Good evening to you all, and thanks for being here this evening.

I'd like to express my appreciation to Frank Ovaitt and the Institute Board for extending the invitation to be with you this evening. And, I want to thank Michele Hinson for making all of the arrangements. I'm honored to have been asked to speak at this event, the 44th, which has featured many leaders of our profession over the years.

It is a great pleasure to be with you tonight. And I want to start by congratulating each and every one of you for what you do.

And why am I congratulating you? Well, I'm going to explain that because I earnestly want you to leave here tonight feeling a strong sense of pride in your own accomplishments and pride in the significant development of public relations over the past several years.

My title is "The Character of PR at 2005." It seems to me character, perhaps more than any specific skill or expertise, has brought us to where we are at 2005 as individuals and as a profession. And in this talk, I am going to attempt to make a case for how and why character can play a role in recasting our work together going forward not only at the professional and organizational level but at the societal level as well. Indeed, I believe character will determine our collective future including the new talent we must continue to attract to build on today's momentum.

I want to spend a few minutes giving you some observations, from where I now sit – which is on the bench, the park bench – in retirement.

Incidentally, I must tell you that this migration to retirement has been interesting. Everything changes so quickly. Whereas I once occupied an office very near the seat of power and influence, I now work from rustic office situated in a barn at our farm on the Chesapeake. My long time assistant, Carol, is no longer just outside my door. And my only company in that lofty barn is a small grey cat named Velvet who, unfortunately, is deaf. So, although I read it to her, Velvet really didn't have much of a reaction to the remarks I'm about to share with you. She seemed only to be interested in my changing her litter box. (Maybe that was acknowledgement, in her own small way, of what she thought she heard.)

My career in public relations spans just over 40 years, first as an information officer in the Air Force, then with Carl Byoir for 16 years through our merger with Hill and Knowlton, and then Johnson & Johnson. So, about half of my years in this business were on the agency side and the other half in corporate public relations, which has giving me a kind of holistic view of this business. Through these years, very dramatic changes have occurred in our career field, both on the agency and corporate sides of this business, and I think it's important, every once-in-awhile to turn back and look at what has happened. The comparisons with then and now are quite startling and very encouraging.

But this is not about the history of public relations; it's very much about the future of pr. The past is important only in that it provides context and sets the stage for what we're seeing as a great, albeit challenging, future.

I must tell you that as I left Johnson & Johnson, I had reached probably the deepest understanding – at any point in my career -- of both the importance and the value of what we do in public relations. It's also true that I experienced how it feels to be appreciated. And, how priceless is that! I emerged from that company with such a passion for this business that I feel compelled to talk about it and to encourage others to become engaged in this special thing we do.

I have seen, first-hand, how public relations can work in well-managed companies, not just at Johnson & Johnson, but also through associations with some really great people who occupy the top jobs at their companies in a broad range of industries. Public relations, as it is practiced in these organizations today, is like glue or connective tissue, which when applied in a values-based culture, holds the whole enterprise together. And the whole of the organization is so much better off … more competitive and better able to fulfill it's wider role in society. I wish we could somehow tell these stories more broadly. The question of trust in business might not be as perilous an issue as it is, or at least people might judge events in the context of overall behavior.

As I said, I have a huge compulsion to talk about this experience and to encourage others, particularly young people, to get into this field.

So, I have been on the road over the past several months visiting colleges and universities meeting with public relations faculty and speaking with graduate and undergraduate students in public relations majors. I wanted to hear, first hand, about their level of understanding of our work and about their hopes and aspirations for their careers. I also wanted to strongly encourage the best and the brightest of them to pursue this career field with optimism and enthusiasm by giving them examples of how pr is practiced in the very best of circumstances.

I'm drawing on the experience of these recent encounters with students tonight, because as we think about the future, we need to consider how to prepare our profession for a new generation of practitioners who already see the world very differently than we do. I think as a profession, we're ready to do this in a meaningful way. I think we have a chance to align ourselves and our profession around a kind of global agenda that could hold strong implications; not only for the companies and clients we serve, but also our society as a whole. And, such an agenda could also be – would also become -- a powerful attraction for young people who are very serious about their future world of work.

