October 2012 Newsletter www.prisa.co.za Dear PRISA members In our October newsletter we are introducing a new section to our readers, PRCC Corner. In this new section the Public Relations Consultant Chapter members will share their experiences regarding the benefits and challenges of the public relations consulting industry with you. We also visited the Limpopo province's APRs and in our Trend section, Marisa Louw from Emlo Communication is writing about 'Putting the Relation back into Public Relations'. Feedback from the PRISA Board Silent communicators – the irony of a lack of engagement "The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place." George Bernard Shaw The above quote resembles the challenge faced by PRISA in its effort to regularly engage with its members. There are a number of touch points and communication channels through which PRISA engages with its members and various stakeholders, including:   Events (weekly, monthly, quarterly, annual) Breaking news – via email President's blog PRISA website Social media (Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin) Monthly eNewsletter Communika Through the above channels and touch points, PRISA strives to provide thought leadership content addressing various areas of public relations and communication management to help share best practices and encourage benchmarking. However, since June this year, we have learned that very few PRISA members proactively engage with PRISA using the above methods, besides simply attending events. The level of engagement and participation in other initiatives such as the blog on the PRISA website and commenting on articles in the eNewsletter, contributing on the various social media platforms, and writing articles for the Communika, looks very poor if you consider the fact that PRISA serves more than 1200 members. There are some active members, but percentage wise, this is very low. Even more astonishing is the fact that we are dealing with communicators. Individuals who are supposed to position various brands and promote them using various media. How can we be experts in corporate communication and strategic public relations when we ourselves cannot engage in robust debate about the very same discipline which we are supposed to lead? Why would we be taken seriously when we are such quiet and silent communicators? Do we have views and opinions about how our profession and industry should conduct itself? Do we have ideas about how the crisis in Marikana and other mining organisations can be handled from a communication perspective? As an active member of PRISA and a person who is passionate about communication, I am hugely surprised at the minimum level of activism by practitioners. From the PRISA leadership, we would like to extend an invitation to all members to start participating in PRISA activities. We are fully aware that everyone has commitments in the organisations that they serve – we all have a day job, however, most successful professionals across different industries are key opinion makers about their profession, standards, trends, best practices, just to name a few. We challenge you to rise to the occasion and join our community of communicators who have a voice. Add your views and share your expertise with your peers through PRISA's various platforms. Provide regular feedback to PRISA to ensure that we provide you with valuable benefits and simultaneously uplift professional standard. In the next newsletter, we hope to see comments, views and feedback from members. Visit the PRISA website, comment on our blog, submit an article to Communika, like us on Facebook, and follow us on @1PRISA. This profession is yours – take ownership for its direction. Spotlight on APRs A tale of two APRs in two cities When one thinks of public relations and communication in urban South Africa, more often one tends to think of two destinations, either the jostling concrete jungle of Johannesburg or the cool, carefree sophistication of cosmopolitan Cape Town. These two monolithic metropolises can obscure the existence of public relations in other provinces. Public relations professionals practice in every nook and cranny in this country, at times to an even higher standard than their big city counterparts. For example, the cases of this month's two APRs- Francois Prinsloo APR and Rufus Kharidzha APR - have made great strides in Free State and Limpopo respectively. read more Continuing Professional Development Programmes (CPD) Our 2013 CPD Programme is available. Click here for the programme and 2013 fee structure. During the month of October 2012 members can enroll in a number of workshops in Gauteng: Gauteng CPD Programmes:   Communication Strategy: 15 October The content of this workshop addresses:   How to develop a communication strategy    and a year plan A brief look at strategy and    strategic communication Developing an effective communication strategy What tools are available out there How do you select the relevant tools How do you measure your communication Institutionalising the strategic role of corporate    communication/public relations through its    contribution to enterprise strategy and    enterprise governance A template for developing a    communicationstrategy Developing a communication strategy Click here for more information   Creative Writing: 17 – 19 October This practical workshop covers:   writing effective media releases and feature articles the effectiveness of different writing styles layout and structure writing creative headlines and captions planning and staging your own media conference Click here for more information   Professional Event Management: 23 -24 October