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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

Tips for perfecting your PR Strategy

Your PR strategy must be well planned and effectively implemented to ensure your organisations objectives are met. Gaining stakeholder buy-in, maintaining consistent messaging using a range of communication channels, and ongoing measurement and evaluation are just some of the essential ingredients for the ‘perfect’ PR strategy.

Below is a Public Relations Strategy, step-by-step approach - produced by Di Burton FCIPR, CIPR Approved Trainer.

• Look at the bigger picture
• What can PR do?
• Where do we need to be?
• What is the rational?
• Who do we need to talk to?
• What are our core messages?
• How do we get there – tactics?
• Getting the timing right
• Remember the budget parameters
• Measurement and evaluation 

Further information on this guide can be found in the members area of the CIPR website. If you are a CIPR member, log in at  www.cipr.co.uk/member_area/members.asp to read more.

If you’re working in corporate communications, public affairs or public relations, the CIPR one-day ‘Perfecting PR Strategy’ conference has been designed with you in mind.  Throughout this conference you will gain an insight into the experiences and knowledge of a range of speakers - all experts in their fields.

Topics covered include:

• Planning and implementing a PR strategy
• Find out how to create maximum impact on minimum budget
• Hear how to measure and evaluate your strategy
• Examine best practice in communicating change
• Look at the use and impact of new media channels

This conference will end with an hour-long ‘strategy clinic’. During this session you will hear from a panel of leading strategists, from a range of sectors, and hear their thoughts on what makes a successful PR strategy.  If you have any questions, put them to the panel for expert answers.

Further information and details on how to book can be found at www.cipr.co.uk/strategy or contact Eloise West by email at  EloiseW@cipr.co.uk or telephone 020 7766 3349.

Eloise West, conference organiser

Excellence Awards - the recognition you deserve

The Excellence Awards are simple to enter and whatever sector you are in, there will be a category that your achievements fit into. From Best Event to Best Website, Not-for-Profit or Public Affairs campaign – these are just four of 28 categories.

The CIPR Excellence Awards (Originally known as the IPR Sword of Excellence Awards) have been recognising excellence in PR & communications for over 20 years. The number of entries we receive grows year-on-year, and the standard of those entries is impressively high. Find out more about the 2008 Excellence Awards at www.cipr.co.uk/excellence

Boost your team morale

So why enter? In an article first published in Personnel Today magazine, Christine Cryne, then CEO at the Charted Institute of Marketing, pointed out that the whole awards experience can be as enriching as a team night out or work party. “Awards are great. They recognise success, improve morale and provide a perfect opportunity to take the team out for a celebration.” Read more about awards and their positive impact on staff morale at http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2006/01/31/33651/everyones-a-winner.html

Enhance your reputation

Winning an award sets you apart from your competitors and is recognition for the great work you and your team do. Proud winners take away a trophy, a certificate for the office wall, and can add our ‘Winner’ or ‘Finalist’ logo to their website and email signatures. And for the runners-up, just to be a finalist is a huge achievement. Minus the trophy, the other benefits remain.

Talk through your possible entries

So if your brain is now swimming with ideas for entries, sit down with your colleagues and look at the campaigns you’ve managed in the last 12 months. Pinpoint what was special about them and then look at the categories you could enter them into. Maybe it’s your team or company you are especially proud of this year – or your newly promoted Account Director, whose achievements have seen them climb the company ladder in an astoundingly short time. The Individual & Team Awards categories allow for reward in all of these areas and more.

Find out how to make the grade – Judgement Day

Improve your chances of winning and come along to one of our Judgement Day evenings, which invite past and present Excellence Award judges to share their top tips – from the initial entry stage through to the panel interview.  Come and ask any questions you or your colleagues have and make your entry shine. 

Judgement Day will take place on two dates in February, Monday 4 February and Wednesday 13 February.  Drinks reception and networking at 6pm, followed by the presentation 6.30 – 8.00pm.
Book your place online at www.cipr.co.uk/judgementday

Closing date for entries is Friday 29 February. Good luck!

