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Alliance newsletter
January 2007
Dear Colleagues and
Friends
Happy New Year!
We would like to wish you and your
families the very best in 2007.
Please forward this letter to all the
members of your associations and all our friends to let them know
what are the key issues affecting the Alliance and our global public
relations community.
And most importantly – book now to meet
at the 4th World Public Relations Festival and our AGM in Capetown,
in my home country of South Africa. See details below for more
information.
Best Regards
Sejamotopo Motau, FPRISA
Chair, Global Alliance
The GA is
expanding
Following decisions taken at the Board meeting in Puerto Rico on 5
October 2006, the Global Alliance has decided to recruit an
Executive Officer to support and grow its activities. The Board is
currently reviewing the applications received and will communicate
its decision shortly. A revised strategic plan is also under
consideration and will be circulated for member comments shortly.
4th World
Public Relations Festival, Cape Town (13/15 May 2007)
The 4th WPRF is hosted by Public Relations Institute of South Africa
(PRISA). Read the full programme and find more information on how to
secure your place and arrange your trip on the PRISA website at:
www.prisa.co.za. The Festival
will coincide with the 2007 GA Annual General Meeting; you are all
invited to attend.
Research
projects: Global survey on the economic impact of PR
Thanks for submitting your numerous responses. We have had 767
responses to date; of these over 85% are members of their national
PR association. The data is currently being analysed by a team of
professionals and will be published on the GA website early this
year. For more information please visit the GA website soon:
www.globalpr.org.
GA Scholarships
to attend the University of Lugano MScom
The GA has strengthened relations with the University of Lugano’s
Master of Science in Communication Management (MScom), one of the
most prestigious Executive Master in Communication and PR in the
world. As part of the accord, four scholarships to attend the 2007
course started this January, each worth half of the tuition. These
have been assigned to experienced professionals Anita Bunk
(Germany), Elena Lidonnici (Italy), Suzanne Schluckebier (Germany)
and Daniel Walsh (Ireland). MScom. Congratulations to them!
GA and The
World Bank
The GA and The World Bank are actively exploring cooperation on WB's
"Communication For Development" program. In addition to speaking at
the World Congress on Communication for Development, held in Rome in
October 2006 (you might like to read the
final press release of the conference at this link), GA
representatives are now planning to arrange a 2007 mini-conference
on advanced research techniques for possible application in planning
WB assistance in less developed countries. Other areas of
cooperation will be studied during 2007.
GA Advisory
Council
The Global Alliance will be debating at its Annual General Meeting
in Cape Town the establishment of a GA Advisory Council with the
function of supporting the work of the GA Board by identifying
issues and working areas that are relevant to the PR global
community. A more detailed plan regarding the function of the
Advisory Council will be circulated shortly to all GA members.
New report on
Public Relations education
GA's long term plan of coordinating data on public relations
education recently received valuable input with the publication of
"The Professional Bond - Public Relations Education and The
Practice". This document, produced by the Commission on Public
Relations Education (the commission is staffed by The Public
Relations Society of America and has several GA leaders as members),
summarizes recommendations for undergraduate and graduate education
in North America and urges greater "bonding" between educators and
practitioners. It also includes a special section titled, "Global
Implications" of public relations education. The report is available
at: www.commpred.org.
Canadian PR
Industry Standardizes Media Relations Evaluation
In April 2006, the Canadian Public Relations Society introduced
Media Relations Rating Points (MRP)TM a standardized system for the
evaluation of editorial media coverage in Canada. The system was
developed by a volunteer group of senior Canadian industry
professionals who spent several years researching and creating a low
cost, easy-to-use measurement system that would work for all PR
practitioners across Canada - from those at multinational agencies
to freelancers. The objective was to standardize reporting so that
the PR industry would be able to accurately and consistently report
results of media relations campaigns. Since the launch, MRPs have
become the Canadian standard for reporting with more than 200
subscribers to date, which include the majority of top Canadian PR
agencies and many major corporations.
The MRP system provides a qualitative
and quantitative analysis of editorial coverage. Stories are
evaluated based on a set of criteria customizable to individual
companies or campaigns plus the article's tone. A cost-per-contact
analysis provides a method to measure ROI. The MRP system is
supported by an online database of audited reach numbers for
Canadian print, broadcast and online media outlets. Subscribers have
access to accurate, up-to-date readership and viewership information
plus the ability to generate automatic media reports. Additional
information, including a user guide that explains the system in
detail, is available at
www.mrpdata.com.
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