Sunday 18 November

The Research Colloquium at this year’s World PR Forum was a great success with 100 people turning out to hear the newest ideas and research in public relations in the beautiful surrounds of the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre.

Social media was an ongoing theme with sessions focusing on its use in fashion, natural disasters and reputation management. While most public relations practitioners use social media, its implications in a global context are still being researched.

Catherine Archer presented her findings on the relationship between PR practitioners and bloggers, with many seeing bloggers as influential figures online. Kate Finch and Leah Cassidy from Murdoch University also spoke about bloggers in a fashion PR context, where they are seen as important, but not as important as traditional media outlets.

Treena Clark from the University of South Australia presented her engaging research on Aboriginal public relations, an important area of PR in Australia that is often neglected in research.

Renae Desai from Murdoch University highlighted how community engagement over social media, especially in regional areas, creates an online town hall meeting where residents can have their voices heard.

The education stream featured speakers from universities from around the globe. Graeme W. Domm shared his study on the attitudes of South East Asian Practitioners towards formal public relations education. Judy Edmond from The Manitoba Teachers’ Society presented a case study about reputation management after a scandal involving teachers and lap dancing.

The Research Colloquium also provided an opportunity for discussion with one of the major points raised by Michèle Schoenberger-Orgad from the University of Waikatowas around the need for the education system to follow what is happening in the industry. This will ensure that new graduates are work-ready as soon as they leave university.

The opening day of the WPRF came to a close with the PRIA AGM which took place at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. It was followed by the welcome drinks at the exquisite location at Eureka 89, a 360-degree panorama & event space located on the highest floor of Eureka Tower, Southbank. The Melbourne sunset set some stunning views against a wonderful backdrop which rounded off a perfect start to the forum.

Monday 19 November

The first day of the 2012 World PR Forum saw speakers from around the world cover a range of topics including public relations in sport, the laws surrounding social media and the implementation of integrated reporting.

The welcome address from Daniel Tisch of the Global Alliance set the tone of the event. This was followed by a keynote speech from Wadah Khanfar, the former Director General of Al-Jazeera, who spoke about the internet’s ability to cross borders and its effect on the modern newsroom.

A full morning was topped off by a panel discussion where Wadah was joined by Andrew Beswick from Amnesty International, Jehan Bseiso from Medecins Sans Frontieres and Archie Law from Action Aid Australia. They spoke about the importance of storytelling in journalism and how PR can add a human aspect to areas that are perceived as warzones.

At morning tea and lunch, delegates were busy discussing the various presentations and the important lessons they’d taken away from each speaker. The 800 world-leading communicators also took the opportunity to connect and network.

After the morning break, an eye-opening feature presentation from Professor Mark Pearson and Claire O’Rourke covered the legal issues surrounding social media use including how ‘liking’ a Facebook page can be considered defamation.

The program also provided any opportunity for delegates to further develop the Melbourne Mandate, which covers the organisational and societal value of public relations and communication management.

The afternoon sessions delved into diverse topics from communication after a natural disaster to consumer and lifestyle PR to integrated reporting before delegates left for the MCG to attend the Golden Target Awards and Gala Dinner.

Dave O’Neill our guest MC set the tone for the night with some great laughs against a beautiful Melbourne evening. The awards were an amazing showcase of the great work that is continuously being produced by our industry here in Australia and the Gala Dinner topped off a wonderful nights entertainment.

Tuesday 20 November

The question lingering at the beginning of day two was how do you top the first day of a World PR Forum that ended with dinner for 500 people? Particularly when dinner was at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Grounds with a spectacular sunset.

The answer was a program bursting with content and inspiring sessions from world leading communicators topped off by the arrival of even more delegates.

The final day of the 2012 WPRF continued the trend of discussing the issues relevant to the industry and sharing ideas among the best PR minds across the world. A clear theme developing from the forum was around ‘story telling’, which was a phrase echoed in many presentations.

Enthusiasm was high for the start of day two with Richard Edelman’s keynote speech painting a picture of the future of public relations and what practitioners must do to keep up with a changing world. He described PR as “the truth well told” and emphasised the need for PR to tell emotional stories just as well as our advertising counterparts. He also expressed the challenges of avoiding spin while working for an organisation concerned with litigation.

