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Welcome to the CIPR – start making use of your benefits!

We recently launched a new membership campaign in conjunction with CIPR’s 60^th anniversary celebrations and in the last couple of months we have had many new members on board – a warm welcome to all of our new additions.

The campaign centred on encouraging our existing CIPR members to be proud of their membership and share the extensive list of benefits they are enjoying with the industry:

-          Strong professional recognition

-          Excellent networking opportunities

-          Great career and business development support

-          Highly practical and informative training programmes

The list goes on…

http://www.cipr.co.uk/membership/index.htm

Join us?

The benefits of CIPR membership is evident. The current CIPR President, Elisabeth Lewis-Jones FCIPR, wrote a real-life blog entry on how the CIPR membership has helped her career advancement and business development. As they say, membership has its privileges. Find out for yourself at http://prvoice.typepad.com/pr_voice/2008/01/signing-on-the.html#more

Get started…

Clearly, one of the most practical and useful benefits is the privilege of having a discounted rate for all CIPR events and training programmes.

* Workshops

If you are new to the CIPR or, in particular, to the PR industry, the 2-day workshop on ‘Introduction to PR’ we organised this week and on 15/16 July will be a good start for you. This basic level workshop will introduce you to the role and scope of PR, giving you a good overview of the industry. www.cipr.co.uk/workshops

* Breakfast briefings

For those with less than 3 years of PR experience, you may like to grab the chance to book yourself onto the last few Freshly Squeezed briefings for the Spring/ Summer series. The good news is that the Autumn/Winter series is also up online and open for booking now. Find out more and book your places today at www.cipr.co.uk/fresh

* In-house training

Last but not least, we have a team of creative Training Development Officers at the CIPR who can customise any training programme to suit your needs. Email JankaS@cipr.co.uk to find out more.

See you!

Oh yes, don’t forget to make use of the opportunity to check out the CIPR’s exquisite building and its excellent facilities if you are here for any of these training events. I look forward to see you around!

For further information on training and development, please visit www.cipr.co.uk/training

Choo-Li Tan, Training Development Officer

Fresh season…Fresh trainings…Fresh ideas!

This must be one of the busier weeks for CIPR’s popular Freshly Squeezed breakfast briefings series - we ran three sessions, namely ‘Celebrity brands’ (London), ‘Impressive press releases’ (Scotland) and ‘Loosen tight deadlines’ (London) all in one week!

With 24 sessions organised in London and 8 in Scotland this year, there is no doubt that the Freshly Squeezed programme is gaining popularity (and not just in London and Scotland). We are currently exploring the feasibility of organising this programme in other regions after we have received some indication of interests from our members. So before you know it, you may see a Freshly Squeezed session come to your region very soon.

The idea of having this series of breakfast briefing is to allow time-conscious PR practitioners to take an hour out in the morning to catch up on topical issues or for some, to take stock of what they are doing and should do. I chanced upon this interesting website,  http://if.psfk.com/if/if_by_discipline/public_relations/ that shares creative PR campaign examples and tips. This is particularly useful for those in the PR or communications industry, as they have to constantly come up with new angles, stories and campaigns that are newsworthy.

Summer is almost here and I am sure this is the best chance for you to get out of the office for some fresh air and training (and fresh ideas of course!). Who knows, you might benefit from the networking opportunity with delegates from various PR sectors and clinch a potential deal from there. Check out and book the up-coming sessions on reputation management, audience segmentation and green issues at www.cipr.co.uk/fresh

Why not also Inject a ‘boost’ of creative juice to your brain at the half-day highly practical ‘Creativity work-out’ Masterclass on 16 June. www.cipr.co.uk/masterclass 

If you still find it difficult to find time to get out of office, you can trust our resourceful Training Development team at the CIPR to tailor a training programme that will bring the fresh ideas you need, right to your doorstep. Email JankaS@cipr.co.uk to find out more.

For further information on training and development, please visit www.cipr.co.uk/training

Choo-Li Tan, Training Development Officer

Be a Master of ‘New Media’ technologies…

The third ‘sold-out’ session on ‘New Media for Old Hands – Have you been left behind?’ Masterclass, was held this Thursday and again, it was a resounding success and received extremely positive feedback from delegates who attended and benefited.

