Revenues of PR Society of America dipped to $11,159,091 in 2014 from $11,405,304 in 2013 and are now below the $11,426,867 revenues of 2006. Society leaders and staff are mum on the results. Kathy Barbour is Society chair.

The Society has posted its 2014 audit on it website but there is no accompanying story on the report. It is not in the newsroom and in any case only members are allowed to view the results.

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Kathy Barbour

Members suspected of providing the audit to the press have their web privileges revoked without a hearing.

Operating expenses of $10,949,248 resulted in a profit of $209,843. Investment income totaled another $186,222 for an increase in net assets of $396,065 to $5,362,398.

The Society, unlike most other trade associations, books dues as cash except for $361,020 allocated to its publications. Deferring dues income until it is earned would chop about $2.5 million from its net assets, reducing them to $2.8 million.

Payroll costs were $5,321,535 or an average of $96,755 per staffer assuming a staff of 55 full-time employees.

Dues income of $5,038,225 averages out to $229 for the 22,000 members. The Society is not responding to questions about the audit.

Spending on “ethics” rose to $2,105 from $1,057 in 2013, which was the all-time low for that category.

Webinar Income Fell

Income from seminars and webinars fell to $438,643 from $753,523 because the Society is giving free $150 webinars to members as an incentive to keep them.

The national conference in Washington, D.C., last year brought in $1,655,137 and cost $1,228,548. The 2013 conference in Philadelphia grossed $1,417,340 and cost $1,041,080.

Investments include common stocks worth $1,859,115 as of Dec. 31, 2014; corporate bonds and preferred stock worth $1,205,153, and certificates of deposit worth $1,149,000.

Former CEO William Murray, who left the Society as of June 1 last year, received a bonus of $63K in 2013 and $61K in 2012. His 2013 pay total was $430K.

Leaders Mum on O’Dwyer Boycott

Joseph Truncale, installed as CEO in January, has yet to answer whether the O’Dwyer Co. will be allowed to exhibit at the national conference at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis Nov. 8-10. He was also asked two months ago if any O’Dwyer staffer can join the Society and whether he will come to the O’Dwyer offices and view a box of articles that the Society was selling for its infopack service that operated from 1978-94.

A comment is being sought from Prof. John Forde of Mississippi State University, head of the Universal Accreditation Board, on the steep dip in new APRs that has taken place. Only 97 new APRs were created by eight member organizations in 2014, an all-time low. There were 180 new APRs in 2013 and 170 in 2012. More than 300 APRs were regularly created each year in the 1980s and 1990s when the Society only had 15,000 members. The UAB was not created until 1998.

The public affairs department of MSU, told about the difficulty of reaching Forde, said that if he does not wish to respond, that is up to him.

We have written to Marriott CEO Bill Marriott asking for his intercession at ending the O’Dwyer boycott which has taken place at Marriott hotels since 2011. Marriott hotels do not have on-premise PR staffers. Marriott h.q. does not take emails.

Marriott PR head Kathleen Matthews, whose husband hosts MSNBC’s “Hardball with Chris Matthews,” has talked about running next year for the seat of Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.)

She is on the boards of Catholic Charities Foundation, Ford’s Theatre and Shakespeare Theatre Company.