Day two of my plan to help public relations requires a PR roster where I give credit once to everyone at the same time. (I apologize now for missing anyone); what I’ve attempted here is to identify those with whom I’ve had recent engagement whether it be blogs, comments, RTs, emails, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc., and the like, specifically about defining public relations.
Doing it this way frees me up to take words from everywhere/everyone and mash up. No one can take ownership; everyone contributes. No one is completely satisfied, yet everyone contributes. Anyone can participate, anyone can vote, anyone can ignore this entire exercise, and anyone can get on board in support of improving the image of public relations. The common thread is EVERYONE IS INVITED.
Since I’ve embarked on this journey with no real end but a destination in mind, I’ve been introduced to PR practitioners from all corners of the world. My friends to the North in Canada are highly interested and committed to improving the image and “brand” (if you will) of public relations. I just got a link to a PR e-report by in Australia written by Judy Gombita on her blog PR Conversations.
Lea Werthman, APR, accredited by the Canadian Public Relations Society, just stopped by yesterday to share her group’s definition of public relations, and also a new colleague from Canada is highly supportive of this exercise, my posts and the broader conversation. Danny Brown, a Scotsman living in Canada and a man I hold in the highest esteem, is more than just a PR person yet keeps his affinity for the profession at the forefront of the work he does. Elissa Freeman, who tweets , hails from Toronto and adds value to the conversation.
In Sweden, Jon Buscall is a dear friend and colleague. His thriving public relations (and more) business, Jontus Media, takes him to all corners of the European Union. Jody Koehler represents public relations in The Netherlands and publishes a daily Paper.Li on PR; his coverage of the profession is widespread and not exclusive to the EU. In England, Sharon Cain, of , invited my guest blog, “PR Is Taking a Beating, Why Is That?” and it was a passionate, heat of the moment piece written in the height of the ‘ debacle. Petya Georgieva, of Bulgaria, is the first to tweet and respond before I awake each day. In France, is an expat life coach helping entrepreneurs and hopefully educating them about the value of public relations.
In India, Gautam Mahtani and Melissa Arulappan are two newly introduced colleagues grappling with their own public relations image crisis in their country.
And, in the U.S. in my Twitter backyard, there’s a healthy stream of PR peeps I’m meeting each day who contribute so much to my own professionalism with healthy debate, chuckles, intelligent banter, and more. Foremost, I need to identify and thank Gini Dietrich, CEO of and the highly engaging Spin Sucks blog, for her support, RTs and sharing of her followers with me.
, who launched this journey for me with her guest post (the link is above on the word “Hamptons”) in re the restaurateur who called our entire industry crazy, provides a great sounding board for me as she insists she’s NOT in public relations (because she does employee communications), and I insist she is. Alongside and always supportive is Davina Brewer of 3 Hats Communications who lends great insight and ‘raderie. My dearest colleagues from Chicago and days include Christine Esposito of Terracom Chicago (please like her Facebook page) and Michelle Hellyar of Hellyar Marketing Communications.
I’ve been recently introduced, and gratefully so, to an entirely passionate and connected group of PR people each committed to addressing this issue. I’m going to mention many and try not to leave anyone out (I apologize):
- , associate director of PRSA national and part of the PR Breakfast Club gang
- , an accredited business woman and PR practitioner with a highly credible following
- Erica M. Allison who blogs at Allison Development Group
- of Bristol Harbor Software who brings an amazing perspective on life, technology, public relations, and the pursuit of happiness.
- who lends wonderful comments on all blog topics
- Beatriz Alemar who tweets and I appreciate our conversation
- Rebecca Neufeld of Edelman Financial PR, one of the early adopters on this journey
- is a publicist and musician
- Patty Swisher, who writes amazing guest blog posts and commentary from her vantage point in an architectural firm; follow her @pmswish
- Kailas Simha who tweets @VoyageofThought is a new favorite supporter in the stream
- Mary Deming Baber
- Frank Strong who is exploring these issues on his blog of late,
- Rachael Seda
- Lara McCulloch who tweets here
- Kathie Manchester, with , has great insight on this topic, and I appreciate
- Heidi Cohen who wrote on March 8, 2011 “” and provides an entire new list of practitioners who contribute to our profession
If I have your links wrong, or you’d like a different hyperlink associated to you, please advise, and I’ll update. Add a comment here or please tweet me @Soulati. Again, my apologies for missing anyone, getting names spelled incorrectly, or having broken links. Will gladly update!
Next Post: The PR Definition Mash Up (scheduled for Thursday)
Hi Jayme, with the enthusiasm that is shared by all of us, we can really reach higher achievements. Cheers from Bulgaria and thanks a lot for including me and my blog Higher & Higher in this post! 🙂
Thanks for sharing your country, too! Just updated in the post. Working on how to present content in the next iteration of this series. Should be challenging and rewarding.
