but no doubt spending a day learning about how the media works will be helpful to them in terms of leading organizations in the future.

I’ll be sharing the stage with some PR professionals as well as TV, radio and newspaper journalists. Gina Luttrell, the panel moderator, has asked each of us to prepare our three must-have resources for members of the audience – it could be a website, a book, or even just an important tip.

I have a few in mind, but thought it would be an interesting exercise to see what you all think. When talking with a group of professionals who have limited knowledge of the media and how it and PR works, what would you tell them? Where would you send them for more information? What resources do you continue to go back to?