Public Relations Roles of the #schoolPR Pro

I consider myself a life-long learner and as such I'm (still) in the process of studying to take the APR exam and preparing my materials for the readiness review in order to be an accredited PR professional.

This is not a post arguing for/against APR credential. Rather, it's based on reading the PR Roles and Responsibilities portion of the study materials that happened to coincide with the first week of a new school year.

I've been in school public relations since 2001 and each year look forward to new challenges and opportunities to improve or expand communication between my organization and its stakeholders (or publics). This year, I thought it would be good to share what it is we do in school PR.

The following definitions are based on a list found in the APR Study Guide which I think is a valuable tool even if you are not considering the APR.

Public Relations: A Management Function

School Public Relations is the management function that establishes and maintains mutually beneficial relationships between a school district/educational institution and the publics on which its success or failure depends. (adapted - Broom, 2009, Effective Public Relations)

Advertising: (paid content) Information placed in the media. It is a controlled method of placing messages in the media. It is useful as part of large campaigns that require detailed explanations such as bond/levies, technology, new/expanded programs, etc.

Brand/Branding: A product, service or concept that is publicly distinguished from other products, services or concepts so that it can be easily communicated and usually marketed. A school district sells trust and as such its branding must reflect ways in which it's distinguished from others.

Community relations: An area of school public relations with responsibilities for building relationships with constituent publics such as faith-based organizations, charities, clubs and activist interests of the neighborhoods or metropolitan areas(s) where a school district. Dealing and communicating with citizens and groups within district boundaries is typically the responsibility of the school PR team. 

Controlled communication channels: Self-sponsored communication channels, media and tools that are under direct control of the sender. Examples include paid advertising, newsletters, brochures, some types of e-mails, organizational websites and blogs, leaflets, organizational broadcasts and podcasts, intranets, teleconferences and videoconferences, meetings, speeches, position papers, and all other channels and communication products under organizational control. In short, be your own newsroom.

Counseling: Advising management concerning policies, relations and communications. Senior-level school PR practitioners should be among the rest of executive-level team in direct communication with the superintendent. In an advisory role, the school PR person often needs to act as organizational conscience. 

Crisis communication: Protects and defends a school district facing a public challenge to its reputation. These challenges can involve legal, ethical or financial standing. There are many potential issues that can flare up into full-blown crises. The school PR pro must be attuned to various facets or the organization in order to be aware of issues.  

Employee relations: Activities designed to build sound relationships between a school district and its employees, and a critical element in fostering positive attitudes and behavior of employees as ambassadors for the organization. The school PR person should be aligned with the HR team so that existing or new programs or topics are well-communicated with staff.

Financial relations: An aspect of school public relations responsible for being well-versed in the business of school districts. How education is funded from local, state, national perspectives and being able to explain it (or know who in the organization that can) in order to communicate finance topics.

Government relations: An aspect of relationship-building between a school district and other government agencies at local, state, and/or national levels, especially involving flow of information to and from legislative and regulatory bodies in an effort to influence public policy decisions compatible with the local school district's interests. Understanding legislative priorities is an important role for school PR.

Issues management: The proactive process of anticipating, identifying, evaluating and responding to public policy issues that affect school districts and their publics now and in the future. This is an important role for school PR for those that can accurate anticipate and analyze problems before they flare up.

Marketing: The management function that identifies human needs and wants, offers products and services to satisfy those demands, and causes transactions that deliver products and services in exchange for something of value to the provider. Targets customers.

Marketing communications: A combination of activities designed to sell a product, service or idea, including advertising, collateral materials, interactive communications, publicity, promotion, direct mail, trade shows and special events.

Media relations: Among strategic communication functions for the school district, the school PR pro coordinates the exchange of information with media outlets and the general public. This position maintains a dynamic newsroom and media lists as well as various information channels though which news releases and stories are posted and distributed. These enable media outlets and school district community members to keep up with what's happening in the school district.

Multicultural relations/workplace diversity: Relating with people in various cultural groups. Understanding multicultural and workplace diversity continues to increase in importance. Diversity in the workplace continues to provide challenges and opportunities to public relations practitioners and other managers impacting messaging, perceptions of ideas, and services. These considerations may include issues of household composition, ages, gender, ethnic and religious backgrounds, language, technology fluency, health status or disabilities.

Press agentry: Creating newsworthy stories and events to attract media attention and gain public notice.

