Happy New Year

This new year offers newer challenges to the Public Relations community worldwide...not only professionally but more importantly in finding solutions to the global problems that face our people, our only home-Earth. Remember collectively we can bring about the positive change around the world through effective communication. Let us put our heads together for leaving this earth for the posterity...for our children...a better place to live in!

Bloggers Code of Ethics

The Ogilvy PR's team has designed code of ethics for the bloggers. A must read. Click here.

Conference Registration

Further to my earlier communication, the brochure and registration form can be downloaded from either the website of Chennai Chapter or Chandigarh Chapter of PRSI, or you can also get in touch with the respective chairman of the local chapter of PRSI for registering yourself for the Conference.

All India PR Conference

The next All India PR Conference is being held in Chennai on 13-15 December 2007 at Hotel Green Park, Chennai.
The theme of this conference is, Public Relations & Infrastructure Development in India.
The registration details are as follows :
PRSI Members : Rs. 4,000/- per delegate (for registrations before 15 November '07)
: Rs. 4,500/- per delegate (after 16 November '07)
Non-Members : Rs. 5000/- per delegate (for registrations before 15 November '07)
: Rs. 5,500/- per delegate (after 16 November '07)
Participant's spouse : Rs. 2,000/- per delegate
Full-time Students : Rs. 2,000/- per delegate
Foreign delegates : US$ 250 per delegate
* 10% concession on total delegate fee for 3 or more delegates from the same organisation.
** Rupees 1000/- each for sight seeing on 16th December 2007 (Optional)

You can download the Conference Brochure and Registration Form from PRSI Chennai Chapter's website.

PR for Hospitality Industry

With booming tourism and the hospitality industry, here is a lesson for all of us, not to do what this hotel did to its valued customer. The customer made a power point and sent it to the hotel management as well as to their friends, and now it is available on the net. I am sure this would have turned away numerous customers from this hotel over the years. It is worth going thru this presentation.

Do We Believe in Ourselves?

In a recent interaction with the district public relations officer of a state government, during a training programme for them, it was surprising to know that despite their being in the department for over two decades, majority of them were not very happy with their jobs.
The reason was obvious; right from their immediate superiors to their bosses in the political circles were not interested either in making a policy changes for the good of the people, but just to see their mug-shots and statements into the press. The bigger the photo, the happier they are.
There is lack of opportunity for showing their creative abilities, and their opinion does not hold any value for their superiors.
It is time that all the politicians, MLAs, and senior bureaucrats are sensitised about the importance of doing good, and then getting themselves written about rather than the other way round.

Seminar on Community Radio

Seminar on
Community Radio for Social Empowerment
Chandigarh . October 6-7, 2007

Media Information and Communication Centre of India (MICCI) is organising a two-day seminar on Community Radio in Chandigarh.

All those engaged in the field of community radio, government, academia, corporate sector, representatives of various voluntary bodies, producers, equipment suppliers, etc., are invited to join in.

There is no registration fee for participating in this seminar. However, every participant must confirm in writing and register with the secretariat on or before 1st of October 2007.

Each participant must make his/her own travel and stay arrangements.

The seminar is being organised in the wake of the Government's policy of allowing NGOs to set up their own community radio stations. The forum will therefore explore ways to overcome the challenges through collaboration, information shsaring, and mutual learning, while working out the modalities of operationlising the opportunities that it offers now to the NGOs.

Register Now:
Please fax/email/mail your confirmation of participation with your complete contact details, including name, address, organization, telephone, mobile, fax, and email id, to:
Ms Navjot Gill
Media Information & Communication Centre of India c/o Core Communications Pvt Ltd
3366, FF, Sector 32D, Chandigarh 160 031
Phones: 0172-2613190, 5001581
Email: info@corepr.com

National Headquarter:
Media Information and Communication Centre of India (MICCI)
94 B, Second Floor, DDA Flats, Shahpur Jat
New Delhi: 110049
Phone: 011-26492191
E-mail: miccind@gmail.com,
Web Site: www.micci.in

Dr. Kalam's Podcast

Have you heard Dr. Abdul Kamal on "Top 10 Challenges and Role of Youth" on the 60th anniversary of our independence? Click here for an exclusive podcast produced by Mr. K. Srinivasan of PR Point. Our heartiest congratulations for giving an opportunity to everyone to listen to the great philosopher of our times, Dr. Kalam.

Chandigarh Tourism on the move

Chandigarh Tourism deserves kudos for excellent move to popularise the city as a perfect destination for business and leisure. Every day there is an addition to some of the other activity that is involving more and more people. The Director Public Relations and Tourism, Mr. Vivek Atray, is the man with the vision, and vitality who is definitely making things happen. More

Remembering Dilgir

Chandigarh Chapter of PRSI organised a special function on the birth anniversary of late Prof H.S. Dilgir on 18th August.
On the occasion Prof Dilgir's book, "Scattered Thoughts", a collection of poems, was released by Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal, Member of Parliament and State Minister for Finance, Govt of India.
Prof Dilgir was the founder chairman of the Chandigarh Chapter.

International PR Conference in Tehran

Kargozar Public Relations Institute (KPRI) will hold Iran 4th International Conference on Public Relations in Tehran on 15-16 November 2007.
The conference is aimed at exchanging Public Relations knowledge in an international level and promoting the profession in Iran by holding some expertise seminars and workshops on public relations different fields. Some expertise exhibition will be also set up during the conference.
For further information, and registration details, please click here.

Good Design is Good Business

This nugget of wisdom came from Thomas Watson Jr, former IBM CEO, while addressing the Wharton School of Business in 1973. The Indian companies with the opening up of the economy have also started realising the importance of good design, whether it is product, services, or communication. A well executed design brings in lot of respect, brand identity and loyalty, and trust, especially when it precisely communicates corporate philosophy and is consumer friendly.
The Indian designers therefore are much in demand across the globe for their aesthetics and ergonomics which they are capable of creatively deploy in the products.
It is worth reading the latest 'Outlook Business' for a comprehensive overview of the emerging communication scenario and how the design, or the visual imagery, is being used not as a mere support function but as a part of the corporate strategy.

Corporate Image Monitor

There is another interesting study on corporate image of top 20 Indian companies, a study conducted periodically by AC Nielson ORG-MARG.

Chandigarh is the Cleanest City

Chandigarh has been declared as the cleanest city in India, by a survey conducted by A.C. Nielsen ORG MARG, covering 18 state capitals, including the metros, on the basis of the opinion of citizens on cleanliness in their cities.
Chandigarh city emerged the best city with a score of 144, followed by Chennai with a score of 118 and Kolkata, with a score of 108. Others in that order are Bangalore, Bhubaneshwar, Lucknow, and Trivandrum. Delhi ranked 9th with a score of (99), which is below the all-city average of 100.
The city cleanliness survey was commissioned by Lifebuoy.

PR Events

On 2-3 August 2007:
Marcus Evans, Malaysia is organising a seminar on corporate communication at Mumbai. (There is special discount for PRSI members). Further details can be obtained from Mr. VAvinesh Nadarajan, Phone: +603 27236600, avineshn@marcousevanskl.com.

13-15 December 2007:
29th All India PR Conference is being held in Chennai, India. Further information can be obtained from Mr. R.K.Dharan, PRSI Vice President South, rkdharan@yahoo.com

PR at a cross-road!

Last week, while conducting a training programme for the senior officers of the PR department of a state Government, I came across some interesting queries as we discussed the subject of ethical practices in PR :

One, "what would you say since most of the news and the special sections for the state government's news that the media provides in their editorial columns is squarely dependent upon the government's advertising released to them? The state government has massive advertising budget running into crores that is dangled before the newspapers to receive 'positive' coverage. Isn't it 'news for money' policy?"

Two, "media relationship is a 'hate-hate' relationship. They abuse the government PR department and we also do not give a damn to them since we know that they would report what we want so long as the ads are released to them."

Three, "are the editors of the newspapers truly the journalists or the marketing men?" The last question cropped in contest with the recent cash prize of Rs.25,000 given to the editor of a vernacular daily by its management for bringing in more advertising revenue to the newspaper in the previous year.

Valid questions. Need to be mulled over.

CJ Singh
http://prsichd.blogspot.com/

Punjab Govt to Engage Private PR Professionals

The Punjab Government would formulate a policy to provide recognition to the PR Companies and private PR  practitioners  to insure their involvement in ongoing government’s PR activities, under Public-Private Partnership (PPP).

 Mr. Jagjit Puri, Secretary, Information and Public Relations, Punjab disclosed this while presiding over a seminar on Achieving Excellence in PR through IT Intervention organized by Public Relations Society of India, (PRSI) Chandigarh Chapter.  

In his presidential address Mr. Puri advised PRSI to  compile a directory with details of PR Companies working in India and  abroad  to help the PR Department to  use their services for media management in in other states or abroad.

Talking about long emotional attachment with PR, Mr. Puri recollected his memoirs when he was a University student and started his carrier as an Assistant Public Relations Man in some Private Company. He said that today the Information technology had totally changed the face of the world, all the borders and barriers had been eliminated and flow of information became very easy through internet networking. Mr. Puri urged PR practitioners to continuously upgrade their technological skills for collective interface with the media to reach out to the grassroots level. Mr. Puri also underlined various PR challenges faced by the state government for effective flow of communication. 

Col Rajesh Dua, General Manager, IT, Punjab Infotech in his key note address touched upon 4 step PR Process of Research, Planning~ Communicating and Evaluating. He gave detailed account of current technologies and their applications for strategic information systems. He said that managing a local problem, partnership between general, IT and users management is crucial and e-governance is not about transporting processes, but transforming processes. 

 Earlier in her welcome address, Ms. Renuka B. Salwan, Chairperson of the Chandigarh Chapter said that technological changes have a significant impact on communication and PR professionals have to adopt it fully. PR is an information related discipline and information data banks help in PR planning and strategies. On the occasion, she also announced to annually organize Dilgir Memorial lecture every year on his birthday falling in August.

Mr Charanjit Singh, Managing Director, Core PR stated that for achieving professional excellence, it is imperative to be competitive, ethical and truthful. For effective and efficient  management of PR campaigns ,   PR practitioners should  learn to use the entire range of communication tools available with them whether traditional or the modern ones like webcasting, blogging, podcasting, etc.

PRSI Chandigarh Chapter honours Vivek Atray with Award of Excellence

Chandigarh Chapter of Public Relations Society of India (PRSI) has selected Mr. Vivek Atray for the PRSI Award of Excellence for his contribution to the Public Relations.

 

The award was presented at the seminar held on "Achieving Excellence in PR through IT intervention" as a part of National PR Day celebrations here today at the Chandigarh Press Club.

 

Mr. Atray had been instrumental in professionalising the public relations in the UT administration and has immensely contributed to enhancing the image of the city and promoting it as a tourism destination through extensive use of effective communication techniques.

 

CJ

April 21 is the National PR Day

Heartiest greetings to the PR fraternity on the National PR Day.

 

On 21st of April 1968, the PRSI organised the first All India Public Relations Conference in New Delhi, and adopted the Code of Athens (adopted by the International Public Relations Association as the code of ethics for the PR practitioners), for the PR practitioners in India.

 

All those who wish to read the Code of Ethics and the Global Protocol on Ethics in Public Relations, can download from the PRSI Chandigarh Chapter website. http://www.prsi.in/code_of_ethics.htm.

 

As we observe this year, let us remind ourselves, that this day, the 21st April, is the annual reminder to update ourselves and at least read and understand the code of ethics enumerated for the PR practitioners, and adopt them in our lives to practice it truthfully.

 

CJ

 

April 21 is the National PR Day

Heartiest greetings to the PR fraternity on the National PR Day.

 

On 21st of April 1968, the PRSI organised the first All India Public Relations Conference in New Delhi, and adopted the Code of Athens (adopted by the International Public Relations Association as the code of ethics for the PR practitioners), for the PR practitioners in India.

 

All those who wish to read the Code of Ethics and the Global Protocol on Ethics in Public Relations, can download from the PRSI Chandigarh Chapter website. http://www.prsi.in/code_of_ethics.htm.

 

As we observe this year, let us remind ourselves, that this day, the 21st April, is the annual reminder to update ourselves and at least read and understand the code of ethics enumerated for the PR practitioners, and adopt them in our lives to practice it truthfully.

 

CJ

 

Mediation: The next big leap in judicial reforms

The International Centre for Alternative Dispute Resolution is organising a one-day conclave in Chandigarh on April 21.

 

Dr. H.R. Bhardwaj, Union Minister for Law and Justice shall inaugurate this Conference, with many judges of the Supreme Court of India, Chief Justice and other judges of the Panjab and Haryana High Court participating.

 

This is the next best option for the litigants to find prompt redressal of their grievances through out-of-court settlement. Already Delhi, and Maharashtra have set up the ADR (Alternate Dispute Resolution) courts.

 

The organisers and the participants at the Chandigarh conference look forward to having similar ADR court in the city.

 

CJ

International Conference on Innovative Tourism

The first international conference on Innovative Tourism begins on 21st April 2007. 

 

Some of the major highlights would be the focus on four major potentials of tourism, namely, medical, religious, eco, and adventure.

 

Chandigarh which is emerging as the hub of tourism activities, intends to increase the average stay of a visitor in the city to 3/4 days instead of using it as a mere transit base.  The attempt is to make it as a base station for the tourists to go around within the 200-300 km radius and visit other tourist locations.

 

The city itself has consideratble interesting sites, and great ambiance for everyone visiting the play to enjoy.

 

CJ

Big 92.7 FM is Number One

Chandigarh media scene is alive and throbbing, especially with the launch of two private radio stations, Big 92.7FM and MyFM 94.3, owned by Adlabs and Dainik Bhaskar respectively. The city had earlier had only one local channel of AIR, and last year saw the transmission of AIR Rainbow from Delhi through Kasauli transmission, adding zest to the radio buffs. Even the local AIR station had seen the advent of many private software producers for which the trend was set by RadioBuzz in November 2002, that provided some zing to the programmes.

And Chandigarh appears to be on the radar of everyone including the market research organisations which thought of moving out of the metro-oriented listenership surveys and explore the Tier-II cities. In March-April 2007, Mumbai based Indica Research Consumer Insights, which has numerous listernship surveys to its credit, conducted the research in Chandigarh across the age groups of 15-34 yrs ( male & female), households belonging to SEC A/B/C.
Obviously both the private radio channels, BigFM and MyFM scored a lead over the All India Radio Rainbow. And amongst these three, Big92.7FM has emerged as leader with 82 percent overall listenership.
Music being a key differentiator, BIG 92.7 FM’s music positioning has received the endorsement of Chandigarh with 81% of Chandigarh voting it the best on Music.. My FM has also received thumbs up for their music by 64% of Chandigarh, both scoring above AIR Rainbow in the parameter of most enjoyable stations to listen to with 77% and 69% votes respectively, which AIR scored 18 percent.
As to the popularity of the RJs amongst city listeners, for their distinct lingual flavour and persona, Pankaj, Meenakshi, Nidhi of BIG FM have scored the maximum votes to be the top 3 RJs of the City. MyFM’s RJ Khushi ranks 7th amongst the top 10s, while other being from BigFM.
CJ Singh . CorePR

Photo Exhibition

Our friend from Public Relations Haryana, who has made a mark as a photographer with numerous awards to his credit, is putting up the exhibition of his latest collection at Panjab Kala Bhavan, Sector 16, Chandigarh. The Exhibition opens tomorrow, i.e. 19th April at 5:15pm. Let us join him and compliment him in person. CJ

Budget Your PR efforts

April is the month for the PR people to review the results of their efforts of the past and plan for the future. One of the essential component is to consolidate the report for your organisation or each of your clients with the results achieved through various PR initiatives last year. And get ready for the presentation on what you want to accomplish in the coming 12 months.
This exercise is of tremendous help, and has several advantages. One, it makes you proactive; two, it helps the top management understand the need for professional PR support in all its operations; three, it provides you with the opportunity to plan your activities and get approvals for the budgets.
However, do incorporate the proposed timelines, and measurement parameters of your success.
Best of luck in this year of pig, which, in the Chinese culture, is associated with fertility and virility, and bearing children in the year of the pig is considered very fortunate, as they will be happy and honest.
So it is a happy time for PR people to show their 'fertility and virility' in culling out newer ideas and launch newer campaigns (your children), which should bring happiness for all stake-holders, provided they are 'honest'...based on ethical professional values.
Happy April :)
CJ, CorePR

Lie travels faster than the truth?

Last month has seen two major rumours showing the power of communication, especially if it is a lie. I remember what Mark Twain once said, “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting its shoes on.”

The rumour of deaths by mobile phones travelled all across the northern region within one day, while a week back, the rumour of 'impending earthquake' kept many people out of their homes the whole night. My enquiries revealed that most of the people received phone calls from friends or relatives informing that an 'earthquake is expected so rush out'. The entire Panjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, was affected within a matter of hours...and it all happened between 1am and 3am.

The question is: who started it? And how come majority of the people believed it, without realising that the mankind has yet to reach a stage to be able to predict earthquakes.

Prof. H.S. Dilgir is no more

We have lost the father-figure of journalism, author, journalist, Public Relations professional, playright, theatre artist, film producer, and more importantly, a truly saintly Teacher, and a great human being. He was the founder president of the Chandigarh Chapter of Public Relations Society of India, and had attended several all India PR conferences. A visiting faculty to several journalism and public relations departments to various universities, he had authored several books on public relations, and journalism.
He was admitted in Sector 32 Hospital today morning as he complained about breathlessness, but on reaching there at 9:30am he had a heart attack and his blood pressure also dropped suddenly. Though the doctors struggled on and despite our best of prayers, he passed away at 3pm. He had willed to donate his body and with the concurrence of his wife and two daughters, the body was handed over to the Govt Medical College, Sector 32 hospital, while the eyes were gifted immediately to the eye bank in the hospital. He was a great man, who cared about every little thing, and would go all the way to help anyone. After his retirement he had taken sojourn in the Nadiali village where he built up his library and taught little children. He spearheaded the literacy movement in his small hamlet, a village of few families, where no one, especially the girls, had any schooling. But he relentlessly dedicated his life to ignite the power of learning amongst children, and helped many children graduate from the village.
Like me who had the opportunity to know him right from the days in the department of journalism, there are countless students around the globe who cherish some of the choicest moments that we spent with him. I had the good fortune of being with him till the last moment.
He lives amongst us. Physically, his eyes would light up someone's lives. His body would give the insight to the medical students, to learn and save many lives, in their professional life time. We salute him. And pray to God, to give peace to the departed soul...though we know that though he left in peace, living his life to the fullest, he would not rest...and would be preparing for his next plan of action.
CJ Singh

PR Accreditation

PR Accreditation is a big issue and I have been writing about it for quite some times, but not much progress has been achieved. In the recently concluded PR meet in Goa which included the national council meeting also on the 18th, Dr. Ajit Pathak, President, PRSI, informed "about the efforts taken by the PRSI in getting accreditation for public relations practitioners from the Centre on the lines of the highly developed countries, in tune with the emerging economic environment."
This is a good initiative but at the same time the involvement of Centre, or the PIB, or the HR ministry should be restricted only to the extent of regulating and managing the appointment, and promotions of the PR practitioners in the government PR set-up, with the rider to obtain accreditation from the national accreditation board of PR. Because, accreditation of PR has to be managed by a high-powered national-level board of experienced PR professionals, who should conduct the examination, hold interviews, review projects/case studies, and then accredit the practitioners.
It is time that such an accreditation board is constituted independent of any PR body but taking the representation of all the PR societies functional in the country today.

Tribune launches Himachal edition

The Tribune launched its Himachal edition two days back. Tribune had its beginning in Lahore, and after partition was printed from Shimla for sometimes, and later at Ambala, before moving into Chandigarh.
The Himachal edition shall continue to be printed from Chandigarh and shall be distributed in Himachal.
The Tribune is perhaps the largest circulated daily in the region with combined circulation of its four editions being over 3 lakh copies.

News Portals

Some of our friends in PR have entered into the online media/PR field with aplomb, and three of them are right here from Chandigarh. For getting information about the city and businesses around here in the northern region, some of the excellent informative portals are :
http://www.citizenxpress.com/, www.indianewscalling.com; and www.infomailers.com. The newsmakers are getting more and more opportunity to reach out to the mediamen.

However, the big question to all those who are handling portals. How many of the media men are truly accessing this news and using it in print? How many of such news is being picked up by other portals?

Let's hear from you.

Media Accountability

Chandigarh chapter of PRSI organised a seminar on 'Media Accountability' on 13th March. The prominent panelists included former editor of Panjabi Tribune, Mr. S.S. Bhullar, advisor to Dainik Bhaskar Mr. V.P. Prabhakar, author and former chairman of the department of mass communication Prof. H.S. Dilgir, a senior journalist from Canada Mr. N.S. Shergill, current chairman of the department of mass communication, Panjab University, Mr. Jayant Pethkar.

The seminar was a result of a recent developments on the vernacular media scene in Punjab during the Punjab Assembly elections held during February. The media had vyed with one another to corner the maximum mullah from the political candidates in the fray not only to publish their advertisement, but also the paid-for 'news', the later being the area of concern for the journalists.

Mr. Bhullar lamented the practice of publishing the 'doctored news' on payment basis with many of them going under print without the statutory disclosure that it was an 'advertisement' or 'advertorial'. He said that the Fourth Estate was the only redeeming factor in the general corruption prevailing in other three 'Estates', which ruefully has also become saleable just like any other commodity.

Mr. Prabhakar said that the media has to be accountable and must work for the social good and vehemently expressed the growing interference of commercial or business side of the newspaper into the editorial arena. He also condemned the advertisements issued by various political parties that were not only aggressive but in bad taste, which need to be refused by the media for which media itself must setup its own code of ethical and moral practices.

Prof. Dilgir felt that for any journalist truth is the only defence and anyone digressing from the facts, accuracy and truth, is digging his own grave. He called upon the journalists to restrain themselves from getting too selfish and materialistic that is taking them away from professional conduct towards corrupt practices.

The panelists and the participants felt that not all was lost since the situation in developed countries like US is also much worst, but freedom must come with a level of responsibility which the mediamen themselves can control and manage to save itself from its degradation.

It was also felt that Press Council of India must be given more teeth so that the erring newspapers and channels can be put to task.

A memorandum in this regard is being sent to various stakeholders, the journalists associations, as well as the PCI for their information and taking up corrective action.

Right to Information Act

We have been hearing a lot on the Rights to Information Act for long, and as it stabilises there had been many hiccups in its implementation...and even now, many have several issues on mind.

To get an update on the Act, the city shall have one of the most prominent contributors to the formation of this Act, Mr. Shekhar Singh, who is the founder member of the National Campaign for the People's Right to Information.

Shekhar Singh has taught at St. Stephen’s College, University of Delhi, at the North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong and at the Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi. He is currently Director of the Centre for Equity Studies, New Delhi and has worked with the Government of India and has been Advisor to the Planning Commission of India. He has also been associated with various non-government organisations and popular movements. He is a founding member of the National Campaign for the People’s Right to Information (NCPRI), a governor of the International Development Research Centre, Canada, and co-chair of the task force on transparency, a part of the Initiative on Policy Dialogue (IPD) of the University of
Columbia. He has authored and co-authored various books.

He will be in Chandigarh on the request of Asian Education Society on 21st March 2007 to address the Seminar at CRRID, at 11am. Mr. Rajan Kashyap, Chief Information Commissioner, Panjab, shall preside over the meeting.

You are most cordially invited.

Scholarship in Journalism

To encourage pursuit of studies in journalism and allied subjects, Rotary News Trust has instituted a scholarship for those eligible candidates in the age group of 20-30 years, who, after graduation, seeks admission in a recognised University imparting education in journalism.

The scholarship equivalent to one year's fee shall be provided on the basis of the selection by the Rotary International District 3080. There is only one scholarship available. The last date for sending in the application to the Rotary Club near you is before 30th April. Only those candidates who have applied for admission and have been selected, shall be eligible for applying for this scholarship.

For further information you can contact me, Rtn. C.J. Singh, District Coordinator for Journalism Scholarship, Rotary International District 3080. info@corepr.com / seejaysingh@gmail.com

PRSI New Website

The National Council of Public Relations Society of India has come up with its own website, www.prsi.co.in. Well the PRSI members can get the latest information about National Council activities from the website. Though many of its pages are under construction, it is hoped that it would fulfil the much felt need of the Society. Congratulations to Dr. Ajit Pathak.

PRSI National Council Meeting

The next National Council meeting of the Public Relations Society of India is scheduled on Saturday 17th March 2007 at Goa.

The meeting shall start at 3pm in the Goa Chamber of Commerce, Panjim.

PR Challenges to Outshine Brand & Business

Goa Chapter of PRSI is organising a one-day workshop on "PR Challenges to Outshine Brand & Businesses" on Sunday, 18th March 2007 at the Goa Chamber of Commerce.
For further details please get in touch with Mr. Rajesh Parida : rajeshparida@goashipyard.com, or call him on 098239 20469.

PRSI Chandigarh: Roundtable on Media's Role in Recent Elections in Punjab

PRSI Chandigarh Chapter is organising a roundable on "Media's Role in the Recent Elections in Punjab" on Wednesday, 13th March 2007 at ICSSR Complex, Panjab University, Chandigarh at 10:30am

There is no registration fee for this programme, to be followed by lunch.

Kindly confirm your participation to the Chapter Chairperson Mrs. Renuka B. Salwan.

New PR Body in Chennai.

Here is a new PR body in the country ... PR Syndicate. They have their website prsyndicate.wetpaint.com and though it does not contain the contact details or whereabouts of its office/location, some of the contents point out about its operational area in Chennai.
On 8th March, the PR Syndicate is observing the International Women's Day. The body was formed in February 2006.

Our congratulations to the members of this new body and I do hope that they would associate themselves with some of the established bodies for better coordination and exchange of ideas.

CJ

Taxi Drivers in Chandigarh receive Training

Chandigarh Chapter of Public Relations Society of India (PRSI) in association with the Chandigarh Tourism and Chandigarh Institute of Hotel Management (CIHM), launched a capacity-building programme for the taxi drivers at the CIHM campus on 25th January.

The pilot programme was launched for the licensed taxi drivers in the city which was formally inaugurated by Mr. Man Mohan Singh Kohli, who is a member of the governing body of CIHM, and Ms Renuka Salwan, Chairperson of Chandigarh Chapter of PRSI.

Our objective is to sensitise these taxi drivers as also other first point-of-contacts for the tourists, to be the ambassadors of the city, and render services ethically and professionally, informed Charanjit Singh, convenor of the programme, and former national vice president of PRSI.

Any tourist destination, besides the infrastructure, requires the support of its residents and whole lot of service-providers must partner in this entire exercise to make a destination into a brand and a wholesome pleasant experience for the tourists, he said.

A Code of Conduct for the taxi drivers was also released and each driver attending the programme was given an incentive of Rs.100 and a Certificate.

CJ

Strategic Media Relations Conference

Strategic Media Relations Conference and Workshop, which AMIC is endorsing, is being held at Singapore from 5-7 February 2007.

The new media era of blogs , RSS , wikis and podcasts revolutionises the way communicators reach out to the crucial stakeholders with major repercussions. News and information is travelling in lightning speed and easily accessible anytime, anywhere, on any device . Adding fuel to this trend is the challenge to stay apprised with the media relations efforts to prove the ROI. Synchronising sustainable media strategy and utilising new and innovative technologies is the key deliver to rising above the competition.

Are you able to augment your communication efforts in the changing media landscape with the invasion of new media? Can you pave the way to a bigger budgetary pie for your media relations efforts by proving the worth of the spent? Are your media strategies in sync with the journalists' instincts and resonate with the media interests?

To register yourself online :
http://www.conferences.com.sg/registration.htm

CJ

Ethical Dilemma

Almost every day a PR person faces numerous ethical dilemmas which makes him stop and ponder: Is it right? Can it be done? Should I do it?

Please share your personal experiences how you resolved the personal ethical issues especially when dealing with your bosses, or the media, or any of the stakeholders in the course of your duty.

CJ