This week in PR (5 January)

5th January 2018 7 min read

Richard Bailey Hon FCIPR is editor of PR Academy's PR Place Insights. He teaches and assesses undergraduate, postgraduate and professional students.

News in brief

In the New Year’s Honours List Lynne Franks was awarded an OBE for services to business, fashion and women’s empowerment; Sue Anstiss (chief executive of Promote PR) received an MBE for services to grassroots sport and women’s sport; Adrian Bull (external relations director, National Nuclear Laboratory) received an MBE in recognition of his work promoting public understanding of nuclear research; and Sabrina Francis (social media officer at City, University of London) received the community-focused British Empire Medal for her work at the university and as a local councillor.
Another week, another Twitter storm. The furore surrounding Toby Young’s appointment to the Office for Students raises awkward questions about diversity, free speech and no-platforming – and what to do with your old tweets when your public role changes.
PR Academy is opening an office in Kuala Lumpur to support the provision of CIPR Diploma qualifications in South East Asia
Will Cousins, head of press for the pro-EU Open Britain campaign, died alongside his father and other family members in the widely-reported seaplane crash north of Sydney on New Year’s Eve. Open Britain chair Roland Rudd described him as ‘an extraordinary young man.’

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
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.
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
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)

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

Stephen Waddington: Make it don’t fake it (4 January)
‘I created a PR Bot Twitter account… Within 24 hours the fake @RbotP account had more than 10,000 followers.’
Ste Davies: How I grew a 4,000+ member LinkedIn group and how you can too (2 January)
‘I started the group with one member. Me. I slowly grew it by first inviting friends who I knew would join out of support.’
Sarah Hall: Your 2018 CIPR Plan: Seeking Your Views (2 January)
‘I’m proud to lead this CIPR because I truly believe in all it stands for. I hope by the end of 2018, many more public relations practitioners see its relevance and value too.’
Sarah Stimson: On the ninth day of Christmas: change (2 January)
‘Lots of people are frightened of change. There’s a whole management discipline of ‘change management’ focused on easing transitions and managing expectations of change.’
Neville Hobson: The appeal of the open internet (2 January)
‘From the start of this new year, I have taken up the full-time role of Social Media Strategist with The Internet Society.’
Matt Silver: What I’ll Be Thinking And Writing About In 2018 (1 January)
‘We need to understand the reasons why more PR students are not considering more B2B-focused careers, corporate communications or public affairs roles.’

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

Catriona McAllister (Greenwich, 2): Stay hungry, stay foolish (4 January)
‘The fear of failure is something we all battle with; academically, professionally and personally. But failure is the key to success.’
Carla McCloskey (Ulster, 4): California dreamin’ on such a winter’s day (2 January)
‘As I sit here on a gloomy afternoon thinking back to my amazing summer spent in California, I have never related to a song so much.’
Rebecca Reid (Ulster, 4): A different approach to Thai travel (1 January)
‘During the volunteering project our group helped to finish building a house for a family to live in.’
Claire Simpson (Aston, 4): 2017: The Good, The Bad and the PR (24 December)
‘Apology-gate knew no bounds as brands also made somewhat of a fine art of ill-judged marketing campaigns.’
Orlagh Shanks (Liverpool John Moores, 3): 2017: Looking Back at the Best Year of My Life (21 December)
‘This time last year, I was given the #GirlBoss book by Sophia Amoruso. It flipped a switch in me that made me hugely focused to succeed in life and to not waste a day that I was given.’