Well, there we go. Duly elected as Chair CIPR Yorkshire & Lincolnshire for the next two years (barring any disasters – like being found out as a fraud and charlatan).
We’re not a trade union, but with 560 regional members to look after, professionally, I’d like to think that my late dad – a shop steward in the seventies – would be a bit proud.
As Deputy Group Chair – and thus Chair-Elect – I’ve obviously had a few months to think about things, and I realised that what I’d like to achieve (ooh, a ‘manifesto’) forms an acronym: VIPER.
I want the CIPR regionally to be more visible. We have to educate people – especially in the boardroom – of the value of good Public Relations.
We need to be more integral, working together with similar disciples such as Marketing and becoming as vital to the delivery of projects as the bloke with the mechanical digger.
We are professionals – not just because of CPD, Accredited Practitioner and Chartered Practitioner status, but because our members know that simply having a degree in a subject doesn’t reflect the learning done through experience. We need to be more proud of that, and make it part of the ethos of being a CIPR member.
We must be more engaging with PR practitioners; but not just with our own members, as building trust in the CIPR and our abilities is good for the industry / profession as a whole. And yes, that includes with the PRCA (you can always have a shower afterwards).
Finally, we must be relevant to the industry in which we work, and provide courses, training or whatever else our members need to do their jobs effectively – whether they know they need it or not.
If we can do these things, I believe we will have a profession to be proud of. And it’s something I’m willing to be judged upon.