bledcom keynote: engaging as a community of public relations practice
TRANSCRIPT
1 | 18.04.2023July 2014 BledCom
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Bridging the gap between academia and practice as a hallmark of professionalism
Stephen Waddington@wadds | #bledcom2014
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My journey to BledCom
Source: IrishFlyGuy / Flickr
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My goal as CIPR President
Source: Chartered Institute of Public Relations
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Motivation: a 100 year old issue
Source: Press release, Ivy Lee (Wikipedia)
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Our opportunity
DigitalManagement consultancy
Public relations Advertising
Brand vs. stakeholder relationship
s
Source: Ketchum / Tomorrow's Company
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Issues facing the profession
Source: McKinsey and KPCB
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‘The restless practitioner’
Source: IPRA (accessed 1 July, 2014)
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Value of theory
“My own definition of theory is distilled wisdom, and I debunk the theory/practice divide to my first year students by explaining that every practitioner will have theories based on their own experience, but that research-based theory offers you the wisdom of many lifetimes, analysed and explained by researchers who are expert in doing just that.”
Mel Powell, Manchester Metropolitan University
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Mars vs. Venus
Source: Greenbanana, Heather Yaxley (accessed 30 June, 2014) / Headline attributed to Prof. Dr. Bettre Van Ruler (Various)
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Critical thinking
“One of the problems is too many public relations practitioners have the wrong expectations and understanding of how public relations is taught at universities and therefore inevitably end up disappointed.”
“Encouraging students to develop critical thinking and understanding will be far more useful in the long term to them as individuals, their future employers and the public relations profession as a whole.”
Stuart Bruce, international public relations adviser and trainer
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Other professional disciplines
“Most - if not all - of the major professions develop through a very close, symbiotic relationship between practitioners and academics/academia.” “The obvious ones are medicine, engineering, and the law where a 'holy triumvirate' between practice, governing bodies and academics seem to operate.”
Simon Collister, University of Arts, London
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Ambition for public relations
Source: 2014 Ketchum Leadership Communication Monitor (KLCM)
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Mutual respect
Source: Dutch artist, c 1500 - Morgan Library (Wikipedia)
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Share thinking
Source: PR Conversations (accessed 30 June 2014) / Toni Muzi Falconi
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Applied research
“There is almost no interest or engagement with research and no investment. Compared with the US, Canada and Germany, where there is continuing investment directly in universities and in groups like the Institute for Public Relations, the UK shows little initiative or interest.” Professor Tom Watson, University of Bournemouth
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Developing learning
Source: #EBookInADay project, Solent University, UK
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Conversion to practice
Source: Ketchum internship and graduate programme
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Residences
Source: Ketchum , Moscow
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Guest lecturing
Source: NEMO 2014
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Professional journey
“Anne Gregory and Paul Willis's Strategic Public Relations Leadership […] draws on practitioner examples to inform the thinking, and digests academic insights in a useful format for practitioners.”
“If only more academics would ditch conventions like Harvard referencing it would prevent them writing only for their peers and encourage them to communicate more widely.” Richard Bailey, University of the West of England
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What now?
Engage as a single community of practice
Be generous and share work as widely as possible
Exploit opportunities for joint endeavours
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Thanks to the following people for contributions to this discussion:
Stuart Bruce, international public relations adviser and trainer
Richard Bailey, University of the West of England
Simon Collister, Sarah Williams and Sarah Roberts-Bowman, University of Arts, London
Liz Bridgen, Senior Lecturer, De Montfort University
Dr Jacquie L’Etang, Queen Margaret University
Jason Mackenzie, Birmingham City University
David Phillips, Escola Superior de Comunicação Social
Mel Powell, Manchester Metropolitan University
Dr Mandy Powell, Queen Margaret University
Dr Catherine Sweet, Solent University
Dr Jon White, University of Cardiff and University of Reading
Tom Watson, University of Bournemouth
Heather Yaxley, independent academic, educator, author and thinker
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Stephen WaddingtonKetchum+44 (0) 7771 851407
wadds.co.uk@wadds
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