activevents

PAUL WINNER ART EXHIBITON FOR CHARITIES

Having set up two PR firms, stood for Parliament four times, been a Magistrate for 25 years, and served on numerous political, business and charitable committees, Paul carries his sketching materials and watercolours wherever he goes.  As a result, he has an extraordinary collection of sketch books, paintings, drawings and prints, chronicling the places he has visited and the personalities he has encountered.

"My fingers begin to tingle when I see the right combination of composition, colour and light...I just can't resist it".

A selection of his watercolours and prints are on sale at an exhibition open to the public, at the CIPR Public Relations Centre, 32 St James’s Square, until the end of January 2007.   The proceeds will be divided between The Guild of PR Practitioners Charitable Trust and the Council of Christians & Jews.   CIPR Members are eligible for a 15% discount on all purchases.

For more information on Paul and his paintings, visit www.paulwinnerart.co.uk 

Talking about… the Business of Diversity

The first CIPR conference dedicated to Diversity took place yesterday afternoon. A resounding success, delegates were eager to hear about how to enhance their communications skills in an increasingly diverse UK.  They were also given exclusive insight into the new CIPR ‘The Business of Diversity’ report, launched at the conference.

Wide range of speakers

Chris Genasi, Chair of the CIPR Diversity programme and Past President, kicked off by setting the scene and talking about the report, which focuses on diversity in the PR industry.

Guest speaker Zena Martin from Acknowledge Communications, who worked in the US PR industry before coming to London, enlightened the audience with some great parallels between multi-cultural communication practice in the US and Great Britain. It was stimulating to have this international approach and learn from some experiences already in place.

Transport for London’s Paul Mylrea delighted delegates with anecdotes about the ethnic media strategy of their busy press office, dealing with a city where more the 300 languages are spoken. Paul also presented a brand new TfL ethnic minority internship scheme which they launched at the conference and which the CIPR proudly supports.

After coffee, conference delegates heard from Rakhee Vithlani at Weber Shandwick about their recently launched Multi-Cultural Communication division in the London office, and how it operates. Key tips on how to handle multi-cultural communication schemes were highlighted and discussion centred on the market for similar organisations.

The presentation from Kate Nash from the Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation (RADAR) changed the tone and was a key moment in understanding how to engage with disabled people. Kate explained the various meanings of disability, talked about market opportunities amongst disabled people, and the way PR practitioners should communicate with this audience.

The conference closed with a presentation from Helene Martin Gee from recruitment company Hays. She highlighted the many benefits of having a diverse workforce and how to find suitable staff, as well as commenting on examples of what to do ‘when things go wrong’ with diversity policies.

A lively networking session followed the conference with speakers and delegates exchanging ideas and contacts.  More information on this and other CIPR conferences can be found at www.cipr.co.uk/training

What the delegates thought...

“We fitted a lot into the afternoon”

“It made me consider things I hadn't thought of before”

“I gained an insight into how much needs to be done in our workplace”

The Business of Diversity is available for CIPR members to download from the Member Area of the website. Non members can purchase the report for £50+VAT - visit the publications section for more information.

Selected presentations from the conference are available on the Diversity Matters website, which contains information and resources on diversity in the PR industry.

CIPR’s first Media conference will not be the last!

The first ever Media conference took place yesterday with a room full of eager delegates and expert speakers in their fields the day proved to be a roaring success. The conference was a great mix of interaction, group work, traditional media and new media.

Expert speakers shared their expertise

Justin Hayward and Sam Stokes from MS&L began the conference with ‘Selling-in you stories’ playing a game of network bingo. Justin, Head of Technology & Telecommunications, went on to discuss the rapid changes in media and recognising ways to remain relevant as more consumers turned to the web as an information resource. This interactive session discussed successful and unsuccessful sell-ins and the importance of researching publications before getting them published. Account Manager Sam, followed with an MS&L case study.

Annie Noble from Noble Ink used her extensive experience to give a clear understanding of exactly what journalists/publications want from PR professionals. The outcome of her quiz shockingly revealed that journalists consider 40% of press releases to be badly written. Caroline Saunders from Inferno Communications, described by one delegate as ‘a fresh of breath air’, discussed new ways to target journalists and reviewed the success of how one of her campaigns helped the client develop a reputation as specialists in the industry.

Our afternoon began with our highly popular new media topics. Delegates soaked up information from the extremely knowledgeable Ian McNairn, Program Director of Web Technology & Innovation at IBM. He introduced new ways to present and share information using new technologies, blogs, podcasts, wikis, RSS and VideoCasts. This ‘eye opening’ session provided a lesson into the many possibilities for PR professional to adopt new media and business practices. Jude Habib followed with a case study laden with audio clips and her expert knowledge of using podcasting as a low-cost and accessible method of presenting information. She showed how sound could prove more powerful than words with planning being key to strong content and context.

A lively panel discussion on new media and how it’s impacting PR’ ended the conference. With Guy Ruddle from The Daily Telegraph, Katy Howell from Immediate Future and Paul Brannan from BBC News Website all agreeing that the internet had changed the way people consumed and search for news. They reflected on current changes to the industry concluding that “audiences have now become the creators, as well as the consumers of news content.”

