PR Week Tenth Anniversary Issue Profiles the Best Of & Much More

PR Week celebrates its Tenth Anniversary this week. As part of their celebration, they are offering free access to their online content for a week if you have never tuned in. You can register here.

Included in their anniversary issue are the top twenty most influential PR pros, as well as a recap of the Tech and PR Blog Competitions, of which Down the Avenue won the latter, up against major global brands with Fortune 500 clients.

If you were part of the voting process over the summer, you'll remember the month long contest with thirty-two blogs and five rounds.

PR Week asked me to contribute a short piece to their anniversary issue, which can be found here. I have also reprinted the article below for faster viewing.

We keep hearing how PR practitioners need to “unlearn” everything and start over in the world of new media where the rules have all changed. But if you understand the importance of the “R” in public relations, there's nothing to unlearn.

The problem is that we now have millions of online voices rather than a handful of familiar trusted brands. It's incredibly crowded and we can't keep up with the long tail of online content, yet we have no choice.

So, we blog, join 15 social networks, tweet on the hour, and hope the pieces come together in a way we can explain to our CEOs. Yet all they want to know is: What's my ROI?

There's no better time to take a step back and focus on long-term goals. While some are jumping on the social media bandwagon (Zappos has 400-plus employees on Twitter), there are other products and services where a social networking strategy shouldn't be the driving force.

Taking a step back forces you to remember: one strategy doesn't fit all and the onslaught of blogs doesn't change that.

What has changed is how we communicate and with whom. Didn't we always dig to find out where our customers spent their time? Smart PR pros never just pitched a story; they connected, offering advice even if it didn't relate to their company. Today, we need to align with bloggers' issues and become thought leaders ourselves. We've become agents to facilitate and offer value inside online conversations, which opens up opportunities we didn't have a decade ago. It's important to remember that you're in it for the long haul; doing so serves the entire industry.

--Renee Blodgett

Online and offline in this week's below cover issue has a number of interesting special anniversary features including exclusive op-eds about how holding companies see the PR business and CEO Q&As from folks like Dell, BMC Software and the American Heart Association.

Other great reads include the most transformative media industry events over the past decade, products which have changed the way companies disseminate news and how consumers receive it as well as tools to help people and companies better monitor and measure metrics and data.

There are also a few multicultural discussions on various trends and opportunities affecting the industry, including travel and tourism, nonprofit, CSR and public affairs.

Be sure to tune in. Remember its free to all who register this week.