Charlie Miller from Boeing took the conference to new heights representing the manufacturer in a global environment. The company places the communications team on the decision-making table, ensuring communication and business strategies align. He discussed how Boeing fought against using a single global PR agency and instead built a network of local agencies that are aware of the PR environment in their local regions.

World PR Forum delegates found out that with the rapid development of the PR industry over the last few decades, an assumption that most practitioners have ‘done their time’ in a newsroom is far from safe.

The public relations industry tour was a welcome addition to the program of social events, which were part of the World Public Relations Forum held in Melbourne last week. The half-day tour included a mix of informative and engaging presentations, special and comprehensive access to behind the scenes, and a unique opportunity to gain insights from the ‘other side’. An added bonus was the fact that as a small group on a realistic time schedule we had plenty of time to network.

First stop was Hub Melbourne, a cooperative working space set-up to drive innovation and collaboration. Since launching in March 2011, Hub Melbourne has a professional membership community of over 700 individual ‘Hubbers’ from over 40 disciplines. The high-ceilinged, grand ballroom was buzzing with creativity and a range of hubbing activity from individual hot-deskers through to teams of half a dozen with office set-ups that looked permanent. As the Vimeo clip (http://hubmelbourne.com/coworking-space) on their website promises, there was certainly no shortage of whiteboard space and it was easy to see how the culture of respectful and collaborative working is clearly contagious in Hub’s environment.

Next it was back onto the bus and off to Federation Square for a tour of SBS Radio. Here the group split in two (and then rotated); while one group stayed downstairs for an interesting presentation about the SBS brand, the other group went upstairs for a tour of the studio, including the opportunity to read the news. If anyone in the group prior to the tour didn’t appreciate just how important is it to have their talent in the studio on time, they certainly do now! We learnt about some of the technical challenges faced in production including just how important it is to have a CD ready to go in the event of a technical emergency. Thirty seconds sounds like a long time but goes very quickly if you are trying to solve a technical problem and there is nothing to fill the silence.

Media House, on the corner of Collins and Spencer Street, was our final stop with engaging presentations from Andrew Holden, editor-in-chief of The Age and 3AW’s general manager Shane Healy. Shane took us upstairs for a tour of 3AW’s advertising section and into the studio and the newsroom. The newsreader performed exceptionally well with a last minute crowd of people watching her through the window.

Before lunch, which gave us the opportunity to chat with key staff from The Age, Andrew Holden took us on a tour of the newsroom. The tour illustrated some of the points Andrew had made in his presentation about the new direction of Fairfax and the idea of content organised into different platform categories.

Overall, the public relations industry tour provided valuable insight and was a very worthwhile addition to the program. Thank you to the Victorian division of PRIA for making the tour possible and to their president Jack Walden, who was an excellent tour guide for the day.

Blog by Caroline Vero MPRIA from the National Museum of Australia.

How do you top the first day of a World PR Forum that ends with dinner for 500 people? Particularly when dinner is at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Grounds with a spectacular sunset.

The answer is a program bursting with content and inspiring sessions from world leading communicators topped off by the arrival of even more delegates.

The final day of the 2012 WPRF continued the trend of discussing the issues relevant to the industry and sharing ideas among the best PR minds across the world. A clear theme developing from the forum was around ‘story telling’, which was a phrase echoed in many presentations.

Enthusiasm was high for the start of day two with Richard Edelman’s keynote speech painting a picture of the future of public relations and what practitioners must do to keep up with a changing world. He described PR as “the truth well told” and emphasised the need for PR to tell emotional stories just as well as our advertising counterparts. He also expressed the challenges of avoiding spin while working for an organisation concerned with litigation.

Charlie Miller from Boeing took the conference to new heights representing the manufacturer in a global environment. The company places the communications team on the decision-making table, ensuring communication and business strategies align. He discussed how Boeing fought against using a single global PR agency and instead built a network of local agencies that are aware of the PR environment in their local regions.

At the same time, Anna Adriani from illycafe discussed how she considers customers the most important part of the business. While illycafe is a private company with only 800 employees, they consider transparency to be the key to creating sustainability.