As a result of the interest generated in the afternoon's discussions and debate around "new" media and its use, the CIPR will be holding a dedicated New Media conference early in 2007, repeated later in the year.

What the delegates thought 

“It was useful to hear experience of other delegates. Good mix of PR & journalist perspectives from speakers”

“The panel discussion was thought provoking”

“The morning session was a great reminder on content. A wealth of knowledge about new media and loads of follow up information and websites”

For more information about the "Read all about it" Media conference you can visit www.cipr.co.uk/mediaconference.  Other CIPR events and information are listed on www.cipr.co.uk also.

Do celebrities still have strong pulling power in PR?

Does the use of famous names still have the power to attract the public to events and causes, or have we over-used them, and is their power diluted by B lists and scandals?  Love them or hate them, celebrities are still sought after to help promote new products, launch events or attract clients to a new venue.

The general public may be more sceptical and also more sophisticated, but they still show a strong allegiance to glamorous names and star-studded events.  Even Queen Victoria endorsed a number of patent medicines, which led to the system of royal warrants.  And where would the fashion industry be without film stars and  international models wearing the new season’s garments?

But the risks associated with the use of celebrities can be huge and there are many tales of endorsements that flopped when the high profile “name” was seen to be using an opposition’s product, or when inordinately demanding celebrities caused the budget to run into overspend on an event.

At the National Conference on 8 November, Paula Cummings from World Vision will be talking on this very topic and advising how to select the best celebrity for the job to be done, and what to expect of them in return for their endorsement.  She will also relate some stories of what can go wrong – and how to handle problems, should they arise. 

Paula has led press trips with celebrities, TV crews and journalists to Uganda, Zambia, Mozambique, Kenya, Thailand, Vietnam and Armenia during her career.  These have resulted in several national features and prime-time documentaries in the media, so she has plenty of experience to back up her advice.

To find out more about this and other topics being discussed at the CIPR’s National Conference, please visit www.cipr.co.uk/conference

CIPR’s second Fresh Thinking conference proves equally successful!

Our second Fresh Thinking conference took place yesterday and was a hit with the 51 delegates who were looking to improve their PR knowledge and skills. Each topic gave an insight into different parts of PR with examples, advice and plenty of time for questions.

Knowledge and experience shared from those in the know

Nicky Young from salt Communications was first up, giving delegates insight into organising and presenting their first campaign. Being a finalist for Young Communicator of the year at the CIPR Excellence Awards she didn’t disappoint. Her presentation gave key points and she used client Manpower as a cases study.

Caroline Black (far left) gave a great presentation about delivering a perfect press release. Her handouts (real examples) highlighted the good, the bad and the ugly of releases and she took a close look at proven techniques for producing effective press releases.   She was followed by Peter Roberts from BBC News, who talked about improving your success rate when selling-in to the media. He gave advice about planning, what journalists want from PR professionals and common pitfalls.

Head of PR for IncrediBull Ideas, Emma Nicholson, gave a very popular presentation on ‘Thinking outside the box’, which drew delegates into an inspirational and insightful discussion on being creative PR professionals.

The last two speakers were very different - Tim Johnson from Regester Larkin talked about preventing a  crisis from becoming a PR catastrophe and gave advice on having a preparedness process.  Finally, Adrian Chitty gave some really useful tips on networking. He put his presentation into action by staying around for post-conference drinks and encouraging delegates to network with one another using his techniques - both fun and interesting.

What the delegates thought:

“I enjoyed the conference and feel that I will be taking a lot away with me. Food was great too.”                   

“Lots of useful information and insights”

If you would like to know more about the topics covered at this conference, or on upcoming events and conferences planned at the CIPR, please visit www.cipr.co.uk/training.

Fresh logic: Breakfast time training

Ever wondered why we seem to remember more in the mornings? What happens during the course of the day that changes the way we remember things?

If you hear a song on the TV or radio when you wake up in the morning, you probably find it keeps popping into your head all day long.

Here are a few reasons why we cannot remember things so well later on in the day:

Attention – we get sleepy as the day progresses
Energy – our energy levels decline as the day goes on
Chemicals – there is a chemical in your brain called Adenosine

The level of Adenosine in your brain increases throughout the day - making you sleepy! It turns out that this increase occurs in the part of the brain that is directly linked to our memory. This is why our brain stores that really annoying song we hear on our way to work and not the one we hear in the evening.

Make the most of your morning memory and come along to a CIPR Freshly Squeezed breakfast briefing.

These early morning hour long presentations are packed full of tips and techniques, providing you with food for thought at the time of day when your brain retains information the best.

Take a look at the Freshly Squeezed programme and book online at www.cipr.co.uk/fresh The series features a range of topics from Evaluating great ideas to Painless presentations, Negotiating skills and Podcasting.

Tickets cost £40+Vat for CIPR members and £50+Vat for non-members. All events begin at 8.30am with registration and a continental breakfast and finish at 9.45am.

For further information, please email EloiseW@cipr.co.uk