Interim Editorial Board draws up CIPR comms plan
The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) interim editorial board, chaired by Rob Brown FCIPR, CIPR President Elect 2015, has prepared plans for communications following the ending of the Institute’s deal with PRWeek.
There has been a review of CIPR owned channels which include: member and non-member email, the CIPR Conversation, the main CIPR website and extensive social channels.
Initial measures will see the CIPR Conversation radically overhauled to improve both content and reach. The new and improved site will include:
- A complete redesign
- Enhanced mobile optimisation
- A weekly email to members and subscribers highlighting the best content
- The inclusion of news feeds
- Support through social channels
The CIPR Conversation, which hosts exclusive content alongside featured contributions from an international array of public relations, marketing, and digital experts, already performs well with a well-established weekly audience of over 5,000 users. The site’s authority has also recently been recognised after being recently named a top 3 UK Public Relations blog by Cision.
The CIPR plans to conduct extensive and rapid member engagement to evolve the plan and make significant investment in the platform and consider the creation of an “editor” role within the Institute to ensure that the quality of content remains high. All of the activity will be funded through savings achieved by not renewing the arrangement with Haymarket, owners of PRWeek.
The CIPR will also maintain a dialogue with all of the media serving the public relations and communications industries.
We will make these changes quickly and the new CIPR Conversation will be live by the end of January. I would expect to see the visitor numbers double within a few weeks of launch.
We will use roundtable discussions and quantitative surveys to make sure we get the best possible indication of what CIPR members want and require. Nothing is off the table at this stage and we are also considering the future role of print in member communications.
Independent editorial remains of great importance. We hope to have a good relationship with the media going forward and that very much includes PRWeek which we believe will continue its great service to the PR industry.
Notes to editors
About the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR)Founded in 1948, the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) is the Royal Chartered professional body for public relations practitioners in the UK and overseas. The CIPR is the largest membership organisation for PR practitioners outside of North America. By size of turnover and number of individually registered members, we are the leading representative body for the PR profession and industry in Europe.
The CIPR advances professionalism in public relations by making its members accountable to their employers and the public through a code of conduct and searchable public register, setting standards through training, qualifications, awards and the production of best practice and skills guidance, facilitating Continuing Professional Development (CPD), and awarding Chartered Public Relations Practitioner status (Chart.PR).