A committee of PR Seminar, the annual gathering of heads of blue chip corporate PR depts. and about a dozen CEOs of major PR firms, has decided to rename the group as simply, “The Seminar.”
Founded in 1952 by corporate PR people who attended annual meetings of the National Assn. of Manufacturers, Seminar had retained “PR” in its title although most members had dropped it decades ago in favor of “corporate communications,” “public affairs,” etc.
Jon Iwata of IBM heads 'The Seminar.' |
Only one of the 33 new members of Seminar this year had a title with PR in it—Jane Garvey, VP, corporate communications & PR, Convergys, Cincinnati, $2.7 billion company that grew out of Cincinnati Bell.
Only five of the 42 new members in 2004 had “PR” as part of their titles.
A committee headed by 2007 Seminar chair Jon Iwata, senior VP, worldwide communications of IBM, did a survey earlier this year of titles used by members and also discussed the matter at length.
Sources said there was “heated discussion” on both sides but that the weight of evidence (the nearly complete abandonment of PR by members) proved decisive.
One topic of discussion was whether PR is a subset of corporate communications or vice versa. Some Seminarians argued that PR involves a number of activities that are not strictly communications and therefore, communications is a subset of PR.
Don’t Want “Relations with the Public”
Some PR veterans said the meaning of the switch is that many companies, and particularly the biggest ones, “simply don’t want relations with the public any more.”
They particularly don’t want relations with the press, others added.
Some educators worried that there will be fewer PR majors now that Seminar, whose members have the highest titles in corporate and agency PR and communications, have dropped the term. Corporate PR policy throughout the U.S. is heavily influenced by discussions among the members of Seminar both at the annual meeting and at sessions of the executive committee throughout the year. At one point, monthly meetings of the committee were held at the Harvard Club in New York. There is no press contact at Seminar to field questions.
Attempts to reach Iwata earlier this year and for this story were unsuccessful. Staffers will not provide his phone or e-mail.
Past program shows the logo of the former 'PR Seminar.' |
With “marketing communications” in ascendancy, the current fashion is to aim “messages” at “target audiences” and subsets of the public such as employees, customers, potential customers, stockholders, retired employees, legislators, etc.
The audiences are further defined by age, gender, income, religion, status of health, geographical location and other demographics.
Effectiveness of messages aimed at the target audiences is measured as closely as possible to determine the impact of the messages on the “bottom line.”
Press relations has become defensive at many companies. Incoming calls are handled with great caution and outgoing press calls rarely initiated unless there is certainty that the corporate “message” will receive proper treatment.
Seminar Is Hush-Hush
Seminar’s four-day meetings, at many of the finest resorts in the U.S. (the Bacara Resort in Santa Barbara, Calif., was the scene of the 2007 meeting), are highly secretive. Members are warned that if they report any of the doings to the press they will be banned for life.
Paid speakers, including academics and editors and columnists from major media such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Fortune, Forbes and Business Week, also swear not to write about Seminar. Corporate communications executives usually have control of the corporate ad budget.
With attendance of more than 300 (including spouses) upwards of $750,000 and more is spent on the meeting each year including registration costing several thousand dollars.
Page Continues to Use PR
Roger Bolton, president of The Arthur W. Page Society, said Page will continue to use the term “PR” and that he considers “corporate communications” to be part of PR.
PR, he said, not only involves communications but building relationships with various audiences. He noted that the chief principle of Page is “tell the truth.”
Page hosts on-the-record meetings at which reporters are invited and also publishes numerous studies and reports on PR-related topics (www.awpagesociety.com).
Tom Nicholson, executive director of Page, noted that only eight of the current 340 members of Page have PR as part of their titles.
Some don’t use PR because they are heads of PR firms or are academics, he noted.
Class of 2007 Listed
Seminar inducted 33 new members in 2007 including 19 women. Only five women were present at the 1969-70 meetings. During the 1960s and 1970s, fewer than ten new members were added each year. The high turnover today reflects high turnover in corporate CEOs.
Many members of Seminar also are members of Page and “The Wise Men,” a New York group of about 80 PR executives that was founded in 1938 by John Hill, founder of Hill & Knowlton. It conducts private meetings each month.
Joining Seminar in 2007 were:
Shelly Ann Bird, chief communications officer, NCR Corp.
Michael Busselen, VP, corporate communications, Solectron Corp.
Fred Cook, president and CEO, Golin Harris
Tim Cost, listed as with Aramark as XVP, corporate affairs, although he has left Aramark
Donna Cox, VP, comms., MeadWestvaco
Debra DeCourcy, VP-CC, Fifth Third Bank
Valerie DiMaria, Willis Group Holdings, London-based insurance brokerage
Frances Emerson, VP-CC, Deere
Kimberley Goode, VP-CC, Visteon
Mark Hass, CEO, Manning, Selvage & Lee
Denise Hill, VP-C, Quest Diagnostics
Kathleen Lawler, VP-C, Harley-Davidson
Mary Linder, SVP, corporate brand & communications, Northwest Airlines
Gerard Mauchner, director and VP-comms. & PA, Eastman Kodak Co.
Anne Nobles, VP, corp. affairs, Eili Lilly
Thomas Noland, SVP-CC, Humana
Helen Ostrowski, Global CEO, Porter Novelli
Andrew Polansky, pres., Weber Shandwick Worldwide
Bonnie Racquet, corp. VP, PA, Cargill
Steven Rautenberg, SVP, CC, NY Life Ins.
Chip Rouse, VP, U.S. comms., Sanofi-Aventis
D’Arcy Rudnay, VP-CC, Comcast Corp.
Robert Sherbin, VP, external comms., Hewlett-Packard Co.
John Spelich, VP-CC, Walt Disney Internet Group
Michael Stewart, dir., external rels., McKinsey
Jessica Stoltenberg, VP-CC, Wyeth
Mary Stutts, sr. dir., CC, Genentech
Daniel Tarman, mng. dir., CC, Countrywide
Loretta Ucelli, SVP-CC, Pfizer
Melissa Zorkin, pres., Waggener Edstrom Worldwide
Ann Marchant, CEO, Walker Merchant Group
Robert Wynn, VP, global CC, Oracle
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