This week in PR (12 January)

News in brief

• The CIPR and PRCA have mounted a robust defence of public sector comms following a critical story in the Sun (also see Amanda Coleman’s blogged response below).
• Gender pay reporting: This was already set to be a running theme this year, with larger companies required to report on their gender pay gap, but Carrie Gracie’s resignation as the BBC’s China editor suddenly makes this issue headline news.
• The PRCA has joined Euprera and will be represented by Sue Wolstenholme.
• Eight days on from his controversial appointment to the Office for Students (the new regulatory body for Higher Education), Toby Young has resigned.
• The Local Government Association has published results of its October 2017 survey of heads of communication (pdf). ’62 per cent of Heads of Communications identified digital skills as a priority area of professional development for their communications team over the next 12 months, other areas identified were video skills (56 per cent) and evaluation and insight (48 per cent).’
• Elizabeth Bananuka’s new initiative BME PR Pros is collaborating with PR Week to promote a  mentoring scheme open to UK-based comms professionals from an ethnic minority background.

Calendar

• PR: Back to the Future CIPR Marcoms Group event,  23 January
• An evening for NHS communicators – internal communications, free event, London, 25 January
• CIPR Local Public Services group: Behaviour change workshop, London, 31 January
• ECREA Organisational and Strategic Communications Conference, Malaga, 1-2 February 2018
• CIPR Inside: Ask the Guru – from informing to engaging, London, 6 February / Newcastle, 22 March
• Commemoration service to mark CIPR’s 70th anniversary at St Bride’s church, Fleet Street, London on 9 February
• Deadline for logging annual CIPR CPD activity is end of February
• David Weinberger, co-author of The Cluetrain Manifesto, will deliver the Sir Stephen Tallents memorial lecture on 14 March as part of the CIPR’s 70th anniversary celebrations.
• Engage for Success conference 2018: People at the heart of business. London, 22 March.
• The World Public Relations Forum 2018 is in Oslo, 22-24 April
• ICA Preconference: Authentic Communication, Trust, Dialogue, and Society, Prague, Czech Republic, 24 May
• AMEC Global Summit, Barcelona, 12-14 June
• PR Fest, Edinburgh, 14-15 June
• Barcelona International Critical PR Conference is on 2-3 July. Deadline for submissions 1 March 2018 (email callforpapersprconference@upf.edu)
• International History of Public Relations Conference is in Bournemouth, 11-12 July.
• Comms Unplugged 2018: 13-15 September 2018 in Dorset
• EUPRERA Annual Congress, Aarhus, Denmark, 27-29 September 2018 (call for papers)

Pick of the posts

These are the editor’s pick of posts about public relations this week. Recommendations are welcome to editor@prplace.com

• Jo Bland: The gamification conundrum (11 January)
  ‘As a passionate internal communications practitioner, the idea that gamification was a potential tool for internal communications was instantly attractive.’
• Eric Robledo: Gaining perspective on the PR industry: London exchange (11 January)
  ‘The PR profession is gradually looking more like a mix between business consulting and a creative agency.’
• Matt Silver: Social Leaders: The Growing Importance Of Executive Communications (11 January)
  ‘For the past two years I have been involved in designing and delivering communications programmes for senior leaders in all manner of sectors and industries.’
• Jackie Cooper: Speaking Our Truths in Pursuit of a New Day (9 January)
  ‘I remember our UK women’s network chair, Jo Sheldon, once asking a forum of female colleagues how many DIDN’T have a #metoo story of their own to share from their past.  That she was met with resounding silence speaks volumes.’
• David Clare: Start the year right: stop for a moment and simply listen (9 January)
  ‘The internet is a wonderful thing, and one of its best assets is the ability to tap into over 2 billion people’s conversations.’
• Scott Guthrie: How to conquer change in influencer marketing evaluation (9 January)
  ‘The economic value of content is zero unless it is seen, shared and acted upon.’
• Stephen Waddington: Emojis in public relations: a picture tells a thousand words (9 January)
  ‘Various studies of content on social media platforms suggest that emojis improve engagement in digital communication by as much a third.’
• Michael Greer: When Two Tribes Fail to Jaw (8 January)
  ‘Think about what could be achieved if the two tribes – PR professionals and publicists – had a greater understanding of each other.’
• Richard Evans: The 50 charities that grew their Twitter followings fastest in 2017 (8 January)
  ‘The National Trust has had a brilliant year on Twitter.’
• Marcel Klebba: 21 in 2017: my favourite books, podcasts, art, and more (7 January)
  ‘How to get a job in PR by the brilliant Sarah Stimson is the most practical guide on securing job in public relations you’ll find.‘
• Amanda Coleman: No fluff here (7 January)
  ‘If any reporter from The Sun wants to come and see the reality of what we do then please get in touch and it can be arranged.’
• Mike Love: Changes in corporate communications 1977-2012 (6 January)
  ‘CorpComms has become a more evidence-based function drawing heavily on better data analytics to understand diverse and fluid stakeholder audiences.’
• Sarah Pinch: On the Twelfth Day of Christmas: Community (5 January)
  ‘It seems to me in 2018 there has never been a more important time to get involved in a community; one you already know, or one you don’t.’
• Andrew Bruce Smith: The state of public relations content in the UK: what social sharing data tells us (5 January)
  ‘Using Buzzsumo, I’ve taken a look at how much public relations related content was published and shared in 2017 in the UK.’

#prstudent #bestPRblogs

Here’s a very useful resource for PR students and graduates:

• PR Careers: 2018: 150 PR internships and graduate schemes

And here’s our pick of the best posts by those studying public relations and/or aspiring to work in PR.

• Kirsty Wallace (Ulster, 4): Uni Today, Gone to Morrow | My PR Placement Experience (12 January)
  ‘Employers turned me down and I finished as the highest scoring placement student across the PR and CAM courses, so don’t get down if someone doesn’t want you.’
• Paula McKay (Ulster, 4): A PR student’s take on Northern Ireland’s murals (11 January)
  ‘As a PR student, I see the original and most famous murals as unique forms of political propaganda. During the Troubles these detailed depictions told their neighbours what the newspapers wouldn’t.’
• Aoibheann McCormack (Liverpool John Moores, 3): When you are a PR undergraduate on a Non-PR placement (9 January)
  ‘I appreciate the necessity for Public Relations in an innovative and strong business like the one I am part of – I want to work in PR but not PR as many know it…’
• Chloe Campbell (Ulster, 4): ‘The Final Hour’ – a step too far for Northern Ireland? (9 January)
  ‘A Titanic themed ‘escape room’ game will see “teams of up to 6 given an hour to try escape a simulation of the stricken liner.”
• Niall Byrne (Ulster, 4): Hello? Stormont, are you there? (8 January)
  ‘Why on earth is it ok for politicians (who are supposed to be representing us) to do nothing and still get paid?’
• Orlagh Shanks (Liverpool John Moores, 3): 2018: New Year, New Goals (8 January)
  ‘I’m very concerned that no other years will ever live up to 2017 but I am only 20 years of age, so I’m sure something spectacular will happen in the future.’