The Public Relations Institute of SA (Prisa) will be taking part in a global study of PR and communication management practice aimed at providing a benchmark based on each participating country’s data.
A partnership between the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management and the Strategic Communication and Public Relations Centre at the University of Southern California’s (USC) Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, the survey will allow each participating country to customise the questionnaire to be country specific, in order to obtain pertinent information about the local public relations and communication management industry, including trends, new developments and current practices.
Executive director of Prisa, Adele Paulsen, has been elected to board of the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management (GA) following its AGM in Helsinki, Finland. She will serve on the 2013/2014 board as a regional delegate representing Africa and South Africa. Paulsen will also serve as a member of the Global Alliance’s research and education committee.
“We are delighted to welcome Adele onto the Board. She is the Executive Director of one of our most active member Associations and brings with her a wealth of experience,” says Professor Anne Gregory, chair of Global Alliance. “In particular her knowledge of working in a dynamic and fast growing economy and her expertise about Africa will enhance the work of the Global Alliance in that continent. Africa is a place of increasing opportunities for public relations and one of our priorities over the next two years is to work with our colleagues on that continent to ensure the Global Alliance can offer the support they need. Adele’s expertise will be invaluable in shaping that support. “
Prisa’s education, training and research committee will lead the South African segment of the GAP Study together with experts from the University of Pretoria. Their key responsibilities include creating awareness of the Global Alliance GAP Study both in South Africa and Africa and encouraging all members to participate.
“Being elected to serve on the Global Alliance Executive board is a great honour that has been bestowed upon me and I am proud to represent South Africa as we undertake the first public relations and communication management practice global study of its kind. I plan to serve my term admirably and to add considerable value to the public relations profession, to the Global Alliance and to South Africa,” Paulsen says.
A founding member of the Global Alliance since 2002, Prisa has played an active part in both the Stockholm Accords and the Melbourne Mandate and will now embark as a local pioneer to lead the first global GAP (Generally Accepted Practices) study in South Africa and Africa.
Prisa says data collected from this study will prove invaluable from a global perspective, forming part of a global benchmark. In identifying key specialisation areas and examining major issues affecting the profession locally, the study will also assist in charting the current professional landscape and developing a comprehensive South African model.
For more information on the GAP Study, please email adele@prisa.co.za or visit www.prisa.co.za.