Hi Jayme,
Thanks for the mention (courtesy of my Twitter and LinkedIn mate, Danielle Kelly, APR), but please note that the link you provided to my “interview” with Craig Pearce (on our international group blog, PR Conversations) goes to a bum page. It’s actually:
https://www.prconversations.com/index.php/2011/03/the-wind-is-in-craig-pearce%E2%80%99s-sails/
And please note that (Australian) Craig Pearce is the visionary and editor of the e-report (plus contributes numerous thought-provoking articles), called e-report, Public relations 2011: issues, insights and ideas, but there are a total of 11 contributors, from various parts of the world. The e-report needs to be downloaded from Craig Pearce’s own blog:
https://craigpearce.info/marketing/public-relations-2011-issues-insights-ideas/
Considering that the Flynn, Gregory and Valin definition of public relations (voted acceptance by the Canadian Public Relations Society in June 2009) is only a few years old (see my blog post about it following the CPRS conference’s AGM portion):
https://www.prconversations.com/index.php/2009/06/introducing-a-new-maple-infused-definition-of-public-relations/
and that the principals used a working wiki (Defining Public Relations) whereupon they drew upon many existing definitions (and invited leading academics and practitioners to comment), I must admit I find the need to define “public relations” yet again of less pressing need:
https://definingpublicrelations.wikispaces.com/
As I’m satisifed with:
“Public relations is the strategic management of relationships between an organization and its diverse publics, through the use of communication, to achieve mutual understanding, realize organizational goals, and serve the public interest.” (Flynn, Gregory & Valin, 2008)
(Versions of this in numerous languages exist on my blog post, translated by practitioners and academics from various parts of the globe.)
Cheers,
Judy
Thanks for sharing the correct url links, Judy; and, I hope they’ve been updated in the main post accurately.
Lea Werthman, APR stopped by here yesterday to provide the definition you’ve given today, and it’s perfect.
I’ll still carry forth my professional journey as it’s quite pressing for me, and my objectives are much broader than just defining the profession. Anyone interested in joining me can and those who’ve been down this road already don’t need to re-invent the wheel at all.
Regardless of how many times this topic is addressed there are still practitioners on the frontlines who’ve never engaged in such an exercise and have no earthly clue how we should be defined.
Perhaps my exercise, while repetitive to some, will be valued by others. Thanks for your valuable contribution to the profession and your comments here.
I love the fact you are so passionate about blogging about this stuff. The only way we are going to fix it is by doing just this – blogging, and talking and making waves. Thanks Jayme!
There are so many waves to make (just not tsunami levels, thank you). I look forward to your insight to keep the conversation alive on many fronts, Frank. Thank you!
Thanks for including me in this Jayme. I’d only ask the link to go to my blog, since I gotta update my home page at some point. I’d also like to suggest Kellye Crane who started the SoloPR LinkedIn group and blog, https://soloprpro.com/ FWIW.
The super-charged discussion in the Twitter-sphere and other social media platforms about redefining PR is a discussion that gets me really excited.
I feel fortunate, and derive a great deal of satisfaction, working in an industry that has seen changes in the way it is practices rather than being staunched in tradition and history.
Admittedly, like most PR and Communications professionals, I do take some small offense when people respond to my career choice with the terms “gatekeeper”, “flack” and “spin doctor”. My standard response used to be “well, at least I am not lawyer”!
Our industry has been put through the ringer, most recently and specifically by the NYT piece by Bruce Buschel. I read blogs and tweets from practitioners, many of whom expressed frustration and sadness about this constant reputation battle.
But, then you meet people like Jayme Soulati (thank you for the kind acknowledgement), who views the situation as an opportunity, rather than challenge.
I feel that by acknowledging the legacy left to us by PT Barnum, Edward Bernays and yes, even Edina Monsoon (though her catch phrase inspired my short formed Twitter handle @prdrln aka PR Darling), we can forge a future.
Frank Strong, Beth Harte and Heidi Cohen have initiated great discussions and have created a wonderful starting point for drafting a new definition.
I will be following this discussion with interest. Specifically to see what role the PRSA will play in this discussion. As Lea Werthman, APR, Judy Gombita and Elissa Freeman touched upon; the PRSA’s Canadian counterpart launched a revised definition in 2008. I am curious if the PRSA will do the same.
This is an exciting opportunity to demonstrate how PR can effectively communicate with a variety of stakeholders, add value, and (this time) contribute to our sector’s success.
I look forward to Jayme’s next post on Thursday about the PR definition mash up. I will be curious to see how many definitions are based upon practice, rather than theory or perhaps a combination of the two. I have a family member who is also in PR and she always praises (and gently teases me) that I am too much based in theory, rather than practicality sometimes.
Full steam ahead! Thank you, thank you! As mentioned this morning, it matters not that Canada already came up with a perfect definition and the U.S. PRSA is not prepared to address this yet, what matters is that practitioners are interested in upholding our image and teaching business why we add value. It begins with a definition we all can use, or at least participate in defining. Thanks, Danielle, for your excitement; I’m overwhelmed and eager to see where we shake out.
First off, I’m honored to be part of the list of esteemed PR professionals. Reminds me of the time I didn’t dress up for the drama awards ceremony because “no way they’re going to call me” and what do you know, I was the first person they gave an award to and I had to go up on stage in jeans.
Second of all, I think it’s funny that my, well, I was going to characterize it as “throw away” comment on that original post has given birth to so much discussion. I’ve definitely heard that some people think “we’ve already done this exercise.” Disagree, it’s an exercise that will never be done. Things evolve, and there’s always newbies joining the group who need orientation. Are you gonna hand them a dusty manual / LMGTFY link, or are you going to be helpful? Isn’t “helpful” the spirit of social media?
That said, looking to see what comes of this exercise Jayme! Thanks for keeping on keeping on.
XOXO
Thanks Jayme for the shout out! And you do have that right…I am passionate about this subject! The days on one way conversations (advertising) are done! Its time to build relationships and get to know our customers.
Most welcome; happy to have you joining this effort so all of us can better communicate value and passion. Working on next iteration for this week…