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

Tips and advice for creating your PR strategy

Top 10 strategy take-aways!

Speakers from Ketchum PR will be talking about Planning an Effective PR Strategy at the CIPR Perfecting PR Strategy 1–day conference on 24 September 2007. Here are their some examples from their 'Top 10 strategy take-aways':

1. Experience and instinct are important tools
2. Involve as many people as possible – avoid ivory towers
3. Strategy is always a choice – knowledge helps you make the best choice
4. Strategy is often invisible and silent – but don’t forget it is there
5. You’ll need a strategy to pick a strategy

Intrigued? Hear more on strategy planning, aswell as stakeholder buy-in and how to get value from branding. Or take part in one of the discussion groups – including crisis planning and more.

This conference is followed by drinks and networking in the CIPR Members’ Rooms.

With just over a week to go, book while you can! To secure your place visit: www.cipr.co.uk/strategy or contact HollyB@cipr.co.uk

And the winner is………..

This year’s CIPR Excellence Awards 2007 took place last night, and an great party was had by all.  PR and communications professionals from across the UK and overseas came together at The Honourable Artillery Gardens in London for the CIPR’s top event, with everyone hoping for a win! 

The night kicked off in style with champagne and networking, then guests were guided through the evening by the National Lottery’s ‘Voice of God’.  After dinner, it was down to the serious stuff with BBC News presenter, Stephen Sackur, compèring the evening, and our sponsors announcing winners in all 27 categories.

There was a great buzz to the ceremony as short listed guests waited for the names to be announced.  The first winner of the night was Hill & Knowlton: HSBC – with their campaign on ‘The future of retirement: what the world wants’, in the Corporate Communications category.  Judges said it was a ‘truly awesome integrated global campaign, which achieved exceptional, precisely measured results in terms of media coverage and message penetration.’

A new category for 2007 was Best use of new media, which DSG International won with their: Introducing the tech guys.  One of the most competitive categories, usually with the highest number of entrants, is Media Relations, which saw Brahm PR bringing home the prize for their Football Fever Report (for Littlewoods Football Pools).

The highly regarded Outstanding Young Communicator award went to Karen Mignon from Lansons Communications, who impressively worked her way up from account assistant to account director and equity partner at Lansons in five years.  Inspiring!

The final award of the evening – Outstanding Public Relations Consultancy, went to the London Communications Agency.  Congratulations all round  - to the winners and to everyone who was short listed.  A real achievement.  Then the night really got hot with dancing to a great disco, more networking, and a crowded casino tables. 

We all had a great (and busy) night, as did the guests who said ‘It was slick and ran very smoothly’.  If you want to find out more about the Excellence Awards, or you are interested in  entering next year, go to: www.cipr.co.uk/excellence.  You can also view photos of the evening there.

Time management advice to help you avoid desk stress

Did you know that Britons work the longest hours in Europe? Hard work and long hours aren’t always enough to you keep on top of your ‘to do’ list, and if your workload becomes excessive, you may get stressed and start to feel out of control. 

If you feel like this then you’re not alone! You might be interested to know that the average employee works seven hours overtime per week, and more than 50% of people say they find it hard to cope with the pressure of work. (Figures from TUC).

Help is at hand! The CIPR is running ‘Time out!’ - a Freshly Squeezed breakfast briefing, on 26 June 2007. The session will provide you with some simple time management techniques that will help you to manage your workload more effectively – helping you achieve more with less stress!

Here are some top time management tips to keep you going until the session:

1. Keep your desk neat to help you achieve more - you’ll be less likely to suffer from desk stress
2. Control the telephone
3. You need to learn to set your priorities
4. Don’t bite off more than you can chew – know your limits
5. Try to limit your drop-in visits
6. Stop procrastinating!