But, of course, young people always see things differently. But, it seems very significant when you meet with them that their questions are not about how you write a press release or the other details of our craft. They are interested in those things, too, but they are also interested in values and worth and how to make a difference. One quickly detects a concern about business and how to avoid becoming trapped in an organization whose values are questionable. They are idealistic and yet pragmatic.

But, from what I can see, the next generation of public relations practitioners – and I have met with several hundred of them on six campuses -- will be very well prepared to assume important roles in our profession. Today's PR majors are bright, well-studied and purposeful. Those students I have spoken with over the past few months are keenly aware of the continued erosion of public trust in the business community. They are anxious about big business, in particular. and curious about conditions under which they might expect to find themselves employed. They are concerned about major societal issues. And, they are hoping to find opportunities where they can make a difference.

I think it's interesting and probably important to note that over the past 30 years, or so, there has been a decided shift in the background of most PR people. When I was getting started, I was one of only a few people admitted to the Carl Byoir agency who hadn't come to the agency with prior experience in journalism. A brief stint as a radio announcer and newsman got me through the door. Today, it seems most people who are moving along in the career field, came into this field following studies in public relations.

Yet another change is the emergence of women – in the majority – in our field. Just look across this room. I haven't done an exact count but just thumbing through the membership directory of the Arthur Page Society shows the emergence of many women into high-level positions. And, you should know that in the classrooms I've visited, more than 80 percent of the pr majors are women. That's just an observation and there's probably no reason to be alarmed. But somebody ought to do a little research to see if we have a problem attracting appropriate numbers of young men into this field.

So, with the ranks of students of public relations full of hopeful young people gaining great skills and eager to find meaningful work and the chance to make a difference in the world, we should probably be asking ourselves what we a doing to prepare for a new generation of practitioners and eventual leaders.

As you look at the field of pr today with the many specialized service companies, the advancing practice of research and measurement, the creation of The Council of Public Relations Firms and The PR Coalition, and the maturation of PRSA, The Global Public Affairs Institute, The Arthur Page Society and The Institute for Public Relations, the solid success of public affairs and investor relations consulting organizations, the explosion of marketing communications and the swelling ranks of suppliers … when you add it all up, you see a whole industry surrounding PR and communications. I believe this is a very positive reflection of the broad confidence that exists today that public relations as a discipline and skill set will prevail and continue to grow.

This has happened because pr people today are better informed, more highly skilled and more fully funded. The burst of the Dot.com bubble was extremely difficult but it was not a death-knell for agencies. And, as I said, the understanding of the crucial role of public relations in well-managed organizations has never been more deeply held. I know this from my own experience, and so do several hundred other people at the top of the career field in their companies.

It is also true that managements today pay closer attention to their reputations and understand the value of being well regarded, especially at a time when business is under such intense scrutiny. Whether we like it or not -- and I don't -- the idea of reputation management has gained some traction, even though I believe the label is actually a misnomer.

I continue to believe that an organization's reputation is earned through good character and behaviors that are observed and judged by others who accord reputation value. I think our duty is to manage our behaviors and policies and good reputations will follow. Byron Reimus led me to a quote from Lincoln whose wisdom on this point ought to register today. He is quoted as saying, "Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it, the tree is the real thing". So, there you go: "Shadow management." It could be a new business. But, let's agree to fertilize the tree and not the shadow.

I hope you'll pardon that digression. The plain fact is that business today needs the skills we possess more than at any time in the modern era of our economy. And the smart ceos "get it" and are acting to assure that communications and pr capabilities are not only sustained but that they grow and achieve even greater influence. And today, a whole industry surrounds this important field. I don't mean to suggest that we have won the battle for this place in the management mix; far from it, but there are enough standout examples that we ought to be able to further embed this idea in any organization that desires to be well managed. This is within our reach.

Such is the Character of PR at 2005, that we have matured as a profession and are increasingly recognized for the value we provide.

But what about the future? What will be the character of this profession in five years, ten years and beyond? What will be the relevance of what we do as individuals and as a profession?