Proactive public relations: Taking the initiative to develop and apply public relations plans to achieve measurable results toward set goals and objectives.

Promotion: Activities designed to win publicity or attention, especially the staging of special events to generate media coverage. Special activities designed to create and stimulate interest.

Public affairs: A specialized area of public relations that builds and maintains mutually beneficial governmental and local community relations. Also applies to the military and governmental agencies due to the 1913 Gillett Amendment.

Public information: Representation of a point of view in collected forms such as facts, news, messages, pictures or data; the process of disseminating such information to publics usually through the mass media; a designation describing persons charged with the task of such dissemination usually on behalf of government agencies, nonprofit organizations, colleges or universities. School PR pros are typically the public information officers for school districts. [Texas: Rights of Requestors and Agency Responsibilities under the Public Information Act]

Publicity: Information from an outside source that is used by the media because it has news value. It is an
uncontrolled method of placing messages because the source does not pay the media for placement.

Reactive public relations: Response to crises and putting out fires defensively rather than initiating programs. There are varying degrees of reactive public relations with some situations requiring implementation of a school district’s crisis plan.

Reputation Management: Reputation management is an important function of school public relations, which is often cited in the context of crisis management. The increased use of the web and related social media has given added urgency to the practice of monitoring, as the immediate and anonymous nature of the Internet increases the risk of communications that can damage a school or school district’s reputation. Online reputation management is a growing specialized segment of public relations.

Special events: Stimulating an interest in a person, product or organization by means of a focused “happening.” Activities designed to interact with publics and listen to them.

Uncontrolled communications channels: Uncontrolled communications channels refer to the media that are not under direct control of the company, organization or sender of messages. These include newspapers and magazines, radio and television, external websites, externally produced blogs and social media commentary, and externally produced news stories.

Related posts:

• 5 Reasons to Make Your In-house Editorial Calendar
• Matte Releases: PR Branded Content for the Newbie
• PR Roles explained through Baseball Positions
• How crisis communication theory meets crisis communication reality
• 5 Tips to keep your School PR job

Photo credit: ashleighozment via Flickr Creative Commons

Let Them Eat RPIE: Communication Planning

It's unclear who actually said the oft-quoted phrase, "Let them eat cake." This flippant phrase about consuming pastry is commonly attributed to Marie Antoinette, the frivolous queen in the days leading up to the French Revolution. She allegedly spoke the words upon hearing how the peasantry had no bread to eat. However biographers and historians have found no evidence to support the attribution.

What does that have to do with communication? Not much, really. I just thought it was a neat little bit of knowledge worth sharing. Plus, it made me think of pie.

Hungry for RPIE

The communication planning process of RPIE (Research, Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation) has been on my mind a lot lately. Listening to two local PR pros share their insights from their award-winning PR campaigns at the Ft. Worth PRSA luncheon this week, both speakers framed things using RPIE. At work, I have a number of plans for events and campaigns running right now, all using the RPIE template to keep us on track. And most recently, while preparing a presentation on social media issues and best practices for the 2012 TSPRA Conference next week, the RPIE process made yet another appearance.

So I figured it was again time to revisit RPIE and share some themes for the process. 

Research

• What do we know? 
• What don’t we know? 
• Who do we want to reach? What do we know about them? Where do we find them? What do we want them to do?
• It starts with thinking about the people. 
• School District Buyer Personas 
• What do School Districts Sell?

Planning

• Goals 
• Measurable Objectives (who, what, by when, by how much) 
• Strategies Tactics/Tools 
• Notice the tactics/tools are the last thing before implementation

Implementation

• Execution of the plan or communicating 
• Creative
• Materials 
• Budget 
• Timeline 
• Delivery
• Actual messages sent through what channels? 
• How many messages reached your targeted audiences? 
• What monitoring tools will you use for execution?

Evaluation

• Did you accomplish your objectives? Prove it. 
• Identify ways to improve and recommendations for the future. 
• Media hits are not measurement. 
• Measure effectiveness of the program against objectives. 
• Adjust the plan, materials, etc., before going forward. 
• Can serve as research for the next phase or program. 
• Were you able to get key messages out and heard?

Using the RPIE method (or similar methods) is a solid way to make sure your key messages have the greatest opportunities to reach your target audiences. It's also the foundation to determine what's working, what's not, and how to tell the difference.

