This week in PR (3 January)

News in brief

• Former Teneo Blue Rubicon Associate Director Dr Mark Pack has been elected president of Liberal Democrat party. With Jo Swinson losing her seat in the general election, he finds himself temporary joint leader of the party alongside Ed Davey.
• Phil Morgan, until recently deputy chief executive of the CIPR, has started his new role as chief executive of the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (IPIM). 
• The Chartered Institute of Public Relations Local Public Services Group, in conjunction with the Local Government Association, is compiling a report and best practice guide aimed at supporting communication professionals in handling safeguarding issues. The ‘call for evidence’ is open from January to March 2020. (via CIPR LPS blog)

Education and training

Ethics and professionalism

No additional evidence was needed that “Don’t be evil” was no longer a true reflection of the company’s values;it was now nothing more than just another corporate marketing tool.@RossforMaine @heleneboulanger @smpsebastiao @SueWolst @SusanadeCarvalh @ValerieCarayol #phdlife #PhD https://t.co/PS1Ntf8Uzs

— Anne-Marie Cotton (@am_cotton) January 3, 2020

• Mark Borkowski: Predictions for 2020 (3 January)
  ‘I shall be rudely awakened at 5.50am on at least five occasions to talk about a PR clusterfuck on the Today Programme.’
• Simon Francis: Is 2020 the year the PR profession unites on ethical conduct? (1 January)
  ‘No client should be hiring a firm in the 21st Century that won’t commit to an ethical code of conduct. Working together as a profession means we can re-boot our ethical standards and ensure we can leave the poor reputations of “old school” PR firms behind us.’
• Hel Reynolds: The future of PR & communications: 2020 & beyond (31 December)
  ‘Let’s not dwell on what will change. To prepare for the next era of comms and PR, we need to think about what will stay the same.’

• Stephen Waddington: Future of PR: 2020 edition (30 December)
  ‘Fake news has become a catch-all term to describe everything from bullshit to blatant manipulation. Legitimate news sources vie for attention in algorithm-driven news feeds along with disinformation and propaganda. It’s a race to the bottom. Regulation is urgently required. Governments and law makers are slowly awakening to the issue but aren’t moving quickly enough.’

Consulting and careers

Crisis and reputation

The depth of public rage directed at @northernassist @northern_pr and the company's ongoing PR crisis can, in part, be attributed to the unwillingness of management to acknowledge the plight of its customers and its own failures. https://t.co/ED2GixDmYh

— trianglepr (@trianglepr) January 3, 2020

Wellbeing, gender and diversity

• Adam Driver: Four ways to get back in the saddle (1 January)
  ‘A few I’m adding in my personal mix this Jan are blogging regularly (I like Wadds’ approach of ‘religiously’ blogging every Sunday) and reading more (less phone after hours, not charging in the bedroom overnight, actually using Pocket properly, and going to bed at 9.30pm should help).’
• Peter Holt: 12 Diverse Days of Christmas #5: Born to Rule the World? (29 December)
  ‘Since coming out, it’s the occasional career opportunity I’ve lost out on (and my god – did that sting!), but at six foot and with what I might charitably describe as ‘a rugby build’, I’ve at least avoided being gay-bashed.’

Public and third sectors

With the PRCA in its second year of managing @LGComms, and boasting the entire @UKGovcomms as a member, our half-day Public Sector and Not-for-Profit Conference is well-placed to discuss the opportunities facing practitioners in those fields. Sign up now!https://t.co/eIe1SXBbcT pic.twitter.com/xgf6xY1SHV

— PRCA (@PRCA_UK) January 2, 2020

• Dan Slee: LONG READ: Public sector comms, PR and digital predictions for 2020 (30 December)
  ‘It feels like 2020 is a prime year for a re-boot. Eleven years since the first public sector organisation started using Twitter the holy trinity of Twitter, Facebook and YouTube badly is as dated. Twitter is now the joint 6th largest channel. Facebook pages are withering choked by indifference and deliberate Facebook strategy that starves pages of audience unless you advertise. Go back to brass tacks. Check your audience. Check your channels. Is it really a press release? Is it Twitter? Do it urgently.’

Campaigns and creativity

Some very good creative bill-boarding for BBC’s Dracula #Dracula pic.twitter.com/mqFk4ai3pl

— Hope&Glory (@HopeandGloryPR) January 2, 2020

Internal communication

Media and digital

https://twitter.com/CarrieRosePR/status/1212692210518548480

• Stella Bayles with Rich Leigh and Will Roberts: Should you be affiliate marketing in 2020? [podcast] (3 December)
  ‘Even regional publishers now sometimes track their journalists by affiliate spend on their articles.’

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