As we step into that future, I think we take one fundamental value, above all else with us, and that is the truth … as in telling the truth and telling it well, to borrow the McCann Erickson motto. We have the Arthur Page ideal as guidance as well as his articulation of principles as to how this profession ought to be practiced. Also, many of our companies and our agencies have gone back to focus on organizational values. We're all working to restore and sustain public trust in business.

But taking the truth with us is a difficult proposition. We're known popularly for spin and putting a good face on things in tough times. Will Shortz presented a crossword puzzle in the New York Times a week ago in which the four letter answer to the clue "a PR task" was SPIN.

I don't know how to rid our profession of such unflattering and demeaning descriptions. We should never, ever, use the term "spin" or allow it to be used in our presence, and we ought to be confrontational about it. I stopped some of our lawyers from using the term in one difficult situation we faced and it was a great moment to remind them that we are advocates of what we believe to be the truth and not merely blind advocates for our organizations. We need to take all of this very seriously and on a very personal level.

In this regard, it seems to me that if we're going to stand for the truth and be believed when we tell the truth, then the truth about who we are as individuals needs to be unimpeachable.

As much as we demand good writing skills, I believe our profession ought to demand people who possess good character and hold themselves to very high standards for ethics and integrity. Good character includes such simple ideas as a sense of civic duty, an innate sense of fairness, the ability to always care, pervasive honesty, respect – respect for organizations, institutions and respect for people who may hold different points of view and integrity – personal integrity that is beyond reproach.

These values are crucial if our profession is to continue to expand its influence. And these values are critical in organizations today especially businesses that stumble at times and must attempt to restore a level of trust with their constituents.

So, with good character and the truth on our side, what about the future of this business of ours – this calling we have answered?

I'd like to suggest that our future will be greatly influenced and perhaps wholly dependent on the resolution or improvement of a number of very broad business and societal issues and concerns. And, that our future will be richer and stronger through the roles we assume and the responsibilities we undertake, as a profession.

The point I'm getting to is that given the matured state of our profession, particularly in this country, I think our profession needs and could well adopt a kind of global agenda. We have reached a level of maturity and sophistication such that we can afford to invest in thinking and actions and take some responsibilities for the improvement and enhancement of our entire system. I have three examples to suggest. I'm sure there are many more topics that could be considered for such an agenda.

First, Americans need to be reminded of how business works, how companies are run, especially in a global world; what leadership is really all about; why profits are an okay thing and why we need a policy environment that continues to support the development of our unique system of free enterprise. Americans need information about the role of intellectual property, the importance of innovation and requirements for capital formation. As well, they need information about a tort system that is running us aground and stifling innovation.

Why is this important? And why should it be our issue? It's because business has lost its voice; particularly the voice of big business. That voice has been driven into silence in the aftermath of the biggest scandals a few years ago and as a result, rightly or wrongly, of the intimidating presence of Sarbanes-Oxley. How many ceos do you see out on the speakers' circuit or in thoughtful interviews in the media. There is no voice because no one wants to become a target. Unfortunately, that means most Americans particularly those in the emerging generation are learning about business from Donald Trump and Martha Stewart. And it's no wonder that this same audience also turns to watch Survivor and Fear Factor. Is this really the new reality?

I don't have the answers for how this could or should be done -- the re-education of America about business. But with all of the smart people in this room and the professional organizations we support, I know there is fresh thinking that can be brought to this terribly important need. The point is that PR should take the leadership and make it happen.

Here's another possible agenda item for PR. And here I am echoing a call made by my friend and colleague, Jim Murphy of Accenture. In his Hall of Fame speech at this year's annual meeting of the Arthur Page Society, Jim talked about the need to help create better understanding of America abroad. The government wants to try to do this. Karen Hughes has the assignment at the State Department, but big corporations are already citizens of the global world. Who better than our companies to take active roles in such a project and who else but public relations people would do this? Jim spelled out a number of ways in which businesses could take up this cause and I would encourage you to go to the Arthur Page Website and read what he had to say. All of us in public relations have a huge stake in the perception of our country abroad and it would be important for our professional organizations to focus on what role we could be playing to help build awareness and understanding in the world today.

