This week in PR (26 June)

News in brief

The GCS Coronavirus (COVID-19) Advisory Panel has issued a call for evidence about the impact of #COVID19 on the communication profession.

Here's how PRCA members can contribute ➡️ https://t.co/0kQbnMRkQd pic.twitter.com/wrBlpAWx9s

— PRCA (@PRCA_UK) June 24, 2020

• Ofcom’s Online Nation 2020 report shows the continued rise of internet use in the UK. The report reviews the past 12 months and is not limited to the lockdown period.
• Rachel Friend, until the start of this year UK CEO of Weber Shandwick, is joining W Communications (PR Week).
• ‘Barri Rafferty is stepping down as global CEO at Ketchum to head corporate communications at Wells Fargo, with Mike Doyle replacing her at the Omnicom PR firm’ (PRovoke Media).

Academic, education and training

Delighted to be joint editing an @EmeraldGlobal Journal of Communication Management special edition on #InternalComms during the #COVID19 Pandemic with @RitaMen_UF #CrisisCommunication #EmployeeEngagement #EmployeeExperience #DigitalTransformation

— Dr Kevin Ruck (@AcademyKev) June 22, 2020

Covid-19 comms

• Kat Harrison-Dibbits: Creating content to celebrate an anniversary… in lockdown (24 June)
  ‘‘Audience as advocates’ is an idea I’m obsessed with – it’s only an extension of good old fashioned word of mouth, but it’s the aspect of comms that can most often be overlooked by colleagues looking for a flashy piece of content or a glitzy national feature.’

• Rahme Mehmet: A Letter from Rahme Mehmet, Managing Director: Covid-19 is a Lesson for Leaders (24 June)
  ‘To lead through this crisis, it requires us to use our voices, to be sincere, to be honest and truthful and to show our humanity.’

• Dan Slee: Guides and resources for communicators during COVID-19 (23 June)
  ‘If you’re expecting to be told what to do as a communicator you’re going to be in for a big old shock. Being agile and thinking on your feet is going to be a big skill. However, the publication of guides as a starting point for you is a really helpful port in a storm.’

• Stephen Waddington: Lockdown creative industry awards 2020 (23 June)
  ‘I don’t think there’s any need for any awards this year. The individuals and organisations that have excelled during the COVID19 are all in plain sight.’

Wellbeing, gender and diversity

Dear UK PR
Supporting the #BlackLivesMatter movement does not mean trying to poach black members of staff after a couple of @prweekuknews articles.
Your knee jerk, cynical and lazy approach to recruitment of BME candidates is exactly WHY we are speaking out pic.twitter.com/2U3njKP0ej

— Jessica Hope (@WimbartHope) June 18, 2020

• Arun Sudhaman with Jessica Hope: Podcast: The Rise Of Africa-Focused Tech Agency Wimbart (24 June)
  ‘All of our business comes from Africa. I don’t think we’ve had any white candidates, though we will as we grow. Colleagues feel that working at Wimbart is a safe space where they can be themselves without being labelled as the ‘angry black woman’.’

• Paul Sutton with Tiffany daSilva: How to beat imposter syndrome [podcast] (24 June)
  ‘I’m the first person in my family to go to university, to go to grad school, to work in tech, to live on my own, so I didn’t want to fail because people were watching me. And then going into a unicorn startup where people were doing these amazing things…’
• Gihan Hyde: How to start a conversation about racism and unconscious bias (19 June)
  ‘Here are my recommendations on how to start the conversations and gauge if your team member or colleague has suffered from racial injustice or unconscious bias, by either yourself of anyone else in the organisation.’

Purpose and professionalism

I‘ve honestly found the CIPR a massive help in my career. But like a gym membership, what you get out of it depends on the hard work you put in: your learning, networking and your own contribution. Brilliant that the costly initial barrier to joining now lifted – sign up today! https://t.co/sgbqpquoz8

— Peter Holt (@peterholt99) June 24, 2020

• Andy Green: The Dublin Conversations World Tour inspires a new future for PR and Communications (23 June)
  ‘The Conversations is non-commercial, independent learning and changemaking community. A founding belief is that no one should ‘patent the sun’ so it freely shares what it has to kickstart essential change.’

