1.>>Are the professional associations that represent the profession paying attention to these incidents?<<

Your serious, right? Why would they reverse decades of inactivty now? It won't directly increase the number of memberships, ergo, it probably won't be done.

Parenthetically, how can we expect the business/govenment/community at large to understand the value of strategic PR & reputation management when the profession's own associations obviously don't understand it (as evident by their non-practice)?

2.Interesting stuff. I am not fussed so much about politicians figuring out a way to slam such "out-of-control" (clearly nobody's getting rich off the Springfield's PR budget)spending using controversial and pejorative language and then relating that to some sort of "law & order" vote-grabbing statement. Unfortunatley, we all expect that.

What we really need is the industry to stand up for itself...we don't need the associations to do that for us, though, it would be nice.

In Toronto, where I work, there have been several ad-hoc committees formed outside of the associations with a view to actually getting stuff done i.e. a measurement committee that I sit on and a President's Council that my agency's president sits on.

This move to more open collaboration, along with the rise of blogs, wikis, podcasts, etc. may render some of the associations redundant as aggregators of collective wisdom and expertise.

Are Shel and Neville the Lenin and Trotsky of our very own PR revolution? Stay tuned...

3.I agree that the associations need to do better. PRSA national has a new advocacy council, and at least they are doing more that they used to.

You can take a look at their advocacy room here:

http://media.prsa.org/item_display.cfm?show_section=1375

Today there is a new item about the "Pay for Play" situatation in Iraq. This is a subject I blogged about a few days ago, so as you can see, they are a little slower on this.

I recommended a blog during a leadership call recently and was pretty much shot down, though they said they are "looking into it."

Watch San Antonio next year as I am on the PRSA Board and we will start a SA-related PR blog, with several bloggers. We will stand up for the profession in SA and beyond. We'll see how national reacts.


I was

4.David, I agree that it is the responsibility of professionals, themselves, to take a stand and positively represent the industry. And I'm glad to hear that you and others are being proactive in Toronto.

And yet, I think it loses something not to have an official voice or representative body speak with authority. Imagine, if you will, an issue forms that grips the attention of the population (I believe Canada has had some experience with this in the past year, no?) that intersects with PR in some way.

Who would (should, not that it necessarily does now, of course) lend more weight of credibility: CIPR - speaking on behalf of the profession or your group, representing a fraction of the profession? Don't get me wrong; what your group is doing is absolutely vital - as is the individual actions of PR pros - to portray a professional reputation to the community at large.

But all that loses a lot of steam and impact, IMHO, if the recognized trade associations sit on their hands and are silent. What are they doing to earn our membership fees...(er, your membership fees-I became so disillusioned that I dropped ALL my professional PR association memberships in 1998) that really helps professionals in practice beside throwing some conferences and mailing a monthly newsletter/magazine?

I could argue that Shel and Neville, along with a score of earlier pioneers started the revolution in the mid-90's and have been steadfast in keeping it alive. And progress has been made. However, it's not nearly as much as it could have/should have been had the professional associations recognized that one of their roles is the help create a productive climate for their members to practice their profession.

Perhaps...one day...maybe...we'll get association leadership that has vision and leadership capabilities. This is the season to ask for something like that, right? <G>

5.>>...lend more weight of credibility: CIPR - speaking on behalf of the profession...<<

Oops! Wrong association. Meant to type CPRS.

6.Dave, the measurement committee of which you speak, is it not the Media Relations Rating Points (i.e., the standardized tool for measuring and evaluating Canadian editorial media coverage)? If yes, although my understanding was that it as an ad hoc group of practitioners "getting together and talking" (as per the November 30th presentation by committee member Tracey Bochner of APEX PR), we were informed that CPRS has come on board as its official umbrella sponsor and supporter. (Executive director Karen Dalton was recognized and thanked.)

Not to take away from the tremendous initiative, hard work and energy exhibited by Canadian PR practitioners, but (as per Craig's comments) I think it receives much more weight, and a larger support and information dissemination base with the official endorsement of a relevant association at the front end. I'm very much looking forward to receiving more information prior to its 2006 launch. Congratulations on your part in getting this going.

7.Judy, you are correct about the MRP committee. It is indeed endorsed by CPRS. The important distinction is that our ad-hoc committee was formed prior to any involvement from CPRS or IABC by a group of practitioners who took it on themselves to get this thinking going. Following the development of the MRP system and some research we did with the industry, we decided that endorsement was important for all the reasons you stated and the industry associations were approached by the committee.

Karen Dalton from CPRS was very supportive when approached and we are certainly thankful for that as it will help get the message out and provide greater weight.

The point I was trying to make in my earlier post was that it would be nice to have better leadership and vision from the industry associations on things that are important to practitioners, but that we don't necessarily need to sit on the sidelines and wait for it to happen.

There are enough of us engaged, interested and connected to get these things going on our own without pointing our fingers at the associations for their lack of action.

What is great about all of this is that the CPRS didn't turn up their noses and adopt a "not invented here" attitude to dismiss us. Karen et al welcomed us with open arms and that gives me hope that there is indeed some vision and leadership being demonstrated in this area.

