| Dear PRISA members |
| As the year winds down, I thought it would be valuable to reflect on PRISA's incredible achievements at all levels in 2012. |
| One
of the initiatives that PRISA embarked on in 2012 was to engage
regularly with you, our members. The e-newsletter was introduced to you
and has grown from just covering Feedback from the Board, Regional news and CPD to focusing on our APRs, Trends in industry, Events, PRCC corner, and My PRISA. Your contributions, as members, have made and will continue to make this e-newsletter interesting and relevant. |
| Another initiative was to grow our social media platforms. We have opened a Twitter account @1PRISA, which has grown to over 250 followers. The PRISA Facebook page has grown to more than 1000 members. Tshepo's blog and the latest platform, PRISA's LinkedIn
group is also growing in membership.
We would like to encourage
you to join the activities and conversations on these various platforms. |
| PRISA's students' initiative included reaching out to students on a number of occasions:
We sponsored the Best student award
at the University of Free State (photo right) and formed a partnership
with Students' Public Relations Association (SPRA), the University of
Johannesburg's student body initiative. This initiative has stimulated
interest amongst students at Cape Peninsula University of Technology
(CPUT), University of Pretoria (UP) and Monash and they have formed
similar student forums at these institutions.
Through the year the PRISA
management team visited Higher Education Institutions to speak to
students to foster a culture of engaging with their professional body. |
 |
|
Adele Paulsen, PRISA Executive Director, presented to Candy Wu the
PRISA Award for The Top Corporate Communication Student of the Year,
University of Free State |
This
year saw record numbers of members participating in Continuing
Professional Development (CPD) workshops around the country. Members'
feedback on these workshops is important to us and we ensure that these
workshops add value to your everyday work.
Click here for the 2013 CPD programme. |
| During
the course of 2012, eight Chartered Public Relations Practitioners
(CPRP) became Accredited in Public Relations (APR) through the Accreditation Process. This was a growth point compared with 2011 which saw five new APRs.
|
| One
of PRISA's objectives for 2012 was to build closer relationships with
government communicators. PRISA entered into a partnership with
Government Communnication and Information System (GCIS), facilitating a
two-day academic symposium bringing together academics (national and
international), industry experts, media professionals, politicians and
government communicators. They discussed the skills, competencies and
qualities of an effective government communicator. |
 PRISA
has been working hard to ensure recognition of our professional body
and levels of registration and designations. All our hard work paid off
when South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA), on
29 November 2012,
recognised PRISA as the Professional Body for purposes of the NQF Act,
Act 67 of 2008. It also approved the registration of the following
designations on the NQF: Public Relations Practitioner (PRP), Chartered
Public Relations Practitioner (CPRP) and Accredited in Public Relations
(APR). |
| Jody
Cedras, Director: Registration and Recognitions, SAQA said: "I trust
that the PRISA recognition and the registration of your designations
will be of benefit for the Marketing and Communication sector as a
whole, to PRISA itself, and to the NQF (National Qualification
Framework) and will contribute to skills development and professional
service delivery in our country." |
| Not forgetting that as PRISA is a member of the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management (GA),
the APR designation is also recognised internationally by other members
of the GA and all other professional bodies affiliated to it. |
 I
am pleased to share with you information from the 7th World Public
Relations Forum, which I attended with Ronel Rensburg, Sylvia Collins,
Simoné Louw and Angela Barter. Here PRISA was part of the adoption of
the Melbourne Mandate,
a call to action of new areas of value for public relations and
communication management endorsed by almost 800 delegates from 29
countries. read more |
We
also attended the Association Leaders' Workshop held in Melbourne
before the World Public Relations Forum. The GA's primary objective
until 2014 is to increase the value of the GA to member associations.
Its strategic initiatives include: Raising standards, sharing knowledge,
advocacy for the profession and strengthening associations.
You are welcome to view the Global Alliance presentation of Daniel Tisch. Daniel Tisch is the current chairman for the GA. |
| Without your involvement and support, PRISA and the e-newsletter would not have been the success it is. I am deeply appreciative of all your
contributions and participation throughout the year. I think we have
done well in 2012, and we can look forward to a great year in 2013. |
|
As always, if you have any
suggestions or feedback about how we can improve the experience, please
let us know.
|
| Wishing you all the very best this festive season. |
