This week in PR (7 May)

It happened this week

I made one of 'types of paper' things for PR pic.twitter.com/7ldqJ1HdgY

— Karan Chadda (@kchadda) May 5, 2021

• PR Week reports that Alex Aiken is set to leave the Government Communication Service later this year.
• Vuelio has published a white paper on ‘The Environment, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) opportunity for public relations’ authored by Stephen Waddington and Dr Jon White

ESG, corporate and financial

Behaviour Change expert and @SusSidekicks Founder, @LivvyDrake, brings her insights into how we can help minimize our impact on the planet, to our #ClimateChange conference. Come along to find out how to get people to take action through good comms https://t.co/X07AT65nGB pic.twitter.com/5hEsGwBNJX

— CIPR (@CIPR_Global) May 6, 2021

• Rachel Miller: What Comms pros need to know about ESG (4 May)
  ‘Calls for the establishment of new roles to develop and manage ESG strategies, such as chief relationship or chief sustainability officers, are often made without reference to the roles that have been played by public relations practitioners for many years.’

Consulting, teams and careers

https://twitter.com/PRCA_UK/status/1390245239722545155

• Anders Nilsson: Introducing Newbie – Anders Nilsson (6 May)
  ‘In university, one of my lecturers commented on my ‘engaging writing style’ in essays. I’d never really thought about or been interested in writing before that, but her feedback encouraged me to explore careers where I could use and develop writing (and communication in general).’

• Eva Duffy: Lone doesn’t mean alone: 5 top tips for solo comms professionals (4 May)
  ‘Even before the global pandemic changed the way we all work, I worried about the risk of professional isolation and found myself yearning for the informal learning that comes with simply being in the same company as your fellow communications experts.
• Orlagh Shanks: Why I’m Striving For A Digital Nomad Lifestyle (4 May)
  ‘I wouldn’t say the moving around lifestyle will be one that I would want to do permanently. At the moment, I’m enjoying flitting around every few weeks, but I can only imagine in a few months that I will want to be more settled for a while.’
• Simon Francis: Lifting the brain fog of lockdown (4 May)
  ‘When Moya Sarner’s article appeared in the Guardian explaining how we are struggling with a lockdown “brain fog” it focussed my thoughts on the issue. When you’re working from home, you become overwhelmed by your surroundings. There is too much to do. There are too many things to think about.’
• Trevor Young: Unpacking Stephen Waddington’s thought leader journey [podcast] (2 May)
  ‘There’s an element of narcissism: you want to be recognised for doing good work, but the really important thing is involving and building a community.’

Wellbeing, gender and diversity

Politics, public affairs and public sphere

Our exclusive, unrivalled Index of the Top 100 Political Consultants is now live.https://t.co/5NSh24vG7r pic.twitter.com/x53wmcu2q2

— The Mace (@MaceMagazine) May 5, 2021

• Christine Quigley: Experiences of a candidate (6 May)
  ‘This time nine years ago, I was knocking on doors across west London, getting out the vote in the London Mayoral and London Assembly elections – for the first (and only) time as a candidate in these elections myself.’
• Scott Harker: Meet the developer: your local council (5 May)
  ‘Paul Holmes, the Conservative Member of Parliament for Eastleigh, is pushing for a new independent process that would come into effect when local authorities act as developers within their own boundaries.’

• Stuart Thomson: Lobbying: Do audiences really understand what we do? (4 May)
  ‘The CIPR and PRCA have both set out proposals for changes to the current lobbying rules. We now all wait to see what the Government will do.’
• Perry Miller: You Get What You Vote For (5 May)
  ‘The average turnout in English council elections is a derisory 35%. Hold a general election on the same day and you can push that up to 65%. The glamour of national politics still holds its grip on our imagination.’
• David Davies: Gary Lineker on the business of football [podcast] (4 May)
  ‘Beyond eradicating racial abuse, the sport’s in a good place. We have an unbelievably good product, though it’s been difficult this year. The big boys will be OK of course. What we’ve got to maintain is the football pyramid because clubs are so important to towns and communities. We’ve got to try and help them survive.’

https://twitter.com/torfordy/status/1390360593450901509

Risk, crisis and reputation

• Jennifer Sanchis: From PR analyst to crisis comms hero: How to leverage planning to mitigate risks (1 May)
  ‘Handling crises is not easy, but with the right amount of preparation, PR practitioners and crisis managers can mitigate risks and manage consequences more effectively and efficiently. Nobody can start drafting a crisis comms plan as they are faced with an emerging situation, so time and resources must be invested well ahead of time.’