Third, and closely related to this issue of America's image abroad is the image of the world in the USA. Americans today, according to any number of surveys are woefully ignorant of the world that surrounds us. You hear all kinds of anecdotes about how confused people are about the role of The Pope and the United Nations. And, who are The Lost Boys of the Sudan, anyway? The very serious problems in Africa are not things we think about everyday, when we should. A systemic problem is that there is very little news reporting from around the world that ever reaches the American public. Only major crisis events draw our attention, and even then, most of us can't really visualize where in the world that event is.

And, the real problem in this is that most of the world knows how ignorant Americans are about world affairs. How can we ever expect to restore any level of trust abroad if we don't make the effort to understand the issues of those whose favor we seek? This isn't a new problem, of course, but I think we could agree that there is some urgency to see ourselves as others see us, and to come to a better understanding of the world that surrounds us. And, that's all about communications, isn't it? And, shouldn't this be an issue for PR's global agenda for the future? I don't have all the answers for how to do this. Certainly we ought to consider using our advertising dollars and muscle to support more news reporting from abroad, but what about our employees? Put your imagination to work and think about the impact we could have with a conscious effort to help build an understanding of the world we sell our products to among our employees … and by extension, their families. Fortune 500 companies employ how may Americans? Millions!

Now there's potentially a huge middle ground of understanding!

The common requirement in all of these issues is awareness and understanding. And, we know about building awareness and understanding and there is an opportunity here to take some responsibility and exhibit leadership.

But there is also a common ailment in our society that affects all of this and gets in the way of building understanding, and, that is the lack of civility in this country. This condition is, I believe, undermining every good intention, no matter what your politics. And it is happening on both sides. We so polarized. There is no common ground, no middle ground, which used to sustain our respect in institutions. The achievement of broad consensus on anything is nearly impossible to achieve without bitter feelings. And, it's not just in politics, the courts and the media. Sadly, the behaviors that are part of the idea of winning in the marketplace at any cost tend to make those of us in business view the competitor not as "a friendly competitor" but as an enemy. The populist politics of the 1990s from both Republicans and Democrats left a philosophy that permeates much of society today, and that is: It's not good enough for us to win; you must lose, and so that you can never ever become a threat to us again, you must be destroyed.

Unfortunately, the news media give wide airing to the resulting inflamed rhetoric with little self-discipline or time taken to develop any context. And Americans read and listen to this brand of pseudo journalism in which the facts are not allowed to get in the way of a good story. Somebody needs to say: "Let's stop this!" And, especially at a time when we seem to be so threatened by the daily acts of terrorism we are witnessing around the world. We need reasoned and calm discourse to deal with this new world of threats against our system.

I think if there is anything current and future PR professionals should agree on it is that unless we take a hand in challenging and changing the ways in which we deal with each other, can anything substantive be achieved? Can we accomplish anything at all in the public or private sectors without tackling the mantra "you're either with us or against us" that drives so much of discourse today? Or, bridge the generational divide, which is being torn by the same rhetoric, finger-pointing and stereotyping? Yes, we do have a system in which we expect accountability from those who hold positions of leadership in government and business, but we need to stop this pandemic of running people, organizations and institutions we don't agree with into the ground. Indeed, one could make a strong argument for the fact that how we are perceived abroad and how Americans view the world today is shaped to some extent by the fact that everyone thinks we can't agree on anything and all of us think we know everything. We must learn not to let the intensity of our convictions blind us to the possibility that we might be wrong – good advice from my friend Michael Josephson.

Why is this a role for public relations? Well, by definition, ours is the responsibility for constituent relations. It is our responsibility to achieve a balance between the needs and wants of our organizations and the publics that have an interest in what we do, or are affected by what we'd like to do. The classic examples are locating a new facility, downsizing an organization, handling waste disposal or advancing knowledge and acceptance of the safety of our products and services. What we seek in these endeavors is common ground. Right? What we seek is to balance our interests with those of our constituents so our businesses can continue to grow and flourish. We know how to do this. And we do this with civility in ways that avoid confrontation and hostility. Frankly, the politics of all of this is too important to be left to the politicians.

