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Author Archives: Sean Williams
PRSA International Conference: I’ll be there!
Coming up is the PRSA big soiree, and BGSU’s School of Media and Communication will be there! We are a sponsor, and I’ll staff our table in the exhibit hall, Oct. 15-17. That’s a little different from when I last … Continue reading
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Making sense of advertising
At first glance, it might seem like advertising is doomed. After all, it’s almost 20 years since Al and Laura Ries declared “The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR.” By the same token, it’s been almost 30 years … Continue reading
Learning research methods: Challenge or phobia?
We know the cliche from Saturday Night Live: “I was told there would be no math.” That’s why we communicators often quail at the prospect of research. We always envision acres of mysterious formulae, tables of incomprehensible numbers, Greek letter … Continue reading
Learning the scope of strategic communication
Every several months, it seems, we in the professional communication discipline have a spirited discussion about what to call ourselves. The marketing world seems to be winning that discussion (in the end, it’s all about selling something…), and then the … Continue reading
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Learning research methods
As communicators, we are socialized from the womb to avoid numbers. We word nerds like all kinds of things, but mainly, the land of the quantitative does not contain very much we want. Au Contraire, mon cher! I’m here to … Continue reading
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Welcome to organizational communication.
I have spent most of my professional life in matters of internal/employee communication. One of the academic angles for that is organizational comm — the different ways we can explore, interpret and conduct communication activities that are intrinsic to building, … Continue reading
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The case for higher ed
Maybe it’s because I’m in the process of wrapping up my fourth year as a full-time professor, but I’m more convinced than ever that higher education is a public good. Some politicians are making a massive market in outright hatred … Continue reading
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Why attend a PR research conference?
In just under two months (!!!) this lil’ ‘ol professor will become CEO of the International PR Research Conference. It’s been more than 15 years since I became involved in IPRRC, almost as long ago as I joined the Institute … Continue reading
PRSA ICON 22: Highlights from my angle
Among several good sessions at PRSA’s International Conference this year was this conversation between John Elsasser of PRSA and Mark Weiner of Public Relay about PR Measurement. The main message was that measuring the media needs to be measuring the … Continue reading
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Tagged #prmeasurement
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PRSA ICON: Two cents at a time
For the first time since 2019, the PRSA Conference was held in person, and I was there. The venue, the Gaylord Texan resort in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex was super-deluxe, and in the worst ways possible. First it was hella … Continue reading
Surging interest in employee communication shouldn’t shock us
When I first started in employee communication, oh, about 10,000 years ago, it was very much the junior partner in the corporate communication mix. The media relations folks got all the glory, and most of the staff. Employee comms were … Continue reading
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Is public relations evil?
My pal Bob Batchelor, once upon a time a professor and before that, like me a PR guy, used to give a lecture with the same title as this post. You can find it in pieces on YouTube, and as … Continue reading
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On universities outsourcing courses
A story in the Wall Street Journal this past Wednesday (July 6, 2022) talked of universities and their relationships with for-profit companies to create, teach and operate coursework, and they don’t like that practice at all. It’s easy for me … Continue reading
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Why ‘Strategic Communication’?
Any longtime reader knows that I’m a fan in the most inclusive sense of the phrase, “public relations” to describe the work I’ve done for more than 30 years in professional communicaiton. As a board member of the International PR … Continue reading
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When did it get to be April?
Ummm, April of 2022? I know I’m kind of a busy guy. I teach seven classes a year, about 200 students, a mix of graduate and undergraduate. I teach across the BGSU School of Media and Communication, which means in … Continue reading
Why do we care if we call it PR or Marketing?
The battle has been going on for a while. The public relations side says that our work is a management function designed to create, enhance and sustain relationships with relevant parties, securing public permission to do business. The marketing side … Continue reading
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Musing on news
I’m teaching two courses this summer. In this, the first session, it’s JOUR 4500, Media and Ethics for Journalism. In second session I’m adapting that course for MC 5010 – a special topics course on media and ethics for strategic … Continue reading
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Ethics. Does public relations have any?
I admit it. That’s a link-bait headline. But I honestly am wondering, as some of the most public PR that exists right now is a whopping load of BS. As I’ve written before, I’m talking about political PR, the Spin … Continue reading
Lies, Dang lies
Aside from the thoroughly disturbing tendency some people have to see conspiracy everywhere, the media, politicians, social media users and even your Aunt Molly seem to seize on statistics to support their misguided perspectives. “There are three kinds of lies: … Continue reading
Baseball: The Hot Stove Heats Up
A pal texted me this morning asking, “How could we have two Cy Young award winners and not with the whole thing?” Ah, yes, the pain, the pain. Here’s what I believe. Number one: Underperforming hitting. So many teams with … Continue reading
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