Planning, insight, measurement and evaluation

Book NOW #AMECSummit powered by @IntradoDigital May 26&27 @KikiMoreo of @KetchumPR shares 'Create long-term value from #planning #research & #analytics' EVERY #pr & #Comms pro need actionable #data to lead their org. https://t.co/TsXAzbYsOu #CIPR #IABC #PRCA #PRSA #AMEC25 pic.twitter.com/RDs56d0hvz

— AmecOrg (@AmecOrg) May 4, 2021

Internal communication

• Louisa Dean: How to communicate a royal funeral (6 May)
  ‘When you’re in the midst of a massive event, you sometimes forget to look back at what you did. This time we sent email newsletters out to our residents about the work we did, and a message of thanks to our staff because it’s really important everyone is thanked regardless of whether they were working directly on the funeral or keeping the council going with business as usual.’
• Sarah Browning: 5 tips to improve email communication (5 May)
  ‘Despite the bad reputation email gets, I do think there are lots of positives to it. There are many organisations that use email perfectly well as part of their communication mix.’
• Sharon O’Dea: 4 lessons from Basecamp’s culture binfire (4 May)
  ‘If an employee talks about the poor state of the train they use to get to work, the provision of childcare they rely on to be there, whether they feel safe walking home, or the underrepresentation of people of color in the company’s own leadership, these issues are all political.’
• Rachel Miller: Being candid with Frank Dias [podcast] (2 May)
  ‘Being a comms director is like being a music conductor. You lead and influence the sound of communications and help the voice of business to be amplified by being linked to the strategy.’
• Trudy Lewis, Jenni Field and Advita Patel: Healthy Working Cultures [podcast] (30 April)
  ‘How do we become more engaging at a time when we’re on Zoom and working remotely? How do we maintain a healthy culture when we’re not in the office? The challenge is the technology.’

Technology, media and digital

https://twitter.com/andismit/status/1389597728418799620

• Declan Bradshaw: Three myths about media briefings (6 May)
  ‘Media. Briefings. Are. Not. Sales. Meetings. Most media briefings are about a trend, an issue, a development in the industry and how your business can add value to the discussion.’
• Alice Humphreys: The year of opinions: corporate communications strategies post-pandemic (6 May)
  ‘To be respected as an industry expert in the media, your industry knowledge should be front and center of any communications plan. It is not enough to repeat the same lines as your competitor or industry journalist; thought leadership should be about leading the conversation, not following it. If you are not saying anything new, it’s probably not worth saying at all.’
• Gemma Storey: Emerging tech and its impact on businesses and PR teams (5 May)
  ‘I thought it would be interesting to look back at Deloitte’s 2021 tech trends report and see how some of the nine trends it identified could affect businesses and how these changes will impact the PR work we do.’

#prstudent #bestPRblogs

We plan to run this weekly selection until the end of May, culminating in an online event to celebrate #prstudent bloggers on 27 May. It’s by invitation only – and there’s still time to secure your place on the guest list.

#PRfest: There are ten free tickets available for PR students to this online conference in June, on a first come basis.

https://twitter.com/NathanBickert/status/1389628289959010310

• Eloise Newman (Solent): Blackout and Reverse Selfie: Two Campaigns Which Highlight the Negative Side to Social Media (6 May)
  ‘The Reverse Selfie campaign was especially poignant as it highlights the pressures social media can place upon people- especially the younger members of our society.’

• Katie Hull (Sunderland): Career and Future Plans – PR Edition (6 May)
  ‘I believe that education has no limit and, by this, I mean it is crucial to keep updating your professional development in a sector that keeps continually evolving.’
• Piotr Boiwka (Newcastle): Privacy in ad industry and how Apple changes the status quo (no date)
  ‘After a year of intensive rumours, arguments, and threats, Apple introduced iOS 14.5 with a crucial change to data collection method by apps and sharing it with third-party vendors.’

• Alicia Fox (Ulster): Cryptocurrency, Social media influencers and contactless payments. (6 May)
  ‘Social media has significantly changed the game of finance, and shown how influential it can be. Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla is living proof.’
• Elyshia Dixon (Sunderland): Working From Home – University Edition. (4 May)
  ‘There a sense of vulnerability speaking to a ‘class’ full of people who you can’t directly see. You would think it would make people feel more comfortable, not having to speak to someone directly, especially if they’re shy. But it feels more intrusive because you’re in a space that is an escape from University and work somewhat private to you, in a situation that isn’t usually present in that environment.’
• Rachael Thompson (Sunderland): Are Live Streamers the New Face of Influencer Marketing? (4 May)
  ‘As gaming and live streaming become ever more so a staple in popular culture, brands are cashing in on the power of the gaming influencer.’
• Holly Sainthouse (Sunderland): The Aftermath Of The Boycott: Is social media more bad than it is good? (4 May)
  ‘It has not even been a whole day yet – since the boycott ended – and we have already seen emotional responses and support from some iconic sporting stars.’
• Daisy Hughes (Sunderland): Has Boris Johnson done too much damage to his reputation? (4 May)
  ‘Boris Johnson’s moral reputation has certainly been affected by these scandals, and his lack of real explanation means he is not effectively making use of crisis communications.’