With all of our skills, public relations people ought to be as informed, if not better informed, than anybody about these and other issues, such as the environment and diversity, and the list goes on. We ought to know why these issues are important and how to talk about them. They ought to be factored into the advice and counsel we give, and the policies we influence, at our companies and clients. Most importantly, we ought to be influencing the tone of voice we bring to the debate on the issues.

There is an agenda here that needs to be fleshed out. There are themes that ought to be codified. There is learning that ought to be shared. There are creative approaches that need to be considered. There is probably no limit to the impact we could have in helping to shape the future of our businesses, our agencies, and our people – especially new people to this field. There is lots of room for alignment of resources and voices and collaborations between and among industries.

Perhaps this idea for fixing a Global Agenda for Public Relations is something The Institute could consider taking up in collaboration with The Arthur Page Society, the Global Public Affairs Institute and the Conference Board.

The process itself could be very stimulating. On the topics I've mentioned, re-educating Americans about business, America's image abroad and the image of the world in the United States – one could imagine well articulated statements about the relevance of these issues, to include language and ways to talk about these topics and examples of best practices and behaviors. What about a collection of papers not unlike Alexander Hamilton's Federalist Papers, which were created to build awareness, understanding and acceptance leading up to the ratification of our Constitution. Also part of this project could be the identification of experts and literature, which could seed programs and events designed to inform and discuss. There might be scholarships established to enable graduate students and the academic community to perform research and study the issues. As this develops, we might come to agree on principles and consider taking positions on the issues. It would certainly have to be a dynamic process and program but we should do this in a way that gives us critical mass.

Through such an endeavor, I think we then truly begin to see ourselves and to be seen by others, in the context of a more broadly based and understood industry and profession … one that sees the future, is preparing for it and is willing to address the tough issues and broad business and societal concerns. Or, as Lincoln put it, a field that is increasingly focused on the tree and not overly consumed by the shadow.

The relevance to our companies of such a project is that it would help illuminate the societal context in which our businesses seek to grow – expanding customer bases and attracting the best and brightest workforce. And, providing context is another important role of public relations.

So, I hope this provides some food-for-thought. The important thing to recognize is that projects such as this are within the reach of our profession and only limited by our imagination.

Conclusion:

What we share – all of us in this room – are character traits that include a sense of civic duty, of fairness, of civility, caring and respect. That's why we're here, now. We are fundamentally committed to the truth and we believe we have a mission and purpose in our roles that extends beyond success to significance.

We need to exhibit these traits more publicly. We need to step forward with bold ideas and strong convictions and address issues and concerns that simply will not be addressed by anyone else. It's about leadership, isn't it?

So, the character of public relations and the acceptance of the practice as we see it midway through this decade has, in my view, brought us to a place where we can truly look for the future with great hope, optimism and enthusiasm and opportunity.

As you contemplate your future in this career, whether with your company or your agency, I'd like to suggest that you strive to make an impact well beyond anything currently on your radar screens. If you're in an agency, think about the counsel that moves your client well beyond success. If you're with a corporation, think about how to establish a level of trust in your organization that is truly sustainable.

Just as public relations operates at the very core of our organizations, so too, as a maturing profession, I believe we should see ourselves as being attached at the very core of our society and economic system.

I believe the true character of PR at 2005 is resident right here, in this room, tonight. It rests within each of us. It is a combination of our individual character and integrity, our insistence on the truth, our common sense and sensibilities, our creativity, our unique communication talents, the way we think and look at the world and the strength of the convictions we hold to act upon what we believe and not merely as blind advocates for our companies. It's a gift and it's a calling: the opportunity to exert influence through the advice we give and the words we write and speak and the examples we set … the chance to make a real difference.

You see, the mythical "seat at the table" is right there, and nobody else can take it, really.

So, I would urge each of you to take that seat and feel very comfortable in it.

Thanks for your time and attention and the opportunity to be with you tonight.