Paul Gillin was probably responsible for my moving back East some 20 years ago. He'd authored a critical article about Lotus just when they were looking for a new VP of Corp. Com. During the interview they showed me the article and asked what I'd do about it. I haven't a clue what I said but it must have impressed someone since I three weeks later I was unpacking my suitcase, having moved 3000 miles across the country. Paul was then, and still is a stellar reporter and a great writer. He's writing a book and his chapter on the blogosphere is one of the best I've ever read..


Katie,
About 20 years ago, my colleague Larry Long and I defined public relations as "the communication function of management through which organizations adapt to, alter, or maintain their environment for the purpose of acheiving organizational goals" in an article in Public Relations Review.
If public relations doesn't help organizations get to where they need to be, then what is the point? This is also why public relations needs to be at the management table. Some goals are bad ideas and some are unacheivable. Quite frequently it is the information (research) that public relations brings to the table that allows good organizations to identify realistic and acheiveable goals.
Posted by: Vince Hazleton | August 08, 2006 at 04:54 PM