Paull Young from charity: water and Michael Sheldrick from the Global Poverty Project were a huge hit with the delegates and lit up the Twitter stream, helping #WPRF become the leading trend in Australia. They gave an inspiring presentation demonstrating how social media can bring about change. Both agreed it was important to share the progress being made with followers, rather than focus on the problem itself to prevent cynicism about charities. One of the most memorable moments of the session was the story of how the death of a nine year old girl inspired others to donate $1.2 million to charity: water in her name.

The day came to a close with the Global Alliance Chair Daniel Tisch presenting the final draft of the Melbourne Mandate, a document that will shape the code of PR practice for years to come. Daniel also announced that the 2014 World PR Forum is heading to Madrid, Spain. He also announced Kenya’s interest in hosting the 2015 World PR Forum.

The 2012 World PR Forum, which was the largest to date, closed on a high with more than 800 delegates from 29 countries having attended 3.5 days of sessions, workshops and meetings sharing knowledge and ideas.

For photos, videos and other news visit the World PR Forum Twitter and Facebook pages.

The first day of the 2012 World PR Forum saw speakers from around the world cover a range of topics including public relations in sport, the laws surrounding social media and the implementation of integrated reporting.

The welcome address from Daniel Tisch of the Global Alliance set the tone of the event. This was followed by a keynote speech from Wadah Khanfar, the former Director General of Al-Jazeera, who spoke about the internet’s ability to cross borders and its affect on the modern newsroom.

A full morning was topped off by a panel discussion where Wadah was joined by Andrew Beswick from Amnesty International, Jehan Bseiso from Medecins Sans Frontieres and Archie Law from Action Aid Australia. They spoke about the importance of storytelling in journalism and how PR can add a human aspect to areas that are perceived as warzones.

At morning tea and lunch, delegates were busy discussing the various presentations and the important lessons they’d taken away from each speaker. The 800 world-leading communicators also took the opportunity to connect and network.

An eye-opening feature presentation from Professor Mark Pearson and Claire O’Rourke covered the legal issues surrounding social media use including how liking a Facebook page can be considered defamation.

The program also provided any opportunity for delegates to further develop the Melbourne Mandate, which covers the organisational and societal value of public relations and communication management.

The afternoon sessions delved into diverse topics from communication after a natural disaster to consumer and lifestyle PR to integrated reporting before delegates left for the MCG to attend the Golden Target Awards and Gala Dinner.

The forum continues today with presentations from Richard Edelman via video-link, Charlie Miller from Boeing and a discussion on how social media can create social change.

The Research Colloquium at this year’s World PR Forum was a great success with 100 people turning out to hear the newest ideas and research in Public Relations in the beautiful surrounds of the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre.

Social media was an ongoing theme with sessions focusing on its use in fashion, natural disasters and reputation management. While most public relations practitioners use social media, its implications in a global context are still being researched.

Catherine Archer presented her findings on the relationship between PR practitioners and bloggers, with many seeing bloggers as influential figures online. Kate Finch and Leah Cassidy from Murdoch University also spoke about bloggers in a fashion PR context, where they are seen as important, but not as important as traditional media outlets.

Treena Clark from the University of South Australia presented her engaging research on Aboriginal public relations, an important area of PR in Australia that is often neglected in research.

Renae Desai from Murdoch University highlighted how community engagement over social media, especially in regional areas, creates an online town hall meeting where residents can have their voices heard.

The education stream featured speakers from universities from around the globe. Graeme W. Domm shared his study on the attitudes of South East Asian Practitioners towards formal public relations education. Judy Edmond from The Manitoba Teachers’ Society presented a case study about reputation management after a scandal involving teachers and lap dancing.

The Research Colloquium also provided an opportunity for discussion with one of the major points raised by Michèle Schoenberger-Orgad from the University of Waikatowas around the need for the education system to follow what is happening in the industry. This will ensure that new graduates are work-ready as soon as they leave university.

After a day of discussions participants were ready to take part in the 2012 World PR Forum, which runs until Tuesday November 20, 2012.

Written by Lauren Turner