Our International Office in the USA sent along several UK experts in Public Relations for a practical workshop held in London on 31 January 2015, as part of the professional development of Rotarians in London. Our Club was represented at the event.
One of the presentations sought to illustrate exactly what Public Relations is, using a simple Boy-Girl example:
Boy tells girl he is wonderful – that is advertising;
Boy tells girl she is wonderful – that is sales promotion;
Girl seeks boy out because of his reputation – that is effective public relations!
Another presentation concentrated on the effective use of Social Media as part of the Public Relations strategy for a Rotary Club, and other parts of the Rotary organisation.
There was an interesting project to work on with a celebrity speaker present for the task – Jan Meek, who has rowed the Atlantic Ocean and has walked to both North Poles (Geographic and Magnetic!). The exercise resulted in each syndicate producing a public relations strategy for the given objective, and reporting back to the others.
The seminar attracted experts from out of London, and an expert from Bulgaria. A group of enthusiastic and energetic Rotarians from all over the South East of England were present at the event. All agreed that there was a lot of challenging and interesting content in the day, and that there is much still to be done in our Clubs.
