The PR Society has made available on its website audiotapes of the two bylaws teleconferences Sept. 10 and the tapes are circulating among hundreds of members.
The link provided here can be listened to immediately or downloaded and saved [right-click, "save as"] for use on an iPod or any MP3 player. Users can move through the 112-minute tape from start to finish, stopping when needed, or replaying sections as desired.
Mike Cherenson
Chair Mike Cherenson announced at the start of the bylaws teleconferences that the sessions were being taped and that anyone who took part in the sessions gave permission for such taping.
The teleconferences, including six more that are scheduled, are a move to build consensus among Assembly delegates and the membership for a complete revision of the current bylaws. Debates about many sections of the proposed bylaws are taking place in the governance e-group of PRS and on PRSAY, a blog on the PRS website that is open to non-members as well as members.
PRS leaders have long emphasized that the Society represents not only members but the entire industry worldwide ("world’s leading advocate for communications professionals").
Members have criticized proposals to end district representation on the national board (all directors would be at-large); that only those who have served as directors could be officers; that "direct" voting by the 22,000 members would elect board and officers (a "quorum" being 500 members voting in person or by proxy); directors could serve four years in a row; a board member would chair the nominating committee and the board could expel a member at its "sole discretion."
Member Questions Start at 22:20
Member questions did not start until 22:20 of the p.m. session when a delegate from San Diego asked if it were true, as stated in an e-mail to the chapter from Jack O’Dwyer of this website, that advertising people would be sought as members.
One of the answers, by 2007 chair Jeff Julin, was that PRS is trying to "grow the discipline of building relationships" and that if ads were aimed at that purpose they would become "a powerful PR tool." There would be no reason to reject an advertising copywriter if the ads worked to build relationships, he said.
In the first 22 minutes, Cherenson welcomed those on the call and gave the rationale behind some of the changes. He said that by broadening PRS to include advertising and other communications professionals, PRS could become "even bigger and better." (12.00).
Cherenson: Make Them Part of Us
Cherenson, at approximately 30.00 in the session, said the aim is to make PRS more "inclusive" and that "If we can make them part of us, we can make them better."
He sees the new bylaws as "an opportunity to improve the entire communications community…a huge opportunity for us."
Cherenson said that anyone who joins PRS will have to agree to abide by the code. He then said (34.00) that he doubted that journalists could sign the code because they may not "safeguard confidences."
Said Cherenson: "So if I read through, if I am a reporter can I sign this code of ethics. I don’t know. I don’t think I could. It’s not that they’re unethical. They abide by a different code."
A member then commented that an unethical reporter could sign the code and Cherenson remarked: "That’s another issue."
At the 38:00 mark, Cherenson said that members should not complain about "vendors" being members because the role of vendors in the PR industry has changed over the years. Some PR newswires were once considered vendors but they are "now part of strategic communications," he said.
"Let’s face it," said Cherenson, "most agencies are in a vendor capacity as well in looking for corporate clients and often hawking their wares and trying to secure clients."
APR No Test of Leadership
When several callers decried the proposed removal of APR as an absolute requirement for national board service (42:00), Rickey and Cherenson noted that the APR exam does not test for leadership skills.
"APR does not mean you are going to be a great leader," said Rickey.
At 53:00 Rickey noted that the trend in associations is not to demand any particular credentials for leadership posts.
There is a "clear trend across the board" and it "flew up in our faces" that few organizations were requiring "certificates" of any kind, said Rickey.
A caller said the APR requirement has driven away CEOs and PR people from the "big shops" and PR executives from big corporations.
Cherenson said PRS is saying to such major executives that "We want your dues but you can’t be on our national board…this is not very democratic."
A caller (at the one hour mark) said PRS leaders have offered "no compelling argument" for depriving the ten districts of representatives on the national board.
He said the board could wind up with directors from the two coasts and no one in between. He cited a poll of members that found that 75% want to keep district representation on the board.
Senior members have long said that the 35-year bar against non-APRs serving in national posts is the main cause of the shortage of candidates.
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Responses:
PR Godfather, APR, Fellow PRSA (9/18):
Wow! Which leader(s) didn't put their foot in their mouth?