A new era

A new era dawned for the CIPR these last few days. We moved out of our home in St James’s Square and into new premises in Russell Square. It is sad to be leaving St James’s, as it proved to be a good home, in particular allowing the Institute to expand its training operations.

 

But our new Russell Square premises give us even more scope to expand our training and qualifications work, while continuing to offer members drop-in and meeting facilities in a central London location. They are currently undergoing some further refurbishment, but I believe the new member facilities will prove very popular when they open shortly. Watch this space for more information.

 

Of course, as my stated objective of this year was to strive to make to “Make Membership Meaningful”, I’m particularly pleased that – as well as the improvements above - today sees the launch of our new online resource kit that provides members with the tools and techniques to demonstrate the value of PR and work more effectively during these challenging times.

 

With the launch of the ‘PR Means Business’ kit (which you can access using your email address as your username and CIPR membership number as your password) and our plans for Russell Square it is very encouraging to see real tangible progress towards my objectives and I’d particularly like to thank the CIPR staff at HQ who have done so much work on my behalf.

 

But that’s not all - since I last wrote, the opening phases of the Chartered Practitioner scheme closed and I am particularly pleased to be one of the 80 people that have made it this far in the its inaugural year.

 

The creation of Chartered Practitioners will represent a real landmark for the industry in the UK and I sincerely hope that, over time, purchasers of PR talent – whether recruiters or clients – will come to regard Chartered status for an individual as important as they do in other professions, notably accountancy.  These are exciting times.

 

Later this week, I get my first experience of being at the Communications Directors Forum on board the Oriana. I’m speaking on my chosen subject of why a well-rounded PR programme makes for a good investment even during a recessionary economic climate.  Along with the CIPR recruitment guru, Steve Miller, I also hope to sign a few members up to the Institute.

 

And speaking of flying the flag for PR, later this month, I’m joining a Flacks and Hack debate at the Foreign Correspondents Club. 

 

I’m looking forward to both events, and I’ll let you know how things go.