My students at Curry College hear this all the time from me: “Never stop learning.”

Most of them, having willingly (or not!) suffered through at least two or three of my PR-related courses, have figured out the best response is a gentle sigh and understanding nod of the head. They know they’ll hear it a dozen or more times in the course of the semester, so they humor me.

So it was with a gigantic sigh of satisfaction last night that I heard the guest speaker for our PR student association say exactly the same thing as part of her “how I got where I am and how I’ll get ahead” presentation.

Continue reading " Public Relations: A Lifelong Learning Commitment "

An educator colleague and friend recently wrote me to express her frustration with organizations that are hiring former journalists as public relations professionals.

She wrote:
“Public relations” is not synonymous with “journalism.” Thirty years ago, public relations entailed much more media relations experience, but today it requires substantial research and communication planning expertise — skills that reporters don’t have.

“Frankly, I’m upset by these recent hiring decisions. These decisions send the wrong message to our current public relations students, as well as all of the fine public relations professionals who are currently seeking jobs in this difficult economy.”

Continue reading " Turning Journalists into Public Relations Pros? Training Required. "

I was honored to convene the first 2010 meeting of PRSA’s Board of Directors this past Friday and Saturday. We took stock of our organization, participated in engaging discussions and planned for the coming year. I think I speak for the entire Board in saying that we left PRSA’s headquarters energized, excited and enthused about the year ahead, both for the Society and our profession.

We began the meeting by discussing the top-level trends impacting our members. To prepare for this discussion, I had asked the Board to canvass PRSA members and other public relations practitioners in their geographic areas to determine how the economy is affecting them, the biggest challenges they are facing and how they measure success in their places of employment.  The findings from this informal, “Pulse of the Profession” research, our third such study, will be the subject of a future blog post.

Continue reading " PRSA’s Priorities for 2010: Easy as “A, B, C, D, E” "

It hardly seems as though a year has passed since I began my service as PRSA’s 2009 chair and CEO.

There’s no doubt that the past 12 months have been extremely challenging for many of us. At the same time, it’s been a period of tremendous personal fulfillment for me. As a second-generation public relations counselor who literally grew up in and around the public relations profession, my term as chair and CEO has been a unique and incredible opportunity to give back to both the profession and organization that have given me so much.

Continue reading " 2009: A Year of New Beginnings at PRSA "

As 2009 Chair of the Universal Accreditation Board (UAB), it’s my pleasure to lead a team of distinguished, senior-level public relations professionals who oversee and guide the Accredited in Public Relations (APR) program. With April having been designated “Accreditation Month” by PRSA, I’d like to share some of my personal thoughts on APR certification, and to answer a question that I’m frequently asked, which is, “What is the value of the APR mark?”

To give you a little bit of background, I’ve held my APR since 1995. When I began the journey toward Accreditation, I was pregnant with my daughter, who is now 14, so we both came through the process just fine.

Continue reading " The Role and Value of APR "