Happiness and the improvement of professional PR/communications practice 

Effectiveness in PR/communications practice usually involves thinking about evaluation and measurement metrics. But what about the human aspects of how we as individuals – and collectively – can improve our professional practice? This PRConversations conversational post examines the importance of happiness as a performance improvement trigger. I’ve discussed this interesting proposition by email with David Sawyer, a successful UK PR consultant, who starts with the story behind his new book, RESET: an unconventional early retirement plan for midlife (salaried) careerists...

Maximising resilience of health and well-being assets in crisis situations

A comment left by New Zealand PR consultant, Catherine Arrow, on a recent post on my personal Greenbanana blog indicated that the topic (the language of grief and a biopsychosocial perspective on mental health issues) was worthy of further investigation. The following is the result of our subsequent shared musings concerning the impact of crisis situations on the health and well-being of public relations practitioners. If you have any thoughts on this topic, we invite you to continue...

A bizarre visit to the PeRsian conference bazaar

Toni Muzi Falconi details his equal parts fascinating and frustrating visit to Tehran to participate in the International Conference on Public Relations He also reviews Imam Fesial Abdul Rauf’s recent book, Defining Islamic Statehood I took a few days to round up my thoughts in order to describe to PR Conversations readers the experience of attending the 11th International Conference on Public Relations, held in Tehran in November 2015. My contact and meetings with various Iranian...

Taking the collective temperature of Italian females in PR

By Enrica Orecchia A focus on skills and evolving trends, as well as the PR profession’s strategic value, remain key to a more effective female presence Framework A few years ago, I wrote a post for PR Conversations, where I detailed issues faced by Italian women working in PR. With great pleasure, I accepted the invitation from Judy Gombita to provide an updated perspective. This time, for a more thorough understanding of how the situation...

Applauding the community at the Fringe

It’s understood that the play’s the thing; however, it was the vibrant community found around each performance that proved an unexpected volunteer adventure at The Toronto Fringe festival 2015. Prologue  I’ve held a number of volunteer roles over the years, many of them board or committee participation in industry associations (LERN, CPRS and IABC/Toronto). Moreover, I’ve contributed to other areas, such as a steering committee for a charitable organization’s high-profile special event and a variety of volunteer roles (over numerous...

Examining the (weird) science of communication presentations

Whether it is a field of scientific endeavour, a corporate communications challenge or an attempt to communicate the position of a government or government department, a diverse talent pool will eventually do a better job than a single demographic. In the second half of his guest post, Mike Spear suggests 20 female speakers who specialize in “science communications” and who he believes, individually or collectively, can help conference organizers to achieve at least some of...

The four Ps of public relations leadership

The chair of the Global Alliance introduces the Madrid Momentum (Learning to Lead) and details four Ps that constitute the cornerstones of PR leadership By Anne Gregory, PhD, FCIPR It was not that long ago (September 2014) that the World Public Relations Forum was held in Madrid where the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management, together with DIRCOM, the Spanish Association of Communication Directors, hosted more than 800 professionals from 65 countries to...

Buzzwords: Much sound and fury, but signifying little

A two-nation blended cocktail chat dissecting buzzwords in the current vernacular By Toni Muzi Falconi and Helen Slater Our global professional community has tried to change its public relations nomenclature at least since the fifties of the last century, under the notion that a name change can help. As Shakespeare’s Juliet Capulet says of Romeo Montagu, “Tis but thy name that is my enemy … be some other name! What’s in a name? That which...

Social sniff test: engaging employees as advocates or treating them as commercial commodities?

Some weighty conversations with subject experts: Debating employee engagement in a healthy corporate culture versus an amplified trend to “suggest” a program of socializing, whereby “employee brands” or “advocates” post marketing messages on their personal accounts (similar to native advertising). The communicative, socialized organization In December 2012, in my Access Byte column, I detailed what constituted a “communicative organization” (i.e., ones with a robust yet fluid structure), both externally and internally. I quoted Dave Gray,...

Social capital – the lifeblood of public relations

Social capital is the lifeblood of public relations with our ability to interact with others, build relationships, and develop a shared understanding at the heart of what we do. Always has been and always will be. Every new practitioner who enters the occupation, brings with them their existing connections and they rapidly learn the importance of linking, bridging and bonding. Our social capital is of value personally and professionally to us, and to our employers...