global discussion. local perspectives.
I have mentioned before in this blog Tom Watson’s on going deplhi study on priorities for public relations research. Well, the study is now finished and you can read all about its conclusions here tom’s blog
There I was in Bled taking part in a wonderful conference on “Environmental Citizenship Through Communication: Trends, Challenges and Solutions” when I received an extraordinary e-mail from John Plauszek (Ambassador at Large for the Global Alliance) who was taking part in the “2007 United Nations Global Compact Leaders Summit: Facing Realities; Getting Down to business”, described by organizers as “history’s largest and most significant event on the toic of leadership and corporate citizenship”.
Don Bates is an Honorary Trustee of the Institute for Public Relations and the author of an abbreviated public relations history on the Institute Web site
I was recently summonsed to the Presidency in Pretoria to come and assess their “internal communication”. It struck me – once again – that even in the highest order of government – the concept of internal communication is totally forgotten. Nobody – except for the newly-appointed head of the section – had any idea of the concept of internal communication or why it might be important. The question that came up: If the government of a...
Recently I reviewed a research thesis written by Anastasia Grynko, a Ukrainian student based in the U.S., titled “Bribery for News Coverage: Research in Ukraine”. Anastasia interviewed 30 “communication leaders” – 15 leading journalists and 15 well-known PR practitioners – and painted a staggering picture, which perfectly illustrates the hypocrisy traditionally surrounding all ethical issues in our profession.
As well as being a complete information junkie, I am also, I must confess, a compulsive planner of crisis management strategies, even when they are not mine to plan. So when I read of the cyber pirates’ attack on Estonia and continued my on-going fascination with World Without Oil, all sorts of possibilities and scenarios sprang to mind.
By far the most interesting presentation of the Fourth World Public Relations Festival arrived when Ms. Mindi P. Kasiga, Senior Communication Officer from the Office of the President of Tanzania, brilliantly took us through a fascinating five year process of total rehaul of that Government’s communication in its transition from an information to a dialogue based model of public relations practice.
The best piece news I have to report from Cape Town is that Colin Farrington from the CIPR is the new Chair of the see recent interviewGlobalAlliance, while my young co-blogger Joao Duarte from Lisbon (link to authors of this blog to see references and read his posts) is now the first part time employee of that organization.
These words might have come from any of our colleagues at the 4th World PR Festival, jointly organised by the Global Alliance and the PR Institute of Southern Africa (PRISA) in Cape Town. But no, they where said by a politician.
How do we keep business on this comeback trail? Public relations will play a critical role in the process. How do PR professionals help business remain trusted?