Photo credit: mackenziedreadful via Flickr Creative Commons

Turning Rejection Into Opportunity

Today I received my first rejection for a conference presentation proposal. I really enjoy speaking engagements but unfortunately my proposal didn't make the cut for the Spring conference.

At first, I was disappointed and immediately felt the stirring of self-doubt creep in. And then it hit me: No presentation, means no preparation. Uh oh.

Like I said, I really enjoy speaking. However, the value for me as a speaker is what I do to to prepare, research, and compile thoughts, data, and insights to be shared with an audience.

So I decided to turn this rejection into an opportunity. Rather than research and prepare to share for someone else, I'm going to study, prepare, and finally become Accredited in Public Relations. I've been flirting with getting the APR few a couple of years now (yikes, I'm such a slacker). Well now I can't use the excuse of having to prepare for a conference presentation which has become common the last few years. 

More to come.

Photo Credit: picsonline via Flickr Creative Commons

Commmunication Planning and the Acronym Jumble

RPIE - RACE - REGOSATTBE - WTH?!

Creating communication plans is tough when you're doing it right. I've been using a short acronym to help me remember the steps for some recent PR planning  and it made me think that we don't talk about PR planning enough.

It's crucial to put some forethought into your communication efforts. Admittedly, I have made what I believe is the mistake of taking an idea straight to the implementation phase (strategies/tactics) without much planning or analysis.

Sometimes this works. Sometimes it doesn't.

PR Plan Alphabet Soup 
So what should you do? I've used RPIE (Research, Planning/Analysis, Implementation/Execution/Communication, Evaluation) for my PR planning taken directly from the Accreditation in Public Relations Study Guide.The outlined four-step process explains each section and gives questions as a guide. For me, it's as much a learning tool as it is a practical tool for public relations professionals.

"Public relations programs cannot be successful without proactive, strategic planning that includes measurable objectives, grounded in research and evaluated for return on investment"
- APR Study Guide

RPIE
Research - Research is the systematic gathering of information to describe and understand a situation; check assumptions about publics and perceptions, and check the public relations consequences. Research helps define the problem and publics.

Planning/Analysis - Goals, audiences, objectives, strategies and tactics

Implementation - Execution of the plan or Communicating

Evaluation - Measure effectiveness of the program against objectives. Identify ways to improve and recommendations for the future. Adjust the plan, materials, etc., before going forward. This can serve as research for the next phase or program.

Here are a couple of other acronyms that might be useful.

RACE
Research
Action Plan
Communicate
Evaluate

REGOSATTBE
Research
Goals
Objectives
Strategy
Audience
Tactics
Timeline
Budget
Evaluation

Thanks to Mary Deming Barber for the REGOSATTBE acronym. She also shared a planning checklist document a while back that is a great, concise tool. (I love learning from PR people that are smarter than me.)
 
What about you? Do you use these or a different acronym method for your PR planning? Do you think PR people talk about PR planning enough? The comments are yours.

(Image credit: noeltanner via Flickr Creative Commons)

Related articles

• Four steps to a stronger PR plan (dontdrinkthekoolaidblog.com)
• Writing a PR Plan: Tools, Tips & Resources to Create an Effective Roadmap (prtini.com)
• Get S.M.A.R.T. When Setting PR Objectives (journalistics.com)

Discussing the APR requirement for #PRSA national service

One week after news of an effort to eliminate the APR requirement for PRSA national officers and board members and what do we have? Another argument about the value of PR accreditation.


What could be a worthwhile discussion appears to be spiraling into another tedious argument amongst ourselves that reminds me that PR people are sometimes like star-belly Sneetches by Dr. Seuss. (Read through the commentary on the PRSAY blog and others.)

Instead, we could be discussing how to better encourage and enlist non-accredited PRSA members (who make up approximately 80% of membership) for national opportunities up to and including board and officer service. This seems to me to be the crux of the group's argument. They want to have a more democratic approach:

We do not believe that democracy is being served in PRSA so long as only a small minority of its members can hold elective office.  We believe that many worthy members of PRSA who meet national leadership criteria in many other ways are being deprived of the opportunity to serve the organization.

For the record, I'm not accredited. Yet.

I have the professional short-term goal of getting my APR because I see the value in it for me. It's not for the magic letters behind my name, it's for the time, dedication, and preparation that I believe getting accredited takes that will help me be a better public relations professional. In short, I think it's worth it.