I'm sorry we didn't get to meet at the Nov. 30 event. Have you put your pic on the FIR Frappr map yet? I can put a face to a name then.

8.Definitely I agree with you, David. It was (potential) end-users that identified the need and worked to fill in a perceived void. (I was also pleased to see that the committee included a broader representation base than just reps from PR firms.)

I participated in the survey sent out to CPRS members last spring, and I remember thinking that it was very comprehensive, while still managing to be completed in under 10 minutes.

I was amazed at how well attended was the session--"people standing in the hallway"--(particularly as CPRS Toronto was holding an excellent PD event that same evening), so it's not really surprising we didn't have a chance to meet. (I complimented organizers on doing a great job. They definitely know their PR biz, including special event planning.)

I think the high attendance and great vibe were very indicative on how great is the need.

I'll be sure to say hello at the Toronto launch party. Cheers, Judy

9.On numerous occasions, on numerous PR blogs, I've read this lament - "if ONLY the professional associations (IABC, CPRS/PRSA) would do SOMETHING to combat our lousy reputation", and my reaction is that I feel like one of the cobbler's barefoot kids.

Why do we always look to the associations to 'save' us from ourselves? Where did that lousy reputation come from? It wasn't from IABC or any professional association...it was from the individuals in our 'profession' who lie, manipulate, and generally personify the worst stereotypes of spin-doctoring.

So the question is, how do you fix that? Well I don't the answer is for some association head office to fire off a news release to the Springfield Republican saying "No, PR is good", or for IABC to jet in (volunteer/unpaid) Chairman Warren (although Warren's singlehandily done more to improve PR's reputation than any chair in history).

I think the solution, in large part, lies in Springfield - and every other city - where communicators work. To borrow a phrase from my org. (Red Cross), "Think Globally, Act Locally". I'd ask, what are the folks that work in PR in Springfield doing to build their relationships and profile in the local community, so that the city councilors actually know what the value of good communication is?

Now I'm not saying the IABC and the like don't have a role to play in helping to advocate for the profession, but who IS the association, if not us? They are not some nameless, faceless monolith...an association, by definition, is the sum of its members. So what are YOU doing to bolster the reputation of the profession in your area?

Take our esteemed blog host for example...since Shel was first introduced to me (by Moses Kanhai at an intro PR class in Regina in 1996), I've watched him lead this profession in terms of using technology to improve communication...and I'd argue that the quality, ethical work done by Shel (and professionals like him) has done more to increase the profile and goodwill of the profession than any slick marketing campaign by IABC or CPRS could ever accomplish.

It's funny - you do good work, you let people know about your good work, you get a good reputation. Isn't that what how we council our bosses and clients?

IMHO, the sooner we give up the "magic bullet" dream, the sooner we can start to do the REAL work we need to do to clean up our reputation - building local relationships, being generous with our knowledge & expertise, and demonstrating the true value of good communication within our organizations and our communities.

"Gentlemen (and ladies), I have seen the enemy - and it is us!"

10.>>Now I?m not saying the IABC and the like don?t have a role to play in helping to advocate for the profession, but who IS the association, if not us?<<

Richard, I agree that it is up to every PR professional to bolster the profession's image and credability, every day, in everything they do. However, I still feel strongly that by not being strong, visable advocates for the profession, the associations actually negate the potential benefit accrued by individuals.

Two cases to illustrate my point. First from around 1986. I had just returned from listening to a speech by then PRSA President Tony Franco on how his mission was to personally advocate the value of PR to presidents of Fortune 500 companies. Great, I thought. Someone at the top of the profession, and with the legitamacy of the national organization behind him was going to start positioning my profession directly to the corner office.

Only that a few months later Franco was caught in an insider trading scandle, dealing securities from some of his firm's clients. To excacerbate the tragedy, PRSA didn't utter a peep of condemnation, express regret and/or promote the code of ethics, much less call Franco to task for his obvious ethics violation.

Example 2: Several years ago GM replaced their top PR professional with an attorney. Both IABC and PRSA allowed the incident to pass without comment. I doesn't even matter, IMHO, what the specific reason was for the change; one of the largest companies on the planet was allowed to devalue the profession and the "official" entities that are supposed to represent the industry didn't utter a peep.

What's that saying, "With friends like this, who needs enemies?"

You are right in that Shel, Warren, and others (including all the untold professionals on an individual basis) help build the profession's reputation. But without *consistent support and advocacy* from the associations the potential value of all this effort becomes diluted.

And what's wrong with expecting that professional associations do more for its members than what they now deliver? Especially for anything beyond support for new professionals? It's already been mentioned in an earlier comment about associations being redundant, and in that light your thoughts are dead on.

Perhaps it would be better if the "official" associations disappeared althogether rather than creating false impressions about the profession by their failure to take a stand on anything.

BTW, you mentioned Moses and your PR class. Are you based in Regina? Looking out of my window it reminds me that the last time I was in Regina I literally flew out less than 30 minutes (I was told later) before a big snow storm hit that shut down the airport. How is Moses?