Posted on Current PR Conversations PR Vision

From classroom to boardroom – crisis management lessons from the auto industry

Aaron Shardey gained a first class honours degree in public relations at London College of Communications this Summer with his undergraduate dissertation offering case study research into crisis management in the automotive industry. Given the topicality of the VW crisis, PR Conversations asked Aaron about his research and the lessons he would take from the classroom to the boardroom: One of the things you quickly realise when you study crisis management is that there are...

Posted on Current PR Conversations PR Vision

The joy of pain – VW, schadenfreude and public relations

A global crisis situation – such as that experienced by VW currently – brings out an ugly side of public relations. A hubristic sadism, or malignant narcissism. I’m exaggerating but that’s my point. Those who feel compelled to comment and criticise their fellow PR practitioners commonly rely on speculation and extrapolation, quickly escalating a reasonable reflection into a full blown attack, based on their own righteousness. As I commented on a UK blog post titled...

Posted on Current PR Conversations PR Nexus

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...

Posted on Current PR Conversations PR Sphere PRoust Questionnaire

PRoust Questionnaire: Andy Green

The PRoust Questionnaire provides a quick insight into a public relations practitioner’s interests and point of view, as well as his or her professional beliefs and values. If you are not familiar with the original 19th-century Proust Questionnaire, please see details at the end of this post. PRoust Questionnaire answers from Andy Green: 1. What are your most striking characteristics as a PR practitioner? An ability to quickly gain insight, to get to the heart...

Posted on Current PR Conversations PR Axis

Rewinding the ‘wag the dog’ syndrome from integrated reporting to integrated thinking….

Since its inception, PR Conversations has played a relevant role among the more aware global public relations community in presenting arguments for the value of adopting integrated reporting from forward-looking organizations to inform their stakeholder publics and setting, with their active participation, involvement and engagement platforms through an ongoing, continued 24/7/365 dialogue. A patient, curious and interested PR Conversations reader, by digitizing the terms ‘integrated reporting’ into this website’s search engine, will find 22 posts...

Posted on Classic PR Conversations Current PR Conversations PR Motion

Starting a global conversation on global public relations standards

We have received an invitation from Professor Anne Gregory and Jean Valin for all readers and contributors to PRConversations to get involved in a global project defining the capabilities of proficient public relations practitioners. It’s the Global Body of Knowledge project, or GBOK for short – and your wisdom and knowledge is being sought to get this right. Anne and Jean write: Over the last couple of years a number of professional associations, including the...

Posted on Current PR Conversations PR Axis

Stockholders in the Corporate Family – or contemporary activists?

In 1948, W Howard Chase tackled the topic of Stockholders in the Corporate Family in his chapter in the book Your Public Relations (serialised here), with the intention of challenging conceptions of them as a ‘thin-lipped fiscal schemer’, ‘money-baron’ or ‘decadent, bespectacled aristocracy’. Fifty years later, the global financial crisis began, and today the image of stockholders continues to suffer with an impression that their interests are short-term returns on their investment at all costs....

Posted on Current PR Conversations PR Nexus

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...

Posted on Current PR Conversations PR Mediums

Public relations tribes in the global village

There is a recent tendency to divide public relations practitioners around their engagement with social media or digital communications – creating different tribes. I think this is fallacious – here are my reasons why.     When I wrote my answers to the PR Conversations Proust Questionnaire five years ago this very week, I mentioned Orwell’s 1984 as a work of fiction that had influenced me. I stand by that decision, and most of my...