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The story of X, the differences between on and off-line reputation and the Villejuif leaflet of the mid eighties. Plus ca change…plus c’est la meme chose??

Way back in the mid eighties the name of the Parisian hospital Villejuif coupled its widespread fame as the world hub for the more advanced medical research against cancer (at the time), with a particularly unexpected awareness amongst part of the european professional public relations comnunity: an anonymous leaflet began to circulate originated from within that hospital with a false signature, in which a list of well known consumer brands were indicated as being cancerous,...

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Architects and Public Relators: we both create SPACES where publics interact….

A lively discussion came up last Thursday evening in Rome, at the second of the six sessions scheduled for the production of the video book on ‘What is Public Relations’, which my friend Joao so acutely and courteously described here, following up on the first session. The general topic has to do with many issues my co-bloggers have touched upon in this blog as well as with the content of a recent (the plum of...

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The future of the book… and PR

To those who have read the seminal book by Lucien Febvre and Henri-Jean Martin (“L’appartion du livre”), the history of the book may already be a fascinating subject. But what about the future of the book. There is a also great excitement in trying to foresee what the book will look like within a few years and I share with you a very promising experience in which PR is at the forefront.

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Ethics and Images

I recently had the pleasure of attending the IABC Eurocomm Conference. This is one of my favourite events because it gathers a variety of communicators from across Europe and the Middle East (and beyond) to share expertise, views and cocktails. It reflects cultural, geographical and functional diversity, so it appeals to the Jack-of-many-trades in me. One of the things I loved about this year’s edition was its emphasis on innovation, and the sessions that talked...

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The Essential Knowledge Project

There is a tremendous amount of research conducted over the years on all aspects of creating and sustaining public opinion, attitudes and relationships. All too many practitioners don’t have a clue where to find it. So the Institute for Public Relations has introduced the Essential Knowledge Project, an online guide to the best research into how organizations build and manage mutually beneficial relationships with customers, communities, employees and other stakeholders.

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Putting the Public Back in Public Relations

“Social Media and the Future of PR” is the theme of Euroblog2008, currently underway in Brussels (presented by EUPRERA, Edelman, IHECS and Département de communication, Université catholique du Louvain). I participated on a panel on chaired by Toni Muzi Falconi (who leads the Institute’s Commission on Global Public Relations Research). This gave me the opportunity to talk about two important research projects connected to the Institute. • “New Media, New Influencers and Implications for the...

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Weighing in on the value of connectivity and communications

Billed as one of the “highlights” of the University of Toronto’s inaugural Festival of the Arts was the lecture by “renowned Canadian filmmaker, Atom Egoyan, delivering his second public presentation as the Dean’s Distinguished Visitor in Theatre, Film, Music, and Visual Studies in the Faculty of Arts and Science.” Egoyan, whom I’ve always found to be an articulate and original thinker (in addition to a true auteur as a filmmaker) tackled an ambitious lecture called...

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The CIPR (UK) moves forward with the Government towards a new licensing approach

As honoray fellow of the CIPR (the UK professional association), I received this cipr news highly interesting piece of news the other day, which implies that -in agreement with the UK Government, and moving forward from the 2006 already very innovative official recognition of the Institute- procedures have been set for individual members of the CIPR to receive a chartered status…