New Zealand Police open up law-making to the public

As a follow-on to the posts regarding Madeleine, the Portuguese police and the public interest, I thought you might be interested in a real life ‘open conversation’ involving New Zealand police. They have created a wiki to encourage public participation in the revision of the current police act, written in 1958.

Web info sessions on new master of communications management degree program

Back in May my post Stamp of approval on (distinctly Canadian) master’s of communication management degree program generated some great discussion and interest; this DeGroote School of Business program at McMaster University (Hamilton, Ontario) continues to receive a decent number of hits from searches. Great news! Now interested individuals can take advantage of a series of web-based information sessions, to learn more about the program.

How Philip Morris uses public relations to change the regulatory environment of the tobacco industry… Ann Landman exposes an apparently effective plan

Recently, an articulate and highly informative article by Ann Landman appeared on pr watch. Although quite critical and explicitly biased, it details Philip Morris’s current public relations activities to modify existing regulation of the tobacco industry in the United States, and (I believe) provides a most interesting backstage analysis of our profession—very stimulating food for thought for all of us.

Fires in Greece, Crisis Communication and a serious example from Portugal on synergistic communication and the power of networks

In recent debates on PRConversations about the level of strategic practice of PR, the value of licensing, the role of active professional associations or even the misguided conceptions about lobby, I must confess I couldn’t bring much positive experience from Portugal unless that great advantage that lies in the fact that we can still do things from scratch and try to learn from the best examples all over the world. So now I want to...

What Can Today’s CEOs do for Tomorrow’s Leaders?

This post on the Institute for Public Relations website is from guest author Ken Makovsky. Think about all the issues that face CEOs at major companies: everything from ethics, safety and diversity in the workplace to environmental sustainability and regulatory compliance … all on a global scale. Failure to successfully manage such issues can cost a company its profitability or even its ability to survive. The challenge is compounded by the fact that the world...