I was privileged this week to have lunch with veteran PR practitioner Harold Burson - without doubt one of the most significant figures in the history of our profession.
He was in London to receive the Alan Campbell-Johnson medal which is awarded annually in recognition of outstanding service to international public relations. Alan Campbell-Johnson died in 1998 after a distinguished career in PR which included a spell as Press Attache to Lord Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India, during the transfer of power in 1946-7.
One of the founders of the then Institute of Public Relations, Alan ran his own consultancy in London for 45 years and counted a number of major international companies among his clients. It is fitting that the industry's most important award for international work is named in his honour - and presented each year at a private lunch made possible through a generous grant from the Coca Cola Foundation.
This year's presentation of the medal, by Alan's widow Fay, was an historic event - helped in no small part by the venue, the Library of The Travellers Club in Pall Mall, which was a longtime favourite of the Queen Mum when she was hosting private parties.
But what of the great man himself?
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