http://www.awpagesociety.com/awp_blog/ en desk@wieck.com Copyright 2008 2008-07-19T14:34:59-06:00 http://www.awpagesociety.com/awp_blog/comments/opportunity_for_the_chief_communication_officer/ A few weeks back, I had the chance to co-host, with Jon Iwata of IBM, Roger Bolton of APCO and Jolie Hunt of Thompson Reuters, a dinner discussion on The Authentic Enterprise with some of the best agency minds in our profession. Joining us for the evening were Richard Edelman of Edelman Worldwide, Mark Penn from Burson-Marsteller, Ray Kotcher from Ketchum, Aedhmar Hynes from Text 100 and Keith Yamashita, the principal of Stone Yamashita Partners. Julia Hood, who oversees PR Week, also joined us for the evening's conversation. Our aim was to solicit some insights into how these leaders see the trends outlined in The Authentic Enterprise -- globalization, Web 2.0 and greater stakeholder empowerment -- are playing out… 2008-07-19T14:34:59-06:00 http://www.awpagesociety.com/awp_blog/comments/an_intelligent_design_of_our_time_the_authentic_enterprise/ With apologies to intelligent design adherents and wishful thinkers of the public relations industry, I want to propose that the fancied idea of an Authentic Enterprise, as promulgated by fellow members of the Arthur W. Page Society, is an alluring but untenable thesis. We are better off positioning the corporate communication function as a competitive enterprise and serving as its principled advocates, not its brokers of values. To do otherwise is to apply a sentimental moral imperative on what is a bedrock but fast-evolving function of business. I have five concerns about the much-discussed Authentic Enterprise white paper: • SUBJECTIVE. The notion of an Authentic Enterprise is not measurable and thus not manageable. Like so many euphemistic placeholders of the influence industries – Trust, Reputation, Relationships, as examples – the characteristic of authenticity escapes any rational attempt to develop consistent, repeatable… 2008-07-16T15:44:05-06:00 http://www.awpagesociety.com/awp_blog/comments/the_flak_over_flacks_and_hacks/ Among the many thousands of responses to the recent diatribe against public relations by CBS News Legal Analyst Andrew Cohen on the CBS News program “Sunday Morning” recently, two stand out. In case you missed them, the first is by the dean of public relations, Harold Burson, who sensibly argues in his blog that while interpretations of facts may lead to disagreements over what’s true and what’s not, “… after all is said and done, the public gets it right.” Bottom line: “… lying doesn’t work in a Democratic society.” Harold bemoans the fact that we in public relations have done a terrible job explaining what we do, but says, “… there’s plenty of time to fix it – and forget about CBS ‘Sunday Morning.’” The second, fittingly, is from CBS’s own head of communications, Gil Schwartz, a.k.a. Stanley Bing,… 2008-07-11T17:29:04-06:00 http://www.awpagesociety.com/awp_blog/comments/how_does_the_authentic_enterprise_travel/ So many have been engaged in the work of developing the Authenic Enterprise that I am sure there's probably been a time - particularly among the team that did so much of the heavy lifting - that one may wonder if the forest is clearly visible through all those trees! We all know the experience; investing so much of one's experience, perspective and passion that sometimes a step back to listen to others react is just the right thing to do to maintain a healthy, objective attitude. Therefore, it was in this spirit that Aedhmar Hynes of Text 100 Public Relations and I were delighted to be asked to deliver the Authentic Enterprise presentation at the recent PRCA Annual Conference in London. This is a major organization of agency communications professionals and the conference attendance… 2008-07-11T00:37:36-06:00 http://www.awpagesociety.com/awp_blog/comments/what_communicators_can_learn_from_obama_mccain/ In my travels, I've discovered that you cannot go anywhere without the US presidential elections popping up in the conversation, even in seemingly unrelated topics or circumstances. The most recent example happened in New York at the end of June when Echo ran the first in a series of round-tables for the International Public Relations Association (IPRA) to inform its Gold Paper on Globalization and Public Diplomacy. The theme clearly parallels Page's Authentic Enterprise conclusions, and considers the drivers and implications from the perspective of those at the PR helm of global corporations. Representing some 1,100 individual members in 100 countries, IPRA uses its Gold Papers to contribute to the 'science beneath the art' of international public relations, to borrow a phrase from the Institute for Public Relations. Since 1973, fifteen