PR Dept. of PR Society Blamed for Mishaps

PR Society board members, angered at several PR mishaps including the ill-fated quest for a new definition of PR that brought widespread criticism and even ridicule to the Society, have advertised for two replacements in the department.

Sources say that associate director Keith Trivitt’s job is on the line and that of at least one other person in the department.

Arthur Yann is VP-PR for the Society and Diane Gomez is PR manager.

E-mails have been sent to Yann, Trivitt and Gomez but the only reply so far is one from Gomez saying she is out of the office from April 20-30 and will have “very little access to e-mail.”

Rosanna Fiske, 2011 chair, initiated a campaign for a new definition of PR last November that was boosted by an entire column by Stuart Elliott, ad columnist of the New York Times.

When no definition surfaced by the end of her term the quest was continued into the next year when Gerard Corbett of Bruno, Calif., became chair.

PR and other blogs had a field day denouncing the Society for not knowing the definition of PR.

The tentative definition that was finally agreed upon, after taking input from PR organizations around the world, satisfied almost no one. It was that “PR is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.”

The Society, recognizing the criticisms, said it would continue to take input on the subject.

Dave Rickey, chair of the definition of PR committee, responded to criticisms in a lengthy post on spinsucks.com Feb. 15. It drew 74 comments.

Yann Denied Existence of Written Boycott

Yann on March 6 posted on prnewser.com that there was no boycott against the O’Dwyer Co. or any other news medium although such a boycott was put in writing by the Society on Sept. 1, 2011 and enforced at the 2011 annual conference in Orlando.

The Society code calls on members to quickly correct any mistake that has appeared in the media. The National Press Club on Oct. 19, 2011 denounced the boycott and called on the Society to lift it but its plea has been ignored.

Should two PR staffers depart, they would be the seventh and eighth PR employees to leave since the late 1990s.

Previous PR staffers, latest ones first, were Joe DeRupo, Janet Troy, Cedric Bess, Libby Roberge, Richard George and Steve Erickson.