The Art and the science of leaving one’s mark: A requiem for Arthur Yann

“What I’d really like people to say about me after I’m gone is that, in some small ways, I left the profession and the companies and clients I represented better than when I first met them.” – Arthur Yann, APR * * * I don’t know how long Arthur Yann had been in the job of vice president of public relations for the Public Relations Society of America when I mused some five years ago...

PRSA's #PRin2013 initiative invites 13 PR people to provide trends to watch this year

Shortly before the holiday break began in December, I received an email from Stephanie Cegielski, associate director, public relations, of the Public Relations Society of America, inviting me to submit a 2013 trends post for the PRSay blog. Besides nailing down whether I could comply with the submission deadline, I was curious to find out more about the #PRin2013 initiative. I remembered reading trends from various PRSA members in 2012, but I was interested in learning more about the PRSay blog’s...

Arthur Yann: public relations in a fishbowl

An in-depth interview with the gent practising PR for the world’s largest organization of public relations professionals There’s an irony that public relations as a discipline struggles to manage the industry’s reputation. Why do you think this is the case? There’s some truth to the “shoemaker’s children” analogy, but the root causes go well beyond that. For one thing, the profession hasn’t done itself any favors when it comes to managing its own reputation. High-profile...