One of the new and most powerful tools available to corporations searching for a PR agency is, of course, the Web.
Beyond the hundreds of agencies with sites, there also are PR industry sites that list firms alphabetically, by industry focus, practice area or geographic location.
Two of the most useful sites are those operated by the Council of Public Relations Firms and the Counselors Academy of the Public Relations Society of America.
The Council's site (http://www.prfirms.org), lists about 100 firms that are members of the organization, and all of the member firms' Web sites are linked to the Council's page.
Like the Council's site, the Counselors Academy site (http://www.prsa-counselors.org) lists only agencies and consultants who are members. This site lists far more organizations-about 1,000-but currently is searchable only alphabetically. Background of agencies is listed on the site; there are no links to members' sites.