By Gray Rollins, a featured writer for TimesManagements – www.timesmanagements.com

Book your Freshly Squeezed places online at www.cipr.co.uk/fresh Tickets cost £42 + VAT for CIPR members and £52 + VAT for non-members.  All events begin at 8.30am and finish at 9.45am and include a continental breakfast.

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). 

Inside Information conference is a hit!

Yesterday we held our annual internal communications conference here at the CIPR for  professionals in the industry.  Delegates learnt ‘New skills and the confidence to use existing skills’ through the ‘inspirational words’ of the day.

Liam FitzPatrick FCIPR from Competent Communicators led the day and included an interactive networking game with delegates to kick start the morning!  Keynote speaker was Robert Johnson from COI Strategic Consultancy who spoke about Key Issues in managing internal PR.  Next saw John Drummond, bringing delegates first hand knowledge on Corporate responsibility from the inside out based on his experiences at Corporate Culture.

Westminster City Council’s Paul Middleton updated the group with What’s new in internal communications, which was followed by practical pointers on digital tools for internal communicators from Russell Goldsmith at markettiers4DC - a brand new topic introduced to the conference due to much demand! 

Paul Hewitt from Ogam Marketing discussed the important need for measuring and evaluating internal branding, which many delegates were able to identify with and picked up new skills.  After networking over a short break, Natasha Tobin from the Cabinet Office kept up this theme by presenting on Working the network – so important for us in PR! 

Rounding up the conference was Russell Grossman MCIPR, Head of Internal & Change Communications at HM Revenue & Customs, who presented a dynamic and very popular case study on change and impact in internal communications.  He touched on topics such as Identifying the need for change and overcoming them, and also gave out several Top tips to cope with change and impact.  These tips proved really valuable to the delegates, who called them ‘excellent’ and ‘inspirational’ - so come and hear them yourself at our next Internal Communications conference on 22 October 2007. 

For more information, visit www.cipr.co.uk/internalcomms

If you would like to experience one of our conferences for yourself, then please do come along to the next one - Fresh Thinking: Media on Monday 30 April.  This conference looks at current media topics like podcasting, blogging, wikis, RSS and more, via workshops, case studies and panel discussions.  If you have up to three years’ experience in PR and communications, and want to keep up-to-date with the latest media technology, tools and techniques then come along and Freshen up!  To find out more and to book online visit: www.cipr.co.uk/mediaconference

Squeeze in some training...

The 2007 Freshly Squeezed programme kicked-off on Tuesday 3 April with ‘Top Communicator’, presented by the winner of the 'Young Communicator 2006' Thames & Chiltern CIPR PRide Award, Louise Lloyd of Cirkle Communications. During this session, delegates were provided with plenty of helpful tips and advice on how they too can be a great communicator and follow in Louise's footsteps!

Louise shared lots of tips for PR sucess with the Freshly Squeezed audience. These are the top five skills and qualities that helped her progress in PR:

• Creativity
• Proactivity
• Relationship building
• Tenacity
• Passion for PR

Louise's final word was that you should not be afraid to 'PR yourself'. Send good coverage around and raise it at team meetings, and if a client sends you a note praising your work - share it! PR for yourself along with a determination to succeed will help you move on up the PR career ladder.

If you missed out on this first session of the new Freshly Squeezed series - don’t panic!  There are another 23 sessions in this programme, covering a host of topics including writing press releases, dealing with stress and time management, and evaluating the use of social media. 

Here’s a taster of what’s to come during the next few weeks….

Overcome your nerves and discover all you need to know to be a clear and concise speaker at ‘Speaking out!’ on Wednesday 18 April.

Is it time you stopped being a technophobe? Learn how to set-up, maintain and promote your blog at ‘Building blogs’ on Tuesday 24 April.

Find out how your campaigns can reach a more diverse audience, at ‘Dealing with diversity’ on Tuesday 15 May.                                                                                                                   

To view the full programme, visit www.cipr.co.uk/fresh