New York -- "Julie was our unanimous choice," said Charles Pizzo, IABC past chair and past president of the IABC Foundation, introducing the IABC's new president at the
national conference a week before her appointment. "She has prior association turnaround experience, and brought back her previous organization from the brink," he noted. She also
has an MBA and an undergrad degree in communications and PR. "Julie speaks our language," he said.
Pizzo identified three priorities that Freeman will immediately address: restoring financial health for the organization; customer service/improving the member experience; and
internal and external communications.
The caffeine had barely kicked in at the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) four-day conference last month when the keynote speaker waved his hand to
summon three 15-foot dancing puppets into the New York Hilton ballroom. Thus Duncan Wardle, Vice President of International Marketing for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, introduced
what he calls "the Magic of PR."
Take, for instance, the day St. Louis Cardinals player Mark McGwire broke the season home-run record. Later that day when Busch Stadium Groundskeeper Tim Forneris found the
ball -- which experts had valued at $1 million -- Disney whisked the 22-year-old off to Disney World where he became the darling of the network morning shows. To top it off,
Wardle arranged for Forneris to return the ball to McGwire while President Clinton looked on.
"The kid who could have had a million dollars had a million-dollar day instead," Wardle said. "And the entire event cost us one plane journey."
Washington, D.C. -- Addressing the National Capital Chapter last month, PRSA President & COO Catherine A. Bolton told PR execs that their job is "not to bare all," but to
"ethically do the right thing." In the context of today's world, Bolton said, PR people are responsible for ethical decisions every day, against a backdrop of a hungry media beast
that requires constant feeding. It is in this capacity that PR execs will continue to be called to the executive board table, she said. Challenging the industry, she noted "we
shape information yet are we in the industry culturally diverse?
"PR pros will be writing the books," Bolton concluded, "because technology will not override the ethics of PR counselors."