2020 will be a great year for CIPR International

By Andras Sztaniszlav

Last year we promised not too much but to deliver some content; and we ended up holding the Maggie Nally Annual Lecture, two panel discussions (on Mental Health and on Fintech), podcasts, tweetchats and launched our network event in Mauritius with great success.

This year I am even more ambitious in planning more content and networking opportunities for our members, aligned with CIPR’s new strategy and also the Jenni Field’s plans as President for the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.

Using brainstorming sessions, Google forms, crowdsourcing (welcome digital tools) and writing on whiteboard at our last committee meeting, we have lined up some great activities for you.

Our traditional points of contact with members are still live events. These are mostly based in London (as most of our members are based there), held after work and provide great food for thought as well as networking opportunities.

This year we’re focusing on:

Digital: we plan to hold a panel to explore the opportunities and threats of tech in our profession, including fake news and ethics;
Diplomacy: following our Annual Lecture with David Landsman which left us with more questions than answers;
Not-for-profit sector: with Davos just behind us, climate change and companies setting up their ‘purpose’-s, many of us need to be able to work with organisations in the not-for-profit sector. Many corporates have a great vision, some of them work in several countries and many need communicate globally. Let’s explore how they deal with cultural differences, comms management, evaluation, etc. More details coming soon;
Joint events: our profession is about collaboration and CIPR has a wide variety of great groups. We plan to team up with some of them to co-host events where our role would be to bring the international element to the table.

We will also continue to be active internationally:

Faryal Mirza is planning to revitalise our Swiss Chapter which has started with a survey among existing and potential members based in Switzerland, and has secured a date for our re-launch event in Bern
Samantha Seewoosurrun will organise additional networking events in Mauritius in conjunction with other professional bodies to get more people engaged in CPD and chartership of CIPR
We have always planned to get out from foggy and drizzling London to some sunshine to meet fellow professionals and this year, the first ever committee meeting outside of UK’s capital will be held in Hungary’s beautiful Budapest. Since I am Hungarian, I’ll make sure we have fun after the work. If you would like to join us, let us know – there are a number of low-cost airlines that fly to Budapest.
We would welcome members organising local networking events – or setting up local groups - to discuss the future of our profession, challenges in ethics, digital, mental health or lifelong learning via CIPR. Whether you are based in Africa, Middle East, Asia or anywhere in Europe, let us know if you are interested.

We as comms professionals should be authentic but managing our channels properly, shouldn’t we? Visit our channels regularly on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and our website and look out for our new channels. No, we are not launching a TikTok account but will look at the ‘Humans behind PR’ on Instagram and produce podcasts which will entertain and educate you while you commute.

If you are under 25, you must have sadly realised our committee won’t be doing silly dances on TikTok but hey, we have got something for you too. For several years we have run the Douglas Smith Award targeted students in PR. This year we are launching a new initiative, the Young Global Communicator Award (YGCA). So if you are already working full time, have done some campaigns in multiple countries and think you deserve recognition, check out our channels regularly as we will be sharing details in a few weeks.

Sounds promising, doesn’t it? We are excited too. We also set some targets to measure our performance so please use all our channels to get in touch and get involved with any of our activities. Ultimately our aim is to help you get the most out of your relationship with the CIPR. We are all volunteers so plan to focus our energy on creating something which you all find interesting and useful.

Look forward to meeting you at one of our events throughout 2020.