PR Voice

Making an impression online

The BBC is reporting that Keele University is threatening students with possible legal action if they post derogatory remarks about tutors on social network sites.

Meanwhile recruitment firms and employers now routinely search social networks such as MySpace, Facebook, YouTube and Bebo for comments by (or about) potential employees.

Whatever the ethics of this, a zany pic of yourself taken on that big night out which might amuse you and your mates now just might cost you that vital first job a few years down the line.

The suits are waking up to cyberspace - and once something is out there, nothing is going to make it disappear.

New media training day

This week I spoke at a training day organised by the CIPR Education and Skills Group. The theme of the day was New Media, and there were other speakers (including Karen Ainley, Philip Sheldrake, Kevin Johnson and Richard Grinter) who knew far more about the subject than I did.

Despite that, I thought it was important for me to attend and speak just to emphasise how important the CIPR thinks new media is. Whether it is blogging, podcasting or online video this is a tremendously exciting area which offers huge scope for PR professionals. And the CIPR, through the publication of our Social Media Guidelines, has shown leadership and put down a marker to the effect that just because this is a new and exciting area, old standards of probity and integrity still apply.

So new media it may be, but some of the old rules still apply.

CIPR publishes social media guidelines

The internet is fast-moving and unregulated - and that is surely the way it should remain.

However, that does not mean that PR professionals should not apply the same standard to the new media as they do when using more traditional forms of communication. The same standards of honesty and transparency need to apply, and that is why we are publishing our social media guidelines.

So blog away like billy-o, and work those wikis. But keep it real, and keep it honest!

Political blogging on agenda at CIPR meeting

Iain Dale, the UK's foremost political blogger, addressed the CIPR Government Affairs Group at the PR Centre last night. He emphasised the importance of blogging as a medium for empowering the general public - and engaging younger people in the political process. He also demonstrated how stories which originated in the blogosphere were eventually taken up by the print media, sometimes making front page news. According to Iain - and nobody in the 50 strong audience disagreed with him - blogs such as his and Guido Fawkes' now have many more hits than the official party websites. Finally Iain described how 18 Doughty Street - an online real-time TV station - was setting the trend not just in the UK but also internationally. Many political heavy hitters and serious journalists regularly appear on 18DS. Next Tuesday's guests include your very own President - appearing in a personal capacity, of course!

A full day of CIPR meetings

We had a full day of CIPR meetings last Wednesday 7 February.

The first meeting of the day was with Paula Kelsey of Cloud 9 and Caroline Kinsey of Cirkle to discuss the President's Grand Prix. The plan is to hold this at a hotel near Heathrow, so that it will be readily accessible to members from anywhere in the UK. We are also planning on holding a half day conference ahead of the Awards Dinner on the theme of 'Excellence in Communications' - with a raft of heavyweight speakers. The provisional date for this is the 3rd May.

Meeting number two was the Business Services Committee. This is normally chaired by CIPR Treasurer Kevin Taylor, but he was unfortunately not available, as he is recovering from a routine operation. This committee keeps an eye on our commercial activities, and is constantly exploring money-making ideas.

Practioners need to embrace new media

There has been a fair amount of discussion recently about the CIPR's consultation paper on social media, which I announced at our annual conference and which has been widely publicised since.

The blogging community obviously had the most to say - some of it dealt with the general principles involved, some with the specific questions posed. But there was also an encouraging response from the membership generally, many of whom are still struggling to understand the significance of what they are seeing and reading about. It's important that we hear from as wide a cross-section of our membership as possible: these issues affect us all, and so we all need to give them some thought.

The other important thing to say is that this is an evolving area, and our work here is certainly at an evolutionary stage! The consultation paper we've put together is exactly that - it's for consultation with our members and the wider public. It poses a number of specific questions, and we are genuinely eager to hear people's views so that we can use them and reflect them.

Ultimately of course, consultations work best when people actually respond, so I would urge as many of you as possible to read the paper, and respond, ahead of the extended deadline of 31st January 2007.

Another organisation looking for contributions from practitioners is Euprera, a group of leading researchers from universities and institutions across more than 30 countries. Its EuroBlog 2007 initiative is trying to establish what impact weblogs and social software are having on public relations and communications practice. Last year's study found that although many PR professionals were embracing the new media, a significant number failed to see any business or organisational advantage.

Social media must be ethical

If you were at the CIPR annual conference recently you'll be aware that we are looking to update our Code of Conduct to take account of new developments such as blogging - and my announcement of this and other changes to the Code has already generated some debate in the pages of PRWeek.

Our profession is changing constantly, growing in ways that many of us could not have predicted when we first began our careers. One of those growths is in social media, the rise of which is sustained and significant.

Social media opens up new opportunities, but also (as so often in life!) new challenges and problems. In particular, it raises questions of how PR practitioners should engage with this - how we should ensure that those new problems are avoided, and that we act according to the high standards of ethics set out in our Code of Conduct.

Beefing up our watchdog role

I wrote my last post about China and my hope that their burgeoning PR sector will more closely align its working practices with us in the West.

As our industry becomes increasingly global, it's important that clients, consumers and other stakeholders know what to expect from us and that we are all playing by the same rules. That's why I have been so supportive of the great work being done by the Global Alliance during recent meetings I've had with foreign PR associations.

But we can't afford to rest our on our laurels, and the CIPR Executive Board and the Council are making some changes to the Code of Conduct which will ensure it better meets the needs of the profession.

Television without frontiers

The EU's Television Without Frontiers Directive doesn't sound like anything terribly exciting. But as reported in The Times earlier this week it's something which should concern anyone in the business of communications - particularly those of us who blog and want to incorporate video or even audio.

The British Government is on the case, but I believe it's too important for us to just leave to politicians and bureaucrats to reach a wishy washy compromise on. CIPR director general Colin Farrington had a letter published in The Times yesterday and it needs a concerted effort by us all to kick this ridiculous proposed legislation into touch.

A magazine on your laptop

The frequency of our member magazine Profile is a regular subject of debate around the St James's Square HQ. Those of my generation and older often like a magazine you can pick up, read when you have an odd few minutes at work or alternatively put in your bag to take home with you.

But producing this sort of publication, and getting enough advertising support to make it break even, is not easy. Profile Extra is an e-zine intended to fill the gaps between issues of the hard copy and has won a loyal following since it was introduced. And to be honest in this day and age a 'magazine' on your laptop is almost as portable as the real thing.

Spotted a couple of interesting articles recently on Profile Extra. Averill Gordon, a lecturer on the PR course at the University of Gloucestershire, writes about how students are responding to the rise of social media - they are already thinking about the trends online and what this means for those working in PR.