TUCSON, Ariz. - While some presentations focused on working together for the betterment of the industry at large, the main buzz at last week's PRSA Counselor's Academy was how
to find and keep the best PR practitioners for yourself.
More than 300 seasoned public relations practitioners, most senior executives of agencies, partook in the 40th anniversary of the Counselor's Academy.
Corporate communications representatives from Nike, Phillip Morris Management Corp. and Intelisys Electronic Commerce each cited the need for agencies to deliver value-added
strategic thinking, develop a solid understanding of the clients' business, anticipate evolving needs, maintain a global perspective and provide measurable, results-driven
programs.
Though predictions by the Academy's "PR Gurus" may have reflected more vision than prophecy, there were some key observations. David Drobis, senior partner/CEO Ketchum,
contended that agencies need to bring more lawyers, management consultants and the like into the fold saying, "Desperation has a way of creating solutions, but this is long
overdue."
Drobis and others have long been proponents of raiding management consultancies for agency talent, but they're going to have to hurry. Corporations are already taking steps in
that direction (and gobbling up talent), as evidenced by Coca-Cola's hiring this week of PricewaterhouseCoopers Director of Global Communications Charles Holleran as its chief
communications officer.
Drobis also emphasized a need to expand PR's talent pool by finding better and faster ways to recruit and train, especially non-traditional hires and college students.
The time has come for a "multi-disciplinary approach to communications," said Kathy H. Cripps, 2000 Counselors Academy Chair and president/COO of SCIENS Worldwide Public
Relations. "We can learn from those who've had different experiences, such as those who can guide us with technology applications. And we can apply that insight to public
relations to deliver better services, products and counsel [to our clients]."
Keeping Them
With talent-larceny picking up in a Spandex-tight market, speakers also focused on employee retention.
David Paine, president of San Mateo, Calif.-based Paine and Associates, presented his approach to humanism in the workplace, which is based on the premise of putting people
before profit.
"It's natural for people to want to do a good job; all they need is the right environment. We seek continuous improvement but are sure to blame the process when problems arise,
not the people [and] we make profit an outcome of our culture," Paine explained.
Although staffing weighed heavily on the minds of most attendees, Internet technology was another hot topic.
Among the presenters was Christine Boehlke, president of Phase Two Strategies, based in San Francisco. By the second day of her breakfast roundtable, Boehlke had nearly 40
attendees huddled three or more chairs deep to hear more about her Internet communications programs.
"New marketing models are taking shape to allow for one-on-one communications [and] Web site development is just a commodity," she said. "The Internet enables companies to go
beyond awareness-building to relationship-building that can instill loyalty."