ProfNet Connect proudly introduces Connect Chat, a series of live chats to foster active and engaging conversation between communications professionals, experts and the media. The launch of ProfNet Connect gave rise to the idea of creating a real-time dialogue between site users and all those interested in topics that relate to public relations and media.

The chats will be done monthly via Twitter and will feature a guest with expertise on a specific topic. Before the chat, we'll ask you to submit questions for that month's guest, and we'll continue to accept questions up to and during the chat. While we can't promise we'll get to every question, we'll try to cover as many as possible. To keep track of the conversation, we will use the #connectchat hashtag. And if you can't make it to the chat, don't worry -- a transcript will be provided on ProfNet Connect by the end of that week.

Our first chat will take place Tuesday, Nov. 30, from 8:30 to 10 p.m. EST. "How to Increase Visibility and Showcase Expertise" will feature Francine McKenna, a freelance writer and expert with over 25 years of experience in the finance and accounting industry. She will share how she used her expertise to launch a career as a writer who has earned placements in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, Financial Times, Forbes and BusinessWeek, just to name a few. Her news site, re: The Auditors, covers the business of the Big 4 audit firms. For more on Francine, click here.

If you're interested in learning how to turn your expertise into a writing career, you won't want to miss this!

To submit questions for Francine, or for more info on the chat, e-mail profnetconnect@prnewswire.com with "ConnectChat" in the subject line, or tweet your question to @profnet or @editorev.

Francine's Bio:

Francine McKenna (@retheauditors on Twitter) is a freelance writer with credits in the Financial Times, Accountancy Age, Accountancy Magazine, FEI Financial Reporting Blog, and various financial, media and technology blogs. She also blogs at Forbes.com under the heading “Accounting Watchdog.” Her blog is occasionally reposted at The Huffington Post, and she had a weekly column at GoingConcern.com.

re: The Auditors is her specialized news site about the business of the Big 4 audit firms. Stories explore the role, responsibility, and regulation of the audit/accounting industry in the global capital markets in an independent, objective and usually critical way.

McKenna was recently named a finalist for the Gerald Loeb Award for Distinguished Financial and Business Journalism in the online commentary and blogging category.

She has been quoted in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, Financial Times, Forbes, BusinessWeek, The Deal, Times of London, The Guardian and The Financial Chronicle (India), among many others. She has been profiled by accounting and social marketing/media sites. Her public speaking credits include private training, university teaching, and speeches for the Institute of Internal Auditors, the Information Systems Audit and Control Association, and the Maryland Association of CPAs.

McKenna has more than 25 years of experience in a range of industries in the consulting and professional services environment. She directed the Y2K PMO for JP Morgan in Latin America, and was the first female managing director for BearingPoint in Latin America, responsible for the Industrial, Automotive and Transportation practice. She was an RVP for Jefferson Wells/Manpower and a director for PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC. She held various positions in accounting and financial management prior to her career in professional services and began her career as an internal auditor at Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust in Chicago.

She is fluent in Spanish, as well as her native English, and can provide services in either language. Her firm, McKenna Partners LLC, is a specialized consultancy that advises other professional services firms. These services include consulting on litigation involving the audit firms, in particular if there are complaints alleged related to member firms outside of the United States.