Virtual events

• Charlotte Greaves: CIPR London | CoronaCon (Part 2) – the issues faced by PR practitioners during the Coronavirus pandemic, lessons learnt and what the future holds. (22 June)
  ‘PR can influence the C-suite by taking a strategic leadership role in planning for recovery – their input will help to re-build/protect reputation for the future.’
• Mark Pinsent: The Impact of Coronavirus on B2B Tech Marketing: Replacing Trade Shows as a Lead Generation Activity (21 June)
  ‘The value of industry events that bring together the ecosystem around industries and topics — from huge tech trade shows such as Mobile World Congress (MWC) and the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) to hundreds of smaller, niche events — is in the fact that numerous organizations are brought together in a single location.’

Consulting, teams and careers

• Paul Nolan: There could be light at the end of the Covid tunnel for marketing and PR agencies (no date)
  ‘We thought we’d work with our friends at SAPIO Research to ask 500 business decision makers in the UK how COVID-19 was impacting their marketing plans.’
• Nev Ridley: Business As Unusual (22 June)
  ‘So, aside from juggling schooling and working, what is the reality of how we have had to change under lockdown for clients?’

Public and third sectors

*LOCKDOWN LAUDATIONS*
Episode 21
Celebrating the work of @judetipper of @NHSDigital and @CiprHealth #LockdownLaudations @NHS @NHSProviders @ciprlps @PR_Place @CIPRYorksLincs pic.twitter.com/O1N76TYgIp

— @comms2point0 (@comms2point0) June 24, 2020

• Mark Ford: Communicators – social care needs you (23 June)
  ‘With positivity in short supply, it’s a good time to focus on glimmers hope. Social care is headline news again, it’s slap-bang in the public and political consciousness.’ 

Politics, public affairs and public sphere

• Jason Mackenzie: It’s time for more political drama (23 June)
  ‘I’m privileged to call politicians of differing political persuasions my friends. I believe that we are well served (by and large) by our Members of Parliament in Westminster, both those on the government benches and those opposite. I believe that they want the UK to be a better place. They want healthcare, education, housing, social justice, the defence of the realm and a robust economy. They just have different ideas about how government ought to deliver those things, and different priorities.’

Risk, crisis and reputation

• Amanda Coleman: A risky business (25 June)
  ‘As communicators are we risk takers or risk averse? Being an effective communicator means you are a problem solver and alongside that you have to be prepared to take a few risks.’

Internal communication

• Steve Hockey: Returning to work after lockdown: lessons from New Zealand (25 June)
  ‘In New Zealand, many businesses have implemented a staggered return to work. A flexible, home/office blended approach meets the needs of both employees and the business.’

• Katie Macaulay with Jenni Field: Leadership in unprecedented times [podcast] (24 June)
  ‘It brings joy to everyone in internal comms that I’m probably the first [CIPR] president specialising in IC. It brings a different perspective to the team at CIPR.’
• Adam Fuss: Toward a New Employee Value Proposition – Part 1 (22 June)
  ‘Earning recognition as an employer of choice has increasingly meant a need to focus on the employee value proposition (EVP) as a unique contract or deal – a relationship, if you will – between an organization and its employees.’

Technology, media and digital

• Jessica Pardoe: Building Relationships & Talking To Journalists: What’s The Big Deal With Communication? (24 June)
  ‘Being able to build and sustain credible relationships is often how you can be really successful, so don’t overlook the importance of things such as manners and tone of voice.’
• Jerry Silfwer: Meet Replika my AI chatbot friend (22 June)
  ‘I broke up with an AI chatbot called Isabel. The future of PR may need to include managing artificial relationships.’