PR Definition Pushed Back to the End of February

The announcement of the new definition of public relations will be pushed back to the week of February 27 in order to give the industry and the the #PRDefined campaign partners more time to consider the options, the PRSA announced today.

In a blog post, incoming chair and CEO of the organization Gerard Corbett says the partners “wouldn’t mind having more time” to review the possibilities, with the ultimate goal of taking input from the entire industry into account.

“I think it’s appropriate for us to take a refreshed perspective and implement a slightly modified direction for#PRDefined; one that will allow for greater input from our partners and the profession, in a manner befitting the project’s stature,” he writes.

The timeline for the campaign had been tweaked in December, with the final result expected later this month. Originally, the plan was to have a definition by the end of December.

According to Keith Trivitt, the associate director of PR for the PRSA, the campaign will unveil three definitions tomorrow for public comment. After three weeks, all of that info will be gathered for discussion during the Definition of PR Summit taking place at the beginning of February. The three definitions will be put back out to the public with revisions for a two-week vote. And then we’ll have the result.

“Ultimately, we want to make sure that whatever definition is voted on as the preferred one reflects the input of the profession and its wishes. Doing so, we realize, requires a very considered and deliberate approach toward this initiative,” Trivitt told us via email.

During the crowdsourcing process, the organization encourages the industry to generously give its opinion.

“Regardless of whether you love ‘em, hate ‘em or something in between, be sure to voice your thoughts on the candidate definitions. After all, we want the definition to be yours, as well as ours, and I think you’ll agree that we all want to get it right,” Corbett writes.

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