Guth and Marsh Chapter 8

Crisis plans are necessary: Practitioners must not ignore from the get-go that things will more than likely not go exactly according to plan.

The organization’s values/mission should be the foundation of all planning. Ideally, plans will serve an immediate need as well as contribute to fulfilling the organization’s overall goals.

Standing plans can be dangerous if not constantly re-evaluated and monitored. Creating tradition can be good if those put in place remain effective and do not hold the organization back in any way.

Guth and Marsh Chapter 7

Research and evaluation are extremely important parts of PR because we often don’t know what we don’t know. Intuition and “common knowledge” about something can be wrong. Assumptions lead to ineffective public relations plans.

A plan for evaluation should be established in the beginning. Knowing the steps that will be taken in evaluation can help guide your PR plan towards specific objectives.

How you ask questions in a survey matters just as much as what and whom you ask. The way questions are worded can have a profound impact on your results.

Guth and Marsh Chapter 4

The “relating” we do with publics is to make a way to ensure resource needs are met and values/goals are achieved.

Knowledge of how much influence a public has on the organization and an understanding of how the organization affects that public is very important for reaching the desired equilibrium, that “mutually beneficial relationship” PR people are always talking about.

A PR practitioner has to be aware that publics can change frequently and must be prepared to adjust his or her efforts and strategies accordingly.

What does PR history teach you?

1. What “PR is” is not set in stone. It has changed so vastly over the years that to think we’ve got it all figured out for good now is probably naive. I will be expecting it to continue evolving.

2. Honesty and openness is VERY important because of the way PR’s history has left many people with a suspicion for it and its activities.

3. I must choose carefully whom to represent and how to represent them. It can be very difficult to separate the public’s opinion of you from its opinion of the organization you represent. Ivy Lee and Edward Bernays are good examples of the fact that history will remember you however it chooses.

Public Relations: A Values-Driven Approach Chapter 1

“Public relations fosters mutually beneficial relationships.” p.4

Public relations builds  identity by branding.

Grunig and Hunt defined PR as “the management function between and organization and its publics.” p.5 They also came up with four models of PR: press agentry, public information, two-way asymmetrical and two-way symmetrical.

PR is…a management function involving two-way communication and planned activity, a research-based social science that is socially responsible.

PR is different from marketing or advertising because of its emphasis on relationship.

The PR process is research, planning, communication, and evaluation–but things may not always go so smoothly as to flow neatly in that order.

Values-driven public relations emphasizes social responsibility.