Gold Papers have appeared on topics such as Ethics,… 2008-07-08T13:52:11-06:00 http://www.awpagesociety.com/awp_blog/comments/engaging_millennials_in_the_authentic_enterprise/ As a advocate for the quality of thought and effort that went into creating the Authentic Enterprise white paper, I have shared it with a number of Boomer colleagues who also hold it in high regard. However, I recently discussed it with some Millennials, and I was surprised with their assessment which ranged from "duh" to "corporate B.S." One young man said it was stating the obvious, while another simply opined that "All companies will have to be authentic or perish. They have no choice." Since I write a blog aimed at Millennials pursuing careers in PR (http://www.culpwrit.com ), I decided I needed to know more about their mindset. Thanks to an invitation from Sandra Allen to speak to her PR students at Chicago's Columbia College, I got first-hand insights into what makes Millennials tick. I am sure the academic members of Page can… 2008-07-04T04:17:14-06:00 http://www.awpagesociety.com/awp_blog/comments/summit_delves_into_authentic_enterprise/ The 2008 Summit on Corporate Communications in Chicago June 25-27 took the most thorough look to date at The Authentic Enterprise. The conference was sponsored by the Arthur W. Page Society, the Institute for Public Relations and the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI). Jon Iwata, Senior Vice President, Communications and Marketing, IBM Corporation and Roger Bolton, Senior Counselor, APCO Worldwide APCO Worldwide gave an overview of The Authentic Enterprise report that featured case study example’s from IBM, Aetna , Johnson & Johnson and other leading companies. Jon and Roger emphasized that corporate public relations officers now function on a global playing field of unprecedented transparency that includes… 2008-07-01T14:43:21-06:00 http://www.awpagesociety.com/awp_blog/comments/finding_our_essential_knowledge/ Dr. James E. Grunig has articulated three kinds of research in our field: 1. Research used in the practice of public relations to identify publics, set strategies and measure results. 2. Research on the practice of public relations to understand trends, best practices, etc. 3. And research for the practice of public relations to develop broad knowledge about what works, when, and why. Where can you go these days and not hear about the first kind of research? Conferences, trade pubs, blogs and water coolers. We get it (even if we’re not always doing it). But when it comes to the second and third kinds of research – not so much. We all know many practitioners, including people on our own staffs, who barely give a thought… 2008-05-28T22:51:10-06:00 http://www.awpagesociety.com/awp_blog/comments/the_authentic_enterprise_provides_basis_for_rich_discussion/ The Authentic Enterprise held center stage for two and a half days recently at a gathering of leading academics, corporate and agency practitioners. It definitely accomplished one of the key objectives by encouraging dialogue on the outcomes the white paper describes. This was the third Academic Symposium, hosted by the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire and jointly sponsored by the Arthur W. Page Society and the Institute for Public Relations. The thirty attendees included thought leaders from the academic community, as well as others with corporate and agency leadership experience. The objective of the Symposium is to consider a wide range of issues of interest to those involved with developing and presenting curricula in corporate communications, public relations and related fields in both schools of business and communication. At this year’s Symposium, the group considered various responses from the academic, corporate… 2008-05-27T14:28:01-06:00 http://www.awpagesociety.com/awp_blog/comments/how_much_transparency_is_enough/ Too many corporations and agencies have made the mistake of disguising advocacy efforts by creating phony front organizations posing as something other than what they really are. It’s very clear that honesty is always the best policy and transparency is essential. Today’s Wall Street Journal features a page one story about a website called AngryRenter.com, which the Journal describes as “an AstroTurf campaign” – a fake grass roots effort. The reporter’s premise rests on his contention that the people behind AngryRenter.com are not renters, and that some of the 44,500 people who signed the AngryRenter.com petition opposing a mortgage bailout by Congress may not have known that. In fact, the site is sponsored by an organization called FreedomWorks, which is headed by former GOP House Majority Leader Dick Armey. When I went to the site to… 2008-05-16T23:01:57-06:00