PRoust Questionnaire: Catherine Arrow

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 Catherine Arrow: 1.  What are your most striking characteristics as a PR practitioner? I’m inquisitive and tenacious. 2.  What is your principal fault as...

Action learning – NYU students develop opening address

PR Conversations contributor, the Italian professional and scholar, Toni Muzi Falconi, has just presented his latest thinking and processes in an opening session of a two day workshop in Brazil (August 27/28), under the title:’Towards an effective infrastructure for global stakeholder relationships governance’ (click for the presentation and notes). Toni involved six students in preparing his presentation – and in this post, we share their thoughts on the experience, along with their future expectations from...

The Melbourne Mandate: A professional beacon for PR

By Jean Valin, APR, FCPRS and Daniel Tisch, APR, FCPRS The last few years have witnessed a variety of successful global efforts to build consensus amongst public relations professionals and academics on the profession’s role and value to organizations, as well as to society. The most recent process, the Melbourne Mandate, was co-created by some 1,000 people from 30 countries over the course of a year, and then unanimously adopted in November 2012 by more...

Critique or criticism – thoughts on PR academic conferences

This Summer, academics have travelled across Europe chasing the conference season. For Toni Muzi Falconi, the journey started with the Bledcom 20th anniversary symposium in Slovenia, followed by a political PR post-conference after the ICA conference in London, and then the International History of PR conference in Bournemouth (IHPRC). I caught up with Toni in Bournemouth – where we were both presenting – for his thoughts on the ‘season’. As well as IHPRC, I’m participating in the...

Evolve, grow and pitch your social public relations to the right platforms and audiences

One of the advantages of social public relations is how organizational profile can increase beyond self-hosted brand journalism to platforms owned and operated by others as a result of mindful choices by both parties—the information-sharing relationship and opportunity regarding original content is more equal than the gatekeeper role, and independent reporting and financial filtering goals, of traditional media. I don’t mean simply product or service marketing or promotion, i.e., sales copy masquerading as information. Beyond...

Three wise men – homage to a public relations paradigm

In the last PR Conversations post, Toni Muzi Falconi presented a revised conceptual framework that proposed an organization should apply six generic principles of public relations within the operative context of six infrastructural characteristics to determine specific applications. The paradigm was subsequently developed with input from Rob Wakefield from Brigham Young University (the first scholar to theorize the paradigm a couple of decades ago), and Jim Grunig, who originated the Public Relations Excellence study in...

Generic principles and specific applications in public relations

In this post, Toni Muzi Falconi presents his development of a paradigm of public relations that seeks to establish common understanding of its strategic role in the contemporary, increasingly globalised environment. Toni subsequently discussed the concept in an email conversation with Rob Wakefield from Brigham Young University (the first scholar to theorize the paradigm a couple of decades ago), which was followed by a review of their elucubrations by Jim Grunig. That conversational development is...

Developing a worldview of public relations

All conversations about public relations reflect specific worldviews – and this is something we should examine when developing theory, considering practice or undertaking research in the field. Our opinions, prejudices and arguments are the outcome of personal and professional experience, our educational background, our values and perspectives on how things are – or should be – and how we assimilate the views of others into our existing mental frameworks. Likewise when reading the work of...

PRoust Questionnaire: Stuart Bruce

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 Stuart Bruce: 1. What is your most striking characteristic as a PR practitioner? Flexibility and breadth, which doesn’t mean I’m a fat gymnast. A...

Selecting stakeholder groups for effective communication in the 21st-Century

As an employee relations (or internal communication) professional, how do you specifically identify your stakeholders? What approach and methods do you adopt and how do you implement them appropriately in order to communicate clearly? A guest interview and conversation between Toni Muzi Falconi and Rachel Miller Recently Toni Muzi Falconi approached PR Conversations about some of his current examinations regarding alternative approaches to communicating with stakeholders. It was determined the most effective method to understand...