The world continues to change so quickly. Using technology to connect with target audiences is essential in penetrating the cluttered atmosphere, especially in the field of healthcare. Social media has expanded our professional coordinates and positioned communicators to participate in the real-time conversations shaping the marketplace of ideas.

For the last 20 years, I have seen how successful policy and campaign workers use technology to transform outreach and activism. Those who embrace the effort, become early adopters, build their critical mass and consume the environment like a tidal wave.

At first, it’s overwhelming, but eventually you find your groove. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Groupon — initially, it did not occur to me to join them. However, for career insight or to get a better deal on frozen yogurt, it is essential to be plugged in. Patterns definitely emerge, and information management becomes key.

I’ve seen the impact firsthand at my organization, the Oncology Nursing Society. We’re engaged in a multitude of membership advocacy efforts that educate decision-makers on nursing and cancer.

Continue reading " Building a Grassroots Army on the Internet: A Guide for Adopters at All Stages "

To explore current public relations/communications practices with Wikipedia, I’m conducting a survey sponsored by the Arthur W. Page Center. My goal is to explore current engagement with Wikipedia and identify what changes are necessary.

I started researching Wikipedia in 2006 with Marcus Messner, Virginia Commonwealth University, and we have been arguing for years that public relations professionals should monitor their Wikipedia articles. Our 2010 study found that the negative content in corporate Wikipedia articles increased from 2006 to 2008 to 2010 and articles were becoming less focused on historical information and more on legal issues and controversies.

Continue reading " Should Public Relations Professionals be Allowed to Edit Wikipedia Articles? "

Following a productive period of submissions, comments and deliberation, we are pleased today to announce the final candidates for a modern definition of public relations. The definitions you see below have been developed by PRSA’s Definition of Public Relations Task Force, in consultation with our 12 global initiative partners. The candidates reflect nearly 1,000 submissions received last November and the hundreds of comments many of you provided on the draft definitions we presented last month.

Public voting is open from Feb. 13–26, 2012. We anticipate announcing the final winning definition, based on the public vote, the week of Feb. 27, 2012.

Vote on a Modern Definition of Public Relations Here

Continue reading " Which is the Best Definition for Public Relations? Vote Now "

With thoughts (and client budgets) turning to the New Year, PRSA continues our tradition of an annual PR industry forecast. This year, we feature contributions from 12 creative thinkers in public relations. We asked for insight into trends they believe will fundamentally change the PR industry in 2012.

Below is a compilation of their thoughts. Starting Jan. 3, 2012, and running for 12 consecutive business days, PRSAY will publish each trend as a full blog post.

We hope you find value in reading these predictions. Please add your own in the comments below or by using the hashtag #PRin2012. We’ll capture the best contributions and publish those in a special baker’s dozen post in late-January.

Related: Read the top-11 PR trends for 2011 in this Dec. 22, 2010, PRSay blog post..

Continue reading " 12 Trends to Watch: 2012 Public Relations Forecast #PRin2012 "

There’s big news in the public relations industry this week as the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) recently announced that they are embarking on an international effort to modernize the definition of public relations. Chartered in 1947, PRSA is the world’s largest and foremost organization of public relations professionals and boasts a community of more than 21,000 members across the United States. Their current definition of public relations — “public relations helps an organization and its publics adapt mutually to each other” was last updated in 1982, before Twitter, before Facebook, hell, even before you had a computer at your desk. Technology has changed a lot over the last 30 years. So to have the ways in which organizations and their publics relate to one another, it’s definitely time for a change.

Adam Lavelle, a member of the board of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association and chief strategic officer at the iCrossing unit of Hearst, agrees. In the New York Times article linked above, he says:

“Before the rise of social media, public relations was about trying to manage the message an entity was sharing with its different audiences. Now, P.R. has to be more about facilitating the ongoing conversation in an always-on world.”

Unfortunately, ever since the days of Edward Bernays, public relations has had its roots in “managing the message.” Public relations grew out of propaganda, spin and manipulation — no wonder we’ve had an image problem for the last 100 years! Too many public relations practitioners have become so focused on the message that they have totally forgotten the relations part of public relations. As The Cluetrain Manifesto taught us way back in 1999 (also before social media), “public relations does not relate to the public; companies are deeply afraid of their markets.” From press releases that sound like this and media pitches like this, public relations practitioners have gotten lazy, hiding behind words and messages instead of building an actual relationship.

PRSA (disclaimer: I’ve been a member of PRSA or PRSSA since 2000.) should take this same advice while redefining the definition of public relations. The words might end up being totally accurate and insightful, but if public relations practitioners don’t also change their actions, the perception of the industry will never change. I hope that all PRSA members would realize the perception of public relations is about more than words — it’s about actions. And with that, here are ten actions that I’d like to become part of the new definition of public relations:

Continue reading " More Than Words: How to Really Redefine the Term “Public Relations” "