From the President’s Desk-3: Well begun, Half Done!

Friends,

Thank you very much for all your support and critical views as well over the past one month or so.

The new team at NE has taken quite a few initiatives lie launching the e-mag which has become immensely popular in India and abroad. We have already clocked over 2,000 page views across the world. Here are the stats.

India – 1,117, United States – 786, Germany – 71, United Kingdom – 15, France – 6, Ireland – 6, United Arab Emirates – 5, Turkey – 5, Canada – 4 and Russia - 4.

Let me acknowledge that Mr Narendra's weekly columns with his insight on the functioning of the government are becoming extremely popular!

Now, our web site – www.publicrelationscouncilofindia.com - is almost ready. It has taken quite a bit of efforts in collating information and putting it together in a presentable format. Our young breed of web designers is still working to fine tune the site. As you can make out the lists of TEAMS is still incomplete – that’s mainly because we do not have relevant data. Will send a separate mail on what’s missing out in the list. 

Now, for the future calendar:

Knowledge Forum: In association with the Press Club Mumbai, we planned a discussion on the burning issue of Net Neutrality in the first week of May. Mumbai Chapter President Ajay Sharma and Secretary Sanjay Rammoorthy are working on a discussion paper. And together with the Club, we hope to have some good speakers.

Other City chapters may try to find similar forums – Kochi with the local Press Club. We can also tap Lions or Rotarians to align our Knowledge Forum with their events. This will help us spread our network.

Communicators’ Day: Bengaluru Chapter has been celebrating Communicators’ Day during the week of May 16 to 20. Suggest all chapters do the same and plans events, involving PR and media professionals.

Suggested theme: Communicators as Whistle Blowers.

Frankly, I got the idea from Mr S Narendra’s column – Political Sandwich – called in the e-mag.

These pointers may be used as discussion paper and in mails to participants. Bengaluru is working on this so is Mumbai.

Ø  Corporate Communication professionals ought to be in touch with all departments within their companies and hence in the know of developments. While communicating to the external world on their respective company's transparency and adherence to principles of corporate governance, they should make sure that what they speak is truth.

Ø  Corporate communication professionals should be able to alert top management about any violations and discrepancies.

Ø  Early alerts could help seal gaps and take corrective steps before the situation blows up into a crisis or a scam.

Ø  Managements/promoters on their part should not use  CompuCom teams to suppress negative developments or as mere fire fighters.

Ø  On the contrary, with media contacts and 'leaks' of information by competition or authorities like the Income Tax or Excise, corpcom teams do get to know about potential negative stories that can ruin the companies’ reputation.

Ø  Instead of acting in the last minute to do damage control, it is important to take appropriate action and nip the crisis in the bud.

Ø  In today's cut-throat competition, one cannot suppress or kill negative stories.

Ø  Managements need to understand this.

Ø  So, the question is: Whether we as corpcom professionals are ready to take up the challenge of turning into informal Whistle Blowers within our companies or with our clients?

Ø  It’s a new role for us. Let's debate now and prepare for future shocks!

At the end of discussions across PRCI platforms, we intend to bring out a White Paper for further action by Industry and Business Forums.

It is a sensitive issue. But let’s take the bull by the horns and demonstrate to the world that we mean business, serious one at that!

Delhi Chapter: The committee appointed by the Chairman Emeritus and Chief Mentor has started action towards forming a new Committee under the leadership of Dr Gaganjit Singh, President, IMM. We hope to have the new committee functioning shortly.

More as we go along.

Please give feedback on these and the issues that we discuss in e-mag. This will only help us do well, as a team.

Till then….