Titanic centenary – memorial or marketing?
The disaster of the Titanic’s sinking a centenary ago has been reported in crisis management texts such as Fearn-Banks to illustrate the need for planning and other advice the authors wish to highlight. However, reading Coombs it is clear that the key issues were operational, so the Titanic appears appropriated by public relations as a...
Can’t get no PR satisfaction?
In PR one of our guiding principles ought to be: You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time. That would appear to be the case with the Susan G...
Are you too smart to work in PR?
“For decades a stream of bright young men and women, most of them with college degrees ranging from B.S. to Ph.D., have been coming to my office to ask me and my wife how to enter the profession of public relations.” These words were written by Edward Bernays in his 1961 publication: Your Future in...
Why public relations is great in theory
From my office window, I can see a large ball of mistletoe growing at the top of a very tall tree. Until a couple of years ago I didn’t know where or how mistletoe grew, but as they say, you learn something new all the time. As someone who likes to learn, I find it...
Why I don’t care about defining public relations
The PRSA has just concluded a crowd-sourcing attempt to modernise a definition of public relations. Unsurprisingly, this initiative has generated discussion through PR blogs regarding the purpose and value of seeking a new definition. PRSA reports receiving "more than 900 submissions, 70 comments and 16,000-plus page views" – so there’s clearly some interest in the...
Twitter-Who? 10 Steps to Creating a Better Professional Online Profile
Commpro.biz asked me (though @jgombita) to write a post regarding crafting a professional 140-character profile for a Twitter account. The result is: Twitter Who? 10 steps to creating a better professional online profile. Please take a look at my advice on reviewing and researching what your “Twitter-who” statement says about you. If you’ve any additional...
How many PR practitioners does it take to change a light bulb?
The answer: “I don’t know – I’ll get back to you on that”. This joke is a reminder of the importance of having a solid understanding of your subject matter in PR practice. This is the topic of my second post looking at the future of work in public relations. When looking at the traditional...
Follow the green brick road for an ethical PR future
Last year I wrote three “Back to School” posts on Preparing to Study PR, Starting to Study, and Making the Most of Work Experience. Each is still relevant for those starting their career in public relations, so this year I am writing a series of posts looking at the future of work in the field....
A taste of public relations
On 1st September, we’re presenting an evening with Alison Theaker, Peter Brill and me in Bristol as a taster for the CIPR qualifications, and also to celebrate the launch of the 4th edition of The Public Relations Handbook. If you’d like to join us for free seminars, expert insight and advice, see further details and...
Talking about my generation – PR and pretty young things
According to the UK PR Week-PRCA 2011 PR Census, public relations is dominated by the young and female. In terms of age, only 20% of PR practitioners are older than 45, despite the fact that 28% of the general working population is over 50. Women account for almost two-thirds of the PR industry (64%) compared...