At the end of the workshop delegates will be able to:   Align events to the organisation's objectives Integrate your events in your    communication strategies Develop risk management plans Manage and quality assure your project Identify and manage your event logistics Manage the event budget Plan the communication and marketing    campaign for the event Assess and evaluate the event Click here for more information Measurement and Evaluation: 25 October Evaluation! Measurement! These are the buzz words of the communication management profession. This workshop will focus on the Barcelona Declaration of Measurement Principles. This is an internal standard and best practice in measurement principles. By attending this half-day workshop we will aim to workshop the seven principles and its alignment into your media campaign measurement and evaluation. Click here for more information Reputation Management: 26 October The workshop is designed to be interactive and to encourage participation. The following areas will be covered:   Introduction to reputation management and    defining the terms Some chief executives' views on reputation    management and the role of their    communication  practitioners The link between performance and reputation The reputation management cycle Six pillars of corporate reputation management The new role of public relations and    communication management The new threats to reputation: identifying them and    dealing with them The impact of the web: the nature of the beast What information and media to track and     how to do it Protecting your brand online Harnessing the social media The value of sound internal branding Reputation risk assessment and response Click here for more information To view a list of all our CPD Programmes for the rest of 2012, you can click here. Regions PRISA KZN Durban News Philani Mabaso (centre) Prince of publicity: PRISA's Philani Mabaso , chairman of the KwaZulu-Natal: Durban region collects the Durban University of Technology's "Newsmaker of the Year" award on behalf of his organisation, Amazulu Football Club. Amazulu FC is the second recipient of this award that recognises the most reported on news item in Durban for the applicable year. Events PRISA congratulates Loerie Award recipients in public relations category PRISA would like to extend its warmest congratulations to all the winners at the 34th Loerie awards in the category "Direct & PR Communication: Public Relations Communication Campaign". The entrants displayed creativity, effectiveness and superb execution in their campaigns and fully deserve their Gold, Silver and Bronze medals respectively. Congratulations to the following agencies: read more SPRA Conference The University of Johannesburg Student Public Relations Association's (SPRA) inaugural student conference will take place on 13 October 2012. The theme of the conference is the 'Rising era of progressive public relations - shift from tactical to strategic corporate function.' PRISA president, Tshepo Matseba APR and Professor Sonja Verwey, HOD of the department of strategic communication at the University, will open the conference as this will serve as the official launch of SPRA. For more information regarding the conference you can follow SPRA on twitter @spra_uj or email SPRA on spra.uj@gmail.com Global Alliance's upcoming International Conferences Global Alliance's upcoming International Conferences 2012 PRSA International Conference: The Future Starts now! San Francisco, California, United States (13 – 16 October) Stay on top of evolving technology when you join us on the front lines of change in the public relations industry. For more information visit: www.globalalliancepr.org The Holmes Report: Miami Beach, Florida, United States (30 – 31 October) The Holmes Report's first Global Public Relations Summit is a high-level event designed for senior practitioners to address the critical issues facing the profession and to celebrate the best public relations work from around the world. For more information visit: www.globalalliancepr.org Trends in Industry Putting the Relation back in Public Relations - by Marisa Louw Marisa Louw from Emlo Communications The public relations industry in general does not have a particularly good reputation with journalists. Shocking, to say the least, especially since public relations professionals promote reputation management as one of the services being provided to companies. read more Public relations consultancy chapter (PRCC) corner The Public Relations Consultants' Chapter of PRISA (PRCC) has been active since 1996. Companies are invited to become a part of this initiative to further the aims of the public relations consulting in southern Africa. PRCC Corner is one such platform where the industry professionals are sharing their knowledge with prospective and existing public relations professionals alike. This month Marie Yossava CPRP from Grapevine Communications and Marcus Brewster from marcusbrewster cc are sharing some tips with us. Marie Yossava, founder and owner of Grapevine Communications, looks at 'How to establish and maintain a satisfying and successful public relations career or consultancy' read more Marcus Brewster for marcusbrewster cc shares with us 'TEN public relations lessons learned from Life' read more If this sounds like something that you're keen to participate in, we'd love to hear from you. PRCC members can submit their articles to Susan Richardson at info@prisa.co.za. Tshepo's Blog Talk to Tshepo is your opportunity to share your views and opinions about YOUR PRISA with Tshepo. Until November, Adele Paulsen PRISA: Executive director Compiled by Helena van Wyk