Amongst the group of ‘old hands’ who are keen to keep up with the younger generation and also learn about the latest technology is Masterclass delegate, Mark Clare, FCIPR FRSA, Managing Director of Clear CMS Ltd. Mark attended the first session of this new masterclass series and found it particularly enjoyable and useful to his work:

“Incidentally, this course was really very good, Neville is one of the best trainers I have had the pleasure to listen to and he really does seem to be totally on top of his subject – would really recommend to others“

With a current waiting list on hand, these popular sessions are certain to make a comeback in Autumn/Winter. So, keep a look out for the new date at www.cipr.co.uk/masterclass and you too, can become a master of the New Media technologies!

Increasingly, top management people have used their blogs as a media tool to reach out to their fellow-colleagues and business customers. Many CEOs of multinationals such as Jonathan Schwartz of Sun Microsystems (http://blogs.sun.com/jonathan/), have earned a cult following and become media celebrities as a result of their blogs. The CIPR 'How to Blog’ Masterclass on 7 July would be a very good follow-up for those who had attended the previous New Media sessions and/or aspire to use blogging as a PR tool for their PR campaign.

A full day basic level ‘Introduction to Social Media’ workshop on 19 June is also available at the CIPR for ‘new hands’ who are relatively new to the industry and/or anyone who would like to gain a complete overview of the subject. www.cipr.co.uk/workshops

Above all, if you are looking for something that provides a snappy insight into the New Media topics but are hard-pressed for time, the Freshly Squeezed ‘New Media Communications’ breakfast briefing on 17 June in London and 28 October in Scotland, will be the ideal training for you. www.cipr.co.uk/fresh

For further information on training and development, please visit www.cipr.co.uk/training

Choo-Li Tan, Training Development Officer

Develop your skills in the New Year

Another year has passed so quickly. Have you set your New Year resolution and did you achieve your goals last year? Needless to say, you should have realised that the most difficult part about goal setting is having the determination to stay committed. One useful and realistic goal that you can set this year is to embark on some training programmes to upgrade your skills.

For a start, you can take a look at the new 2008 CIPR Spring/Summer training programme online at www.cipr.co.uk/training, which is a comprehensive training programme covering a wide range of fundamental topics such as ‘Creativity in PR’, ‘Brand marketing in PR campaigns’ and ‘PR on a low budget’.

Do not fret if time has always been a deterrent to your development progress as the brand new series of ‘Freshly Squeezed’ breakfast briefings will return in April, to provide all the essential bite-size training you need. Alternatively, you may wish to take a day off to learn how to better manage your time at the new ‘Effective time & stress management’ workshop in our Personal Development category.

Looking at the ‘Trends to watch in 2008’ from the Advertising Age online web page at http://adage.com/article?article_id=122609 , the year ahead certainly looks challenging. New media opportunities will continue to grow and it's vital that practitioners know how to use these new channels. Don’t miss the CIPR ‘Introduction to Social Media’ workshop if you are looking to upgrade your knowledge and skills.

To help you stay ahead of the industry, you will be delighted to know that the CIPR has launched a new series of highly practical masterclasses that focus on providing you with information, advice and solutions to a range of hot topics including ‘New Media for old hands – have you been left behind?’ and ‘Managing your PR career’. More information can be found at http://www.cipr.co.uk/masterclass/

What’s more, there is an increased number of workshops taking place in Scotland, Leeds and Birmingham this Spring - www.cipr.co.uk/workshops So living outside of London poses no problem.

For further information on training and development, please visit www.cipr.co.uk/training

Choo-Li Tan, CIPR Training Development Officer

Media debate sparks heated discussion

Last Monday we held our Fresh Thinking: Media conference here, which invited delegates to freshen up and find out more about the latest technologies and what’s what in the world of media.  Up-to-date info on blogging, podcasting, wikis, RSS and other media tools were explained throughout the day to keep ahead in the office!

Topics included How to set up your own blog from blogging expert Simon Collister of Green Communications, Practical podcasting with some great examples from Jude Habib on the effectiveness of sound communication.  Rob Brown spoke on Outside the traditional box, which the delegates found ‘extremely informative’ and enjoyed his examples and overview.

The highlight of the conference was the exciting panel discussion on Combining all media tools and techniques for that winning campaign.  Three very different points of view were put forward, which made for a great debate. 

Alex Brown, Communications Manager from Fast Track, kicked off by explaining his support for traditional media.  He spoke of how good old fashioned media like the press, still represents the truth better and has a loyalty and trust that new media does not and cannot have.

