Eric Moses, president of PRSA/L.A.,the fourth biggest chapter with more than 500 members, has announced chapter support of the Committee for a Democratic PRSA which wants to remove the APR rule for board and officer service.

Moses, pictured, said the chapter’s board believes that the Society "ought to distinguish its members by their professional talents and passion for advancing the profession — whether or not they are APR — and find national leaders among them."

Moses notes that fewer than 20% of the Society's members are APR meaning that about 17,000 members cannot run for national office.

The APRs have blocked non-APRs from seeking office since the mid-1970s.

Moses said the board’s support of the APR program is not involved since it believes the APR process “provides professional development and distinction for those who hold certification.”

The board is urging chapter members to sign the Committee’s petition.

Society Board Meets Friday; Questions Sent to Board


The national board, having skipped the traditional quarterly meeting in April, will meet Friday in Atlanta.

Board members as well as the 19 candidates have been e-mailed the following questions by this website.

Editor Jack O'Dwyer said that "While the move to end rule by the APRs is progress, there are numerous abuses and undemocratic practices that must be ended now and can’t wait the four or five years before the board has a majority of non-APRs on it."

Chief among these, he said, is the board’s refusal to publish a list of the 2010 Assembly delegates who were elected, according to the bylaws, by Jan. 1, 2010.

"No other legislature or governing body in the world, including Cub Scout packs, keeps secret the members of its rule-making body," he said.

The following questions have been sent to the national board as well as the 19 candidates for national board and officer posts.

Thus far, the only candidate who has answered them for publication is Regina Lewis, chief communications officer, The Potter's House of Dallas, a non-denominational "megachurch."

Questions Listed:

Questions for PRSA candidates and Society board members from Jack O’Dwyer, editor, www.odwyerpr.com:

1. Do you favor posting a list of the 300 or so Assembly delegates in a prominent position on the Society website, supplying individual e-mails as well as one e-mail that reaches all delegates? The delegates were elected as of Jan. 1, 2010, according to the Society bylaws. The last published list of Assembly delegates was in 2006. Deliberative bodies, including those of the ABA, AMA and AICPA, identify their members. Society delegates last year did not get access to the list of delegates until a week before the Assembly and it was only given to those who made a personal request for it.

( ) Yes ( ) No Comments:

?2. Do you favor removing any requirement for national board and officer service and Ethics Board service except being a paid-up member of the Society? The Committee for a Democratic PRSA, headed by Richard Edelman, Art Stevens and Dave Rickey is collecting signatures on a petition to remove APR as a requirement for national board or officer posts.

( ) Yes ( ) No Comments:

?3. Do you favor audiocasting the 2010 Assembly? Cost would be no more than several hundred dollars assuming several hundred members would be listening at any one time. Audiocasting cost is about 25 cents per simultaneous listener and is technically easy. Leaders have been seeking ways to involve members and this would be one. Leaders audiocast several speeches at the 2009 annual conference.

( ) Yes ( ) No Comments:

?4. Do you favor making available to members the transcripts of the 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 Assemblies? (Transcript of 2009 Assembly was not prepared but could be).

( ) Yes ( ) No Comments:

5. Should the Society provide a PDF of the 21,000 membership list broken out into members’ list, geographical index and organizational index? The PDF would be up-to-date and changes could be sent monthly.

( ) Yes ( ) No Comments:

6. Should the Society PDF both Tactics and Strategist, saving on printing and postage?

( ) Yes ( ) No Comments:

?7. Should the Society replace departing staff members with senior and mid-level PR professionals to the point where at least one-quarter of the staff are PR pros? (This would provide the personnel needed to launch a PR for PR program and supply a full time brain trust that could work on problems and opportunities of the Society). Association, legal and marketing cultures appear dominant at h.q. rather than the PR culture which champions transparency and takes a conciliatory approach to critics.

( ) Yes ( ) No Comments:

?8. Should the Society institute proportional voting in the Assembly so that a chapter with twenty members gets two-tenths of a vote rather than one full vote (the same as a chapter with 100 members)? Smaller chapters have disproportionate influence in the Assembly. This would make the Assembly more like the U.S. House of Representatives which provides seats based on population. All members of the U.S. House and Senate are identified at all times and take comments from constituents throughout the year.

( ) Yes ( ) No Comments:

?9. Should the Society consider moving most of its offices to a city with much lower occupancy costs than New York? The AICPA (accountants) and other groups moved most offices to other states while maintaining midtown New York facilities. Staff costs of PRSA were $5.36 million in 2009 or 53% of revenues when this figure is about 35% for groups of the same size (from the American Society of Assn. Executives).

( ) Yes ( ) No Comments:

?10. Should the Society consider chapter-only membership, copying the American Society of Assn. Executives and many other groups? (National membership would be optional.)

( ) Yes ( ) No Comments:

?11. Should the Society website again provide a single list of the 110 chapter presidents and their contact information? (The current website requires a member to visit 110 chapter websites to get such information.)

( ) Yes ( ) No Comments:

?12. Should the Society again provide the names and contact points of all the staffers in a single file as used to appear in the printed Bluebook of Members? (Only seven staff members are identified on the current website.)

( ) Yes ( ) No Comments:

?13. Should the Society convert the June "Leadership Rally" into an Assembly with voting powers? (For many years until 1986 there was a "Spring Assembly" which was dropped because of "budget" problems. The Leadership Rally provides 110 chapter president-elects, 16 Section chairs and ten district chairs with $550 each in cash to offset expenses plus five meals (two breakfasts, two lunches and one dinner). Cost is well over $100,000.)

( ) Yes ( ) No Comments:

?14. If you favor removing APR as a requirement for national board or officer service, do you favor doing so forthwith so any member can run for office this summer based upon their stands on various issues? (A special Assembly could vote this by proxy with ten days' notice). As of early July, there are more than three months remaining until the election Oct. 16 and plenty of time to do this.

( ) Yes ( ) No Comments: