CIPR International – our first 100 days
by Eva Maclaine, CIPR International Chair, CIPR Fellow, an elected member of Council (the CIPR's governing body) and a 2014 Board Member
On Friday 25 April we are running our first webinar with 2014 CIPR President Stephen Waddington, called “My First 100 Days”. So we thought it might be a good time for you all to hear a little about our first 100 days at CIPR International (CIPRI).
Whilst Stephen has been prolific in his activities, we have also not rested on our laurels and, so far, we have had a great 2014. Much has been due to an enthusiastic and energetic new committee, which has been able to build on the excellent efforts of last year’s members.
We kicked the year off with a webinar with Alastair McCapra, the new Chief Executive of the CIPR. This very successful webinar allowed many members to meet Alastair online and hear about his plans for the CIPR.
Building on 2013
This was swiftly followed by our AGM when we were able to announce some fantastic achievements for the previous year. CIPRI which was 2013 Sectoral Group of the Year, has increased membership by eight per cent, introduced more rigorous measurement, and developed very successful comms and social media, with a TweetChat on international comms, resulting in a reach of 138,000 Twitter accounts and many new followers.
Our flagship event, the Maggie Nally Memorial Lecture, held once again at the Houses of Parliament, was the best ever with Rob Flaherty, Senior Partner, CEO and President of Ketchum giving the keynote address. A witty, elegant speech, “The End of Illusion”, Rob kept his audience both entertained and stimulated whilst he offered perspective on how social technologies are accelerating the shift in power from institutions to individuals. The speech found its way onto PR Week’s online edition within minutes of being delivered – a first for the Maggie Nally lecture!
Another exciting first has been the launch of the Douglas Smith Student Award, in memory of our Patron and Founder, Douglas Smith. Worth £1000 to the winner or winners, we believe this will develop into a key event in the student PR calendar.
Our international focus
In line with our objective of encouraging links with other PR organisations internationally, we have formed an informal partnership with the IABC which has, so far, been extremely successful and already resulted in a joint meeting on Crisis and Reputation Management, attended by 50 people. Both parties intend building on these foundations throughout this year.
As always we are keen to hear from our international members and we have been in touch in particular with members in Romania, Spain, the Turks and Caicos Islands and Czech Republic.
A most exciting development has been facilitating an exciting new Swiss chapter, which was recently launched as a sub-group to CIPRI. They have a fantastic programme planned, including a trip to Cern in May to see the Large Hadron Collider!
Exciting times for CIPRI members
Of course, throughout this time there’s been lots of behind the scenes activity. For instance, we have published our strategy and programme for the coming three years and we’ve also been busy planning the rest of the year.
So, that’s our first 100 days. We’re going to make sure the next 100 are just as busy and fruitful on your behalf. And if you have any ideas, we want to hear them. To adapt Stephen Waddington’s message: there has never been a more exciting time to be a CIPR International member!
And, in the meantime, tune in on Friday to hear Stephen’s plans for the CIPR.
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