By Jove, PR for PR works!

Public relations for public relations is effective! Why should we be surprised? Guest OpEd by Toni Muzi Falconi “I have nothing against regulation that verifies and controls, in the public interest, the consequences of our actions, because we need to be fully responsible for what we do. As journalists need to be free to write what they wish, we also need to be free to act as we wish. But over certain limits both of...

London 2012 – stories of a peripatetic PR

Guest post by Peter Brill, Managing Director, Net.Mentor Ltd There are a group of people who spend their life seeking the constant change and irregular adrenaline rush of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. These are ‘Olympic nomads’ and no sooner does one Games finish, than they are already moving home and signing contracts for the next one. London 2012 was my first taste of living the Olympic and Paralympic lifestyle, joining the Press Operations Team...

BLEDing-edge public relations research in 2012

Bled Symposium 2012 summary by Toni Muzi Falconi Ten years ago, in July 2002, some 100 scholars and professionals from many European countries met in Bled, Slovenia, to discuss and launch the Bled Manifesto, possibly the single most important document concerning our profession to date; this document has had a huge impact on developments in Europe and around the world. Bled is a cozy little lakeside village in Slovenia where, since 1993, Dejan Verčič and...

Making public relations history

“Any fool can make history, but it takes a genius to write it”, according to Oscar Wilde. Those of us assembling in Bournemouth for the third International History of Public Relations Conference can debate this view after two days of illuminating presentations on the history of our field. We should also remember another Wilde quote: “Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth...

Grunig PR Masterclass: Insight into diversity and excellence

This post offers a video recording of a recent lecture given by Larissa and James Grunig at New York University – courtesy of Toni Muzi Falconi, who kindly introduces the video below. In addition, Heather Yaxley provides a brief overview of the highlights of the lecture. We extend our thanks to James, Larissa and Toni for offering the video to PR Conversations.   Introduction by Toni Muzi Falconi A few years ago, PR Conversations published...

Career moves in public relations: Climbing ladders, revolving doors and musical chairs

Are you looking for a career move or new opportunity in public relations? Judging by my own observations of the use of hashtag #PRjob on Twitter, there are plenty of opportunities around for a change of direction, as well as work placement and first jobs. What isn’t clear is how these jobs differ, if at all, from those traditionally offered in public relations. The classic Dozier & Broom model proposes practitioners occupy technician or management...

One world, many voices in PR

Toni Muzi Falconi shares his impressions of the first Global Congress for Muslim PR Practitioners In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from December 5 to 7, 20011, 197 Muslim colleagues from 33 countries, plus two non-Muslim Canadians (Jean Valin and Dan Tisch) and one non-Muslim Italian—the author of this guest post—gathered together for the inaugural Global Congress for Muslim Public Relations Practitioners (GCMPRP). Notably, many of the attendees indicated they were regular readers and ardent fans of...

Do you know where you’re going to? Public relations career advice

What was your route into public relations?  In 1943, Averill Broughton (a public relations and advertising executive with his own firm) interviewed leading PR executives for his book, Careers in Public Relations: The new profession. He observed that these successful practitioners had: “backed into the field, as it were, by accident, and sat down. Afterwards it seemed natural enough, and their preliminary experience seemed as though it created public relations opportunity later” Has much changed...

Is there such a thing as European public relations?

By Janette van Kalkeren The European continent comprises 51 countries with a total of 837 million habitants. Of these, 27 countries (500 million citizens) are members of the European Union (EU), within which there is free movement of people, goods, services and capital; 16 of these countries have the same currency, the Euro. So does this support homogenous or heterogeneous public relations? From my experience, having lived or stayed in many European countries, I can...

In just one book – Global Public Relations: spanning borders, spanning cultures

Global Public Relations: spanning borders, spanning cultures   Review by Toni Muzi Falconi I’ve now been teaching Global Relations and Intercultural Communication at New York University’s Master’s in Public Relations for five years, including reviewing my (ever-changing) syllabus involving some 150 students to date. From the very beginning, as mandatory course books I have opted to use the Vercic and Sriramesh’a Global Public Relations Handbook (edition 1, and then 2), in tandem with the fundamental Post, Preston, Sachs’ book. Redefining...