Next saw Katy Howell, Immediate Future’s Managing Director, put an impressive argument forward for ‘New Media’ or social media as she prefers to call it.  As she pointed out, whether you like it or not, this burgeoning area cannot be ignored as it is now everywhere. Positives for PR practitioners include the convenience and accessibility of online media, plus the many options available to monitor results / public trends.

Finally Howard Kosky, Managing Director at markettiers4DC put his point across for TV, Radio & Online, using his first hand experience.  He stresed that these mediums give us choice on which media we want to consume and when, for example how our choice of radio station reflects what type of person we are/our tastes.

Then the debate was opened up to the floor, with some interesting results.  Delegates put the panel team under the spotlight and quizzed them on issues such as, the necessity for blogging and its effectiveness.  Is the traditional press a generational thing that will die out?  Is Google genius or merely a popular brand which can actually be easily manipulated for searches?  All these questions and more invited much discussion and got everyone involved, and got the brains ticking!

If you would like to join us in the next heated debate and share your views, then come along to the second Fresh Thinking: Media conference on Monday 1 October. For more details visit: www.cipr.co.uk/mediaconference (there is a discount when you book on the Fresh Thinking: PR conference at the same time). 

WOW! What a great start to the 2007 conference season!

The delegates to the Fresh Thinking:PR 1-day conference were eager, inquisitive and highly complementary, the speakers were experts in their fields and equally impressed with the attendees.

It got off to an exciting start with Cherry Chappell MCIPR explaining how 56% of business is created through developing relationships, i.e. “Enriching your life at every level”. Each of us has a potential to develop a network of 2,000 contacts via various friends and acquaintances! The speed networking was a great end to the session, as delegates familiarised themselves with each other and made their own contacts!

Your first PR campaign was presented by Louise Mackintosh from Mantra PR, who explained how everything you do focuses on the communications you are having with your client. Be honest with your client and make sure you are very clear on budget and evaluating properly! Julie-Ann Ryan MCIPR presented a session on the ‘perfect press release’ and started off by explaining that all journalists are not monsters – but, if not dealt with efficiently you can make them turn into one!! As a former journalist she was able to provide delegates with a helpful list of hints and tips.

Richard Parkinson ACIPR gave a fantastic and hugely popular presentation on getting your creative juices flowing even without a huge budget. He began his session by directly involving the audience, asking if anyone had any ‘creative’ dilemmas with outstanding results. His top tip was that no idea is a bad idea and creativity differentiates the truly successful companies from the rest.

Events Manager Johnnie Gates MCIPR from Coca Cola gave a jam packed presentation with lots of tips and tricks when organising a successful event. His own account of a highly successful ‘Soccormagic’ event, gave an amazing account of a football tournament with 100 celebrities! Unbelievable!

Tim Johnson MCIPR from Regester Larkin gave a hugely interesting a very insightful talk on coping with a crisis. His advice to all PR practitioners is to always be prepared because it might just happen to you!

If you missed it, this conference is being repeated on Monday 11 September. To book visit, www.cipr.co.uk/conferences

Broaden your horizons in 2007

There is no better time than the New Year to set some career goals and invest time in your learning and development. According to career skills website, Mind Tools, goal setting is an important method of:

- Deciding what is important for you to achieve in your life
- Motivating yourself to achieve
- Building your self-confidence based on measured achievement of goals

Visit Mind Tools online at http://www.mindtools.com/page6.html for tips on setting SMART goals that will help you achieve more in your personal and professional life.

Once you’ve thought about the skills or knowledge gaps you want to fill this year, take a look at the CIPR Spring/Summer training programme online at www.cipr.co.uk/workshops

This comprehensive training programme runs from February – July and covers a wide range of topics at various levels, providing learning and development opportunities for practitioners at all stages of their careers.

From selling-in your stories, social media and planning PR campaigns, to effective networking, account management and psychology in PR – there really is something to meet even the most specific training needs.

What’s more - if you are not based in London - there are an increased number of workshops taking place in Scotland, Manchester and Birmingham this Spring… so if travelling to London makes training difficult, see what’s happening a little closer to home.

The CIPR is big on professional development and if you are a CIPR member, you may be participating in CPD - the CIPR’s professional development scheme – www.cipr.co.uk/cpd If you are signed up, did you know that attendance at a CIPR workshop counts as a valuable seven hours worth of CPD time!

If you are not a CIPR member – why not?! As a member, you’d make great savings on our training and events as well as receiving a host of other benefits.

For further information on training or membership, please visit www.cipr.co.uk