In this age of continuing changes in the delivery of news and information AND continuing uncertainty in public funding of education, the communications staff at Des Moines Public Schools is a little bit newsroom, a little bit ad agency, and a little bit rock n' roll in serving Iowa's largest provider of public education.

     Speaker Phil Roeder has worked for 30 years in public relations, communications, and public affairs, primarily in and around the public sector. Today he is the director of communications for Des Moines Public Schools, overseeing a six-person team that serves as part-newsroom and part-marketing firm for Iowa’s largest provider of public education. Prior to becoming director of communications at DMPS, he also served one term as an elected member of the Des Moines School Board.
     Phil’s experience includes serving as deputy chief of staff for communications for Governor Chet Culver, as a spokesperson to U.S. Senators Tom Harkin and Max Baucus, as a deputy to Illinois State Treasurer (and former Governor) Pat Quinn, and as the public information officer for Polk County. He also is an alumnus of ZLR/Ignition and the Washington, DC office of CMF&Z.
     Outside of the office, he is an award-winning photographer with works displayed at juried exhibitions as well as published in National Geographic Traveler, the New York Times, the Atlantic, Wired, Forbes, and other news outlets.
     Phil attended Arizona State University and the University of Iowa. He is married to Mary Tabor, a judge on the Iowa Court of Appeals. They are the proud parents of three children: Oliver, a writer for FiveThirtyEight/EPSN in New York City; Hannah, a neurology resident at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City; and Sam, a law student at Georgetown University in Washington, DC.

Tickets

$20.00 PRSA Central Iowa Chapter Member
$25.00 after 11:00 pm September 11

$30.00 Non-member
$35.00 after 11:00 pm September 11

$10.00 Student
$15.00 after 11:00 pm September 11