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Harnessing the potential of the communications/IT nexus is all about authentic relationship building and professional respect. Being a great teammate makes all the difference, regardless of your position. At the very least, PR pros should work on their (yes) communications skills with their IT counterparts so they can establish a true partnership with common goals.

Pinterest has acquired Instapaper, an app for saving articles and pages for later reading. The matchup makes sense, given Pinterest’s parallel model of pinning images and video for later review. While there have been article and link-saving apps on the market for years, Instapaper has a few unique features that make it attractive to bigger platforms and potential buyers (this sale is its second acquisition in recent years), and several applications that make it worthwhile for communicators to keep an eye on in the long term.

How does a brand, perhaps lacking a big budget for video production, enter the world of video on social platforms? Many experts say brands can produce videos relatively inexpensively. And while outstanding special effects and editing are no doubt attractive, many believe a creative concept and excellent storytelling can overtake expensive production values.

With more than 2 billion people on Earth now using social media, social strategies have become a core component of most global public relations campaigns. The platforms that are most popular in the U.S.—such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter—rank as the most widely used in many other countries around the globe. However, this does not mean that a single social media strategy will work internationally.

Ryan Lochte, the embattled U.S. Olympic swimmer who falsely claimed to be robbed at gunpoint with three other swimmers in Rio de Janeiro, began an apology tour on Aug. 20. Speaking with NBC’s Matt Lauer and Felipe Santana of Globo, one of Brazil’s largest television networks, Lochte accepted responsibility for his actions, at times appearing on the verge of tears with Lauer. But some in the PR world said his apology and overall crisis communications leave much to be desired.

Though performance varies from group to group, the overall verdict is that “organizations need to help their employees better align with their organization’s strategy.” Conflicting priorities at work, caused by too many initiatives happening simultaneously, cause employees to feel more connected to their profession in general than to the organization that employs them.

Shareablee provides data exclusively to PR News Pro about the brands (B2B and B2C) who were most engaged during August 5-17, the first 12 days of the Olympics.

A roundup of the week’s top news and trends in PR. This week we look at more implications of FTC actions against paid influencers, the passing of Ed Block.

The most important thing to realize about working with agencies is that it’s about much more than merely delegating work. One of the keys to working with an agency is to think about it as building a team outside your organization to help achieve your communication and business goals.

For those of you considering selling your firm or acquiring one, it’s important to know that valuing PR agencies is an inexact science and a complex process. It takes financial expertise, knowledge of the M&A marketplace and an understanding of how buyers create offers/term sheets. Below are several things you need to consider as you begin the valuation process.