Find more resources from PRSA for AAPI Month here. In the dynamic and fast-paced world of communications, resilience is a key trait for anyone aiming to make a lasting impact. For minority leaders, this resilience has been tested by the unique challenges they face and continue to overcome in the profession. In celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, we are reflecting on the journey of resilience displayed by notable Asian American leaders in our profession. Their individual career journeys are marked by perseverance, adaptability and an unwavering commitment t ..read more

“One of the greatest accomplishments of our time is the extension of the human lifespan,” said Martha Boudreau, chief communications and marketing officer for AARP. “Many people are living into their 90s, or even to 100. Take advantage of the extra years we’ve been given.” Boudreau was a panelist for PRSA’s most recent Diverse Dialogues livestream on May 16 titled, “Shifting Perspectives: Debunking ‘Age Is Just a Number.’” For many people, living longer means working longer — or at least having the desire to continue their careers, despite the barriers they face. But while discussions of workp ..read more

Two bipartisan lawmakers have drafted legislation to retire a 28-year-old provision that shields Big Tech companies from liability for the material that people post on their platforms. Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.) co-authored a Wall Street Journal Op-Ed on May 12, arguing that Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act “is now poisoning the healthy online ecosystem it once fostered. Big Tech companies are exploiting the law to shield them from any responsibility or accountability as their platforms inflict immense harm on Americans, especially c ..read more

For more articles on crisis management, please check out the May 2024 issue of Strategies & Tactics. The “Stealing Thunder Theory” of crisis communications has been a critical tool for PR counselors for decades. And as businesses and organizations seek to achieve greater transparency and to mitigate the impact of a crisis on overall trust and reputation, it’s proven successful. The general concept is that, to retain trust and credibility, an organization facing reputation-damaging news should first release information about the approaching crisis — even when it is negative. Thus, the organ ..read more

Web visitors read, on average, just 20% of the words on a page, according to Nielsen Norman Group coverage. So how can you reach these flippers, skimmers and other nonreaders? Pass The Palm Test. Encourage reading and skimming by breaking your text into little pieces. In other words, pass The Palm Test. The Palm Test says you should be able to put your palm down anywhere on your message and cover something besides just paragraphs. Under your palm, you should find images, microcontent or other display copy. Something like: Headlines Decks Links Subheads Bulleted lists Bold faced lead-ins Hig ..read more

You can download a copy of “Tackling Misinformation: The Communications Industry Unites” here. Comms pros can find more resources on the topic from PRSA here. A new poll finds that about half of Americans (53%) say they’re extremely concerned or very concerned that news organizations will report inaccurate information during the 2024 presidential election. While the public relies on local and national news organizations for election information, they worry that the news contains misinformation and amplifies division, according to a study from the American Press Institute and The Associated Pre ..read more

April is APR Month at PRSA. Learn how becoming Accredited in Public Relations can help advance your career by visiting PRaccreditation.org. I admittedly didn’t know if I wanted to pursue my Accreditation in Public Relations (APR). By 2019, the year I received my APR, I was up to my eyeballs in responsibilities, including my first child being under the age of two, a new PR job in the tech and telecommunications industry that was a big learning curve from my experience, co-parenting my then stepson (now forever bonus son) who was hitting the teenage years and serving as President-elect of t ..read more

For more insights on professional growth, check out the April issue of PRSA’s award-winning publication, Strategies & Tactics. Our professional brands are not dissimilar from the brands of companies or products. Like brand managers, time, thought and energy must be carefully invested in establishing a professional brand that reflects the career path we have chosen to walk. Therefore, we can take lessons and best practices from real-life brand managers to develop our unique professional brands. Call it a professional brand strategy if you will. First, a word about brands. A brand is not wha ..read more

Ralph Kam, APR, Fellow PRSA, a longtime PRSA member and volunteer leader, passed away on March 25. He was 67. Kam worked for decades in Hawaii’s PR profession, including government, health care, financial services and education roles. As an instructor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Hawaii Pacific University, Cha­mi­nade University, and the University of Phoenix, he helped form the professional foundations of many communicators. Kam’s journey with PRSA began in 1982 as a member, and he later assumed several leadership positions. His dedication to the profession was evident in his roles a ..read more

When trying to demonstrate the value of their work, “One of the biggest challenges that PR professionals have is that we measure outputs instead of outcomes,” Gini Dietrich said. Dietrich, CEO and founder of Arment Dietrich, a Chicago-based communications firm, is the author of the 2014 book “Spin Sucks” and the “Spin Sucks” blog. As the April guest on Strategies & Tactics Live, PRSA’s monthly livestream series on LinkedIn, she explained how the PESO (paid, earned, shared and owned media) Model that she launched in 2014 has evolved. “When we looked at the model in 2020, we realized there w ..read more