Message from the IPRA President: That party in Sofia and embracing our LinkedIn Members October 2017

(Comments)

7 years, 1 month ago

 First a reminder. We are barely 2 weeks away from IPRA’s annual Golden World Awards Gala, in Sofia, Bulgaria. IPRA’s GWA Gala is one of great collegiality among PR professionals from across the globe and features a conference exploring AI and VR trends in PR. Tickets for both events are available here: www.ipra.org  

Linking up

There is an interesting aspect to the global community of IPRA members connected through LinkedIn. In one sense this is an inclusive group, opening its arms to all communication professionals who share a willingness to exchange information, experience and insights as well as the feeling of belonging to one another through their profession. On the other, is it also a loosely knit group with little or no rules and no centrifugal force.

Or is there?

In fact, IPRA does have a unifying and uniting principle. It is the IPRA Code of Conduct, which itself is the offspring of various predecessors, known as declarations named after the cities in which they were adopted. I have written of this Code before and promised IPRA would undertake steps to make it easier for IPRA members in the LinkedIn group to endorse the code. Because by endorsing the code, they become truer IPRA members. It starts them on a path with entitlement to add to their name and professional details, the IPRA logo.

Is this important?

Well, for IPRA to go forth in the world of the communication profession it makes a difference. It is the difference of speaking out on topics and issues on behalf of a global community of professionals who have explicitly endorsed the Code. It is the undisputed sign of a community held together by more than professional exchange or collegiality. The Code, after all, aspires to provide a professional and moral bandwidth. Endorsing and supporting that Code is what makes us strong and durable. A few years back, when IPRA was considering its membership policy the then President suggested we create an opportunity for PR professionals to interact with IPRA for free. The proposal made sense in a fast-changing world of social media. I think we made a wise decision and the fact we now have a thriving LinkedIn group proves the point.

But we did omit one thing

What is that element of cohesion? None of us professionals wake up every day to think of this Code first. But none of us should never think about it either. That is why IPRA has started a drive with our LinkedIn members to endorse the Code and maybe start a pathway to more fully participate in IPRA. LinkedIn members can reach a special page on the IPRA website to tell us they support the IPRA Code of Conduct: https://www.ipra.org/member-services/code-of-conduct-linkedin/ This drive has so far yielded excellent results in its first week alone. I urge the rest of our LinkedIn members to participate today.

Bart de Vries

President 2016 – 2017

• ← IPRA’s code of PR ethics translated into Swahili
• IPRA extends co-operation in Africa with 3 new agreements →