Bill Sledzik, APR, and PRSA Fellow wrote last week on this topic as well as left an insightful comment on an older post of mine:

"...The value is personal, and it comes from preparation for the exam, not from those silly letters you put on your business card.

And that's the other side of the issue. The APR doesn't communicate much to people outside of PRSA circles. It's inside baseball. The APR might make you more a effective and well- rounded pro. But it's unlikely to get you a job or a promotion.

The more important debate this week is about the rule within PRSA that restricts non-APRs from holding national office. I favor repeal of that rule so the 80% of PRSA members who don't have the magic star on their bellies can participate in governance of the society."

For me, this is about PRSA governance. We shouldn't limit ourselves in this way. I've gone back and forth this week on this week-old effort and I've come to the conclusion that I don't want PRSA to become a weak-old organization. I believe we have highly qualified APR and non-APR members serving at the local chapter levels who have the skills, desire, and time to devote to PRSA at the national level if given the opportunity. We should critically look at opportunities to adapt and change PRSA for the benefit of all members. This is one of those times for that type of discussion. I think the suggestion by Don Bates, APR, Fellow PRSA on the PRSAY post sums it up nicely:

"...I don’t think the issue posed by the petitioners should be resolved by an all or nothing approach. The PRSA board should form a task force to look at options that will allow the Society to open up the ranks of needed leadership without undermining the concrete professional value of the APR process and APR status."

I hope it doesn't continue to devolve further into the APR haves vs. have-nots argument and we keep perspective on the issue of governance.

What do you think? I'm asking my PRSA member and non-member readers to share your thoughts on this. As always, the comments are yours.

Peaks and valleys lead to what's next (or 2009 can suck it)

Image by ccferg via Flickr

One line has been stated, repeated, tweeted, retweeted and for some, even provides some relief: "2009 can suck it."

I don't consider myself to be mean-spirited or anything like that. My family just had a very difficult year. I won't bore you with the details, all I will say is peaks and valleys. Peaks and valleys.

No complaining about the past. We should always learn from the past upon going through life's (and work's) peaks and valleys and decide to move forward.

That's why I like some of the social media, communications and public relations predictions and dream posts for 2010. I think taking time to reflect on where we've been in the communications industry and look forward to organizational, collective and individual potential in the coming year is inspired.

So what's next? 
I will leave the predictions for others who have down such a good job of taking their best shots at 2010. As for me, I have some plans:

• APR - it's time to re-focus on getting accredited in public relations
• PRactice, PRactice, PRactice - I love soaking in great knowledge, lessons, and ideas from books, blogs, and presentations. In 2010 I want to put even more key points into play at work and in my professional life. (Most recent book is a must-read: The New Rules of Marketing and PR.)
  
• (Re)Learn conversational Spanish - I will be on a short-term mission trip to Spain in March for my church and I really need to get my act together on brushing up on the language. This is totally a personal thing and has been on my short-term goals list for quite some time.
  
• Seek Speaking Opportunities - I have really enjoyed the opportunities I've had to speak to professional organizations and other groups. I plan on continuing the trend and offering up such services. (I think I'm officially over my fear of public speaking.)
  
• Clean up Social Media Garbage - It's time to go back and shut down accounts for those random social media tools left unattended. You know the ones I'm talking about. Tools that popped up and folks flocked to try them out but then left them swaying in the constant breeze of the Internet.
  

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I know there will be more for me to add to the list next year. For now, this will be a place for me to start. What about you? What's next for you in 2010? The comments are yours.

Oh and before I forget, Cheers and Merry New Year from Next Communications.

Take-aways from #accredchat - August 18, 2009

Earlier today another installment of the periodic #accredchat, a Twitter chat on accreditation in public relations. I am a part of a small APR study group within the Greater Ft. Worth Chapter of PRSA who are at the beginning stages of attaining accreditation in PR.
(Image credit: Universal Accreditation Board) 

Today's conversation mainly hit on some differences and similarities between the exams in the U.S. and Canada as well as as some interesting discussion on authority and the perceptions of accreditation.

APR Readiness Review Panels
The best take-aways available today came after a question on the Readiness Review Panel process.
For those that have sat on Readiness Review Panels: What are you looking for out of an APR candidate? Expectations, etc.?

