What Can APR Accreditation Do for You?

Anybody can hang out a shingle and call themselves a public relations professional, but the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and friends allows PR pros to prove their skill with the Accreditation in Public Relations (APR). In today’s extraordinarily tight job market, APR accreditation allows PR pros to prove to potential employers, clients and partners that they knows their stuff. Not to mention, the APR is the public relations industry’s only post-graduate certification program. (Read more…)

Pay-for-Play PR – Is the Gamble Worth It?

Pay-for-play or pay-for-performance PR is a tempting proposition. It’s akin to lottery and casino come-ons, filled with the promise of winning the big jackpot. Only the jackpot here is landing a story placement in a major media outlet. (Read more…)

The Strange Relationship Between Public Relations and the Media

The public relations industry and the media have always enjoyed a curious relationship. Those in the public relations industry will tell you that the media can’t do its job without PR flacks. Media folk, meanwhile, will suggest that public relations departments are little more than mouthpieces for people who would still speak to the media if the public relations industry never existed. And both viewpoints are correct–to a point. (Read more…)

Ethics and Public Relations: Do They Go Together?

For a public relations firm, Seyferth Spaulding Tennyson was keeping quiet. The Grand Rapids, Michigan-based outfit had found itself embroiled in a scandal in a town of less 5,000 on the shores of Lake Michigan. Seyferth Spaulding Tennyson’s client was Meijer Inc., a family-owned grocery and goods retailer that is one of America’s largest privately owned companies. Together they faced a public relations crisis that questioned the ethical standards of the public relations industry. (Read more…)

A Public Relations Profile: Kelly Larabee

In my career as a journalist, I’ve dealt with hundreds, possibly thousands, of people who work in the  public relations industry in one capacity or another. Unfortunately, not many of those public relations professionals stick out in my mind. There is one PR rep who I’ve had the pleasure to know for the past few years, engaging in regular and long discussions about public relations, the media, and other issues of interest to PR Fuel readers. (Read more…)

What’s the Right Public Relations Agency for You?

When choosing the right public relations agency for your business, you first must determine your goals. Do you want to enhance brand awareness? Establish solid media relations? Drive customers to your business? All of the above? The answers to these and other questions will help you determine what size public relations agency can best serve your needs. (Read more…)

A Day Without PR People

Did you hear the news? Friday is Public Relations Appreciation Day — in Tucson, Arizona.

Mayor Bob Walkup made the declaration earlier this week to help celebrate a conference being held in The Old Pueblo by The Public Relations Society of America’s Western District. (Read more…)