This week in PR (17 November)

News in brief

• A special conference was held in Edinburgh to mark the retirement in 2015 of critical scholar Professor Jacquie L’Etang.
• Tenth anniversaries celebrated this week: Francis Ingham at the PRCA and Taylor Bennett Foundation
• UK-based PR and comms people named in the Holmes Report list of 25 innovators in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region include Drew Benvie, Marcus Dyer, Nicola Green, Bibi Hilton, Gerry Hopkinson and Ruth Yearley.
• A lobbying register comes into effect on 12 March 2018 in Scotland. The lobbying.scot site is now open for testing.
• The PRCA has published a report into political predictions, drawing on the public affairs expertise of members
• Golin has appointed Jonny Bentwood to the new London-based post of global head of data and analytics
• Taylor Swift has handed everyone in public relations a topical excuse to discuss reputation.

Calendar

• Here’s the link to the CIPR State of the Profession survey 2017/18. The questions apply to those currently working in public relations roles and is not restricted to CIPR members.
• CIPR panel discussion on the state of local media, 22 November
• Influence Live: Sarah Hall will be interviewing actor Ralph Little on 30 January 2018. Book here.
• The CIPR is 70 next year. The Sir Stephen Tallents lecture will be delivered by Cluetrain Manifesto co-author and Harvard academic Dr David Weinberger in London on 14 March 2018.
• Voting is now open for the comms2point0 unawards.
• Free webinar: Income Generation Strategies and the Comms You Need to Succeed, 2-3pm, 23 November 2017
• An evening for NHS communicators – internal communications, free event, London, 25 January 2018
• PR: Back to the Future CIPR Marcoms Group event on 23 January 2018
• The World Public Relations Forum 2018 is in Oslo, 22-24 April 2018. Here’s the call for papers.
• ICA Preconference: Authentic Communication, Trust, Dialogue, and Society, Prague, Czech Republic, 24 May 2018. Abstract submission deadline 1 December 2017.
• Barcelona International Critical PR Conference is on 2-3 July 2018. Deadline for submissions 1 March 2018 (email [email protected])
• International History of Public Relations Conference is in Bournemouth, 11-12 July 2018. Deadline for the call for papers is 18 December 2017 (email [email protected])
• Women in the media: Who creates the news? Call for book chapters.

Pick of the posts

These are the editor’s pick of posts about public relations this week. Recommendations are welcome to [email protected]

• Stephen Waddington: Chatbots as a public relations tool: proceed with caution (10 November)
  ‘Chatbots are software applications that interact with people in natural language. They’re a new channel for discourse between an organisation and its publics.’
• Laura Sutherland: Useful information and actions to prepare for GDPR (10 November)
  ‘I’ve come up with some useful GDPR questions to help you write your data and privacy policy and make it public.’
• Brendon Craigie: Is the concept of internal communications redundant? (13 November)
  ‘I ask this, not because I don’t see the value in communicating with employees, but because for me, more than ever this is an artificial silo.’
• Robert Gage: Opinion: Does PR need to grow a PaiR? (14 November)
  ‘We should probably drop the “communications” moniker and throw our lot in with public relations. PR does what it says on the tin.’
• Laura Smith: Why I love being a freelancer, and why that might end (14 November)
  ‘I’m optimistic. I’m not a recent graduate anymore and I know what I want to do. I won’t be jumping into anything for the sake of it.’
• Andrew Grill: RIP influencer marketing, welcome influencer 2.0 (14 November)
  ‘I fear that brands substitute influence for “reach” which is what they are really getting.’
• Mike Love: The Theatre of Communications (15 November)
  ‘All communication needs rational engagement … but it’s more effective if it has emotional connection.’
• Gini Dietrich: The Complete Guide to Using Instagram for Business (15 November)
  ‘It is, hands down, one of the best ways to humanize an organization.’
• Claire Bridges: A deadline and a dream? What are the essential ingredients of the perfect creative brief? (15 November)
  ‘I spent time researching and talking to designers, creative directors and clients about what makes a great brief.’
• Richard Evans: Help for Heroes is UK’s second best storytelling brand (16 November)
  ‘Help for Heroes is second only to Apple. And by coming fourth in the list, the National Trust did better than huge brands like Amazon, Facebook and Google.’

#prstudent #bestPRblogs

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

• Emma Williamson (Sunderland, PG): How To Build Better Relationships With Journalists: An Interview with Emma Dunkley (10 November)
  ‘The importance of maintaining relationships is fundamental in the world of PR. Ironically, PR doesn’t get the best reputation. Especially among journalists… so how can we build better relationships with them?’
• Rebecca Midgley (Leeds Beckett, 4): Panel discussion at Leeds Beckett: Make Leeds 2023 European Capital of Culture (10 November)
  ‘If Leeds gain the title of the European Capital of Culture for 2023, not only is it incredible for the reputation of Leeds, but it also has a large economic impact, attracts tourism and creates more jobs.’
• Carla McCloskey (Ulster, 4): The GAA is a means of escape for us all (11 November)
  ‘One of the many joys of playing a team sport as a teenager is that I rarely felt unhappy or lonely as you always had your team mates to chat to.’
• Rosa O’Farrell (Ulster, 4): Saturday Night on the Other Side (14 November)
  ‘To see a Saturday night from a different perspective gave me a lot of respect for the emergency services’
• Orlagh Shanks (Liverpool John Moores, 3): #PlacementYear: Month Four (14 November)
  ‘I’m probably not the best person to be working in Influencer Marketing as the smallest ‘Z Lister’ celebrity makes me whip my phone out and take a photo, or go wide-eyed and point.’
• Shane Horan (Ulster, 3): It was this time a year ago I quit the job I had for 13 years. (15 November)
  ‘Work brings in work. Do your best, get a reputation and put yourself out there.’