Here are some of the responses:

rayatkinson A strong understanding and demonstration of strategy and planning. Important that they can ID potential weaknesses.

kamichat For readiness review we are looking to see if you are really ready to take the exam, we are also looking at your portfolio

kristen_okla RR [Readiness Review] panelists want to see how well you think on your feet, what experiences you have to prepare you for the exam

kristen_okla RR shouldn't be confrontational but should allow you to receive honest feedback on areas where U need to focus more attn.

kamichat Also we are looking to mentor you. Do you really understand the 4-part planning process

bprickett As panelist, I want to see that you planned, set measurable goals and that your evaluation/results were measured.

If you have ever sat on an APR Readiness Review Panel, what would you add to this list?

Accredchat - June 5, 2009

In an effort to help others keep up or in some cases catch up on what was discussed during today's #accredchat, here is a snapshot document of the Twitter thread:

(Note: It is in reverse order, so if you'll have go to the last page to see where the conversations started. aLso if you want current tweets, check out the live Twitter search for #accredchat.)
accredchat6-5-09

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Other Research twitter chat #accredchat

This was the first #accredchat and I hope there are more. It was a bit confusing since there seemed to be no moderators. If it happens again, I think a panel or common questions might help.

What do you think? Was #accredchat useful? If you missed it, would you be interested in it on a weekly basis or would it be ok to organically build? The comments are yours.

Some PR people are like star-belly Sneetches

Image by badjonni via Flickr

Having kids allows me to stay current on some great new children's books as well as going back into the vault for wonderful stories I recall reading as a child.

During a recent evening story-time, I ran across a book that to my surprise reminded me of PR people who argue for/against accreditation: The Sneetches by Dr. Seuss. 

For those unfamiliar with the story, it starts off explaining that the absence of a "star" is the basis for discrimination in the Sneetch world.

Now, the Star-Belly Sneetches had bellies with stars. The Plain-Belly Sneetches had none upon thars. Those stars weren't so big. They were really so small, you might think such a thing wouldn't matter at all. But, because they had stars, all the Star-Belly Sneetches would brag, "We're the best kind of Sneetch on the beaches." With their snoots in the air, they would sniff and they'd snort, "We'll have nothing to do with the Plain-Belly sort!" And whenever they met some, when they were out walking, they'd hike right on past them without even talking. 

Now I don't seriously think there is this kind of deep discrimination between PR people with and without APR. In fact, I believe those who are Accredited in Public Relations (APR,) unlike the star-belly Sneetches, are willing to assist others in the field. However, some PR people can act like star-belly Sneetches by bickering over who are better at doing PR, those with versus those without accreditation.

(Disclaimer: I am not an APR professional, but I have decided to take steps toward earning accreditation in the near future.)

Agressively arguing over whether or not a PR person should be an APR is pretty dumb.

Accredited PR professionals will think being accredited is worthwhile. Non-accredited PR professionals (having no interest in it) will probably think it's pointless and/or question its value. While those of us who are considering it or already on the way are stuck in the middle.

What is APR?
I am looking forward to the experience of getting accredited. What I like about APR is the professional development notion best explained via the PRSA Web site:

APR is a mark of distinction for public relations professionals who demonstrate their commitment to the profession and to its ethical practice, and who are selected based on broad knowledge, strategic perspective, and sound professional judgment.

Can a PR professional be committed to his/her profession and ethics, plus have broad knowledge, strategic perspective, and display sound judgement all without having "APR" after their names? You bet.

Then why get the APR?
So then it begs the question, why get the APR? I think fellow professional communicator, Lauren Vargas, puts it best:

Why get the APR? The study process for the APR is a wonderful way for me to go back to my communication roots, discover why I chose this field and evaluate how I have practiced and put theory into practice. I am reestablishing my passion for public relations. The acronym on the signature block means nothing without the drive and results.

Translation: there is individual value in the accreditation process.

And the Sneetches?

The day they decided that Sneetches are Sneetches and no kind of Sneetch is the best on the beaches. That day, all the Sneetches forgot about stars and whether they had one, or not, upon thars.

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By the way, if you are interested in APR or ABC accreditation, join the Twitter #accredchat on Friday, June 5 at 1:00 pm  ET. Hopefully this will become a weekly chat over this worthwhile PR topic. Also, Kami Huyse, APR has some tips on getting the most out of Twitter chats.