MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN - 15TH MAY 2012

In this Issue

•    Chairman’s overview
•    Managing Membership Services
•    Voluntary Service in PRSK
•    Education & Training Facilitators
•    PRSK bid to host 8th World Public Relations Forum
•    2012 APRA Conference
•    The Melbourne Mandate

Chairman’s overview
Have you ever asked yourself ‘Who is PRSK?’ 

As I urge each one of us to reflect on this question, let me take the opportunity to thank you all for giving me the opportunity to serve as your Chairman for the next two years. It is evident that firm foundations have been laid by my predecessors and I can only look forward to intensifying the gains, in an exciting and fulfilling tenure.

In my acceptance speech following the elections, I stated that I will lay special emphasis on the actualisation of the Kenya Institute of Public Relations.  Benchmarking done within and without the PR profession indicates that this is where the world is and PRSK ought to be there too.  Our standards of practice can only be as good as the grounding we provide and embrace in our individual and collective PRofessional development.

This requires the effort of each and every one of us, for we are PRSK.  The successes and failures of PRSK lie squarely on our shoulders; collectively as members.  In fact, the quality of our Society is reflective of our own standing as members.  I wish to rally us all to enhance the status of our Society as a measure of what our PRofession is worth.

As we move forward and as the Team settles in office, we wish to keep you engaged and involved in some of the following ways: 

1)    Managing Membership Services
I wish to announce that the Executive Committee and the previous team plan to go into a retreat to review the Society’s strategic direction soon.  In order to include your views in the strategy, we would like to receive as much input as we can from members through the PRSK Member RHYTHM survey developed for this purpose.  The survey will reach you under separate communication.  Thereafter we will bring you recommendations borne out of the survey for validation and implementation. The objective of this initiative is to establish current and emerging member needs that are essential in developing and administering a product and service portfolio that is in step with those needs. 

2)    Voluntary Service in PRSK
The Executive Committee is in the process of constituting subcommittees and invites members keen to serve in these functions to send their names to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . The subcommittee are; 
a)    Membership & Disciplinary
b)    Events & Publicity
c)    Education, Training & Research
d)    Editorial

3)    Education & Training
For those who would like to facilitate professional programs in the PRSK Education & Training calendar, please send in your CVs indicating areas of strength or expertise. 

4)    Bid to Host the 8th World Public Relations Forum
As some of you are aware, your Society just participated in an international bid to host the 8th World Public Relations Forum scheduled in 2014. The presentation, generously supported by a wide cross section of our members and the Government of Kenya took place in Sao Paulo, Brazil on 28th and 29th April, 2012.  The outcome of the bid will be formally communicated during the 7th WPRF taking place later this year in Melbourne Australia (details elsewhere in this bulletin).   The bid is an elaborate process and the presentation in Sao Paulo to the Global Alliance Board was the first phase. We will therefore engage with you individually to see how best you and your organisations can participate in this process.

5)    2012 APRA Conference
Our counterparts in Lusaka, the Zambia Public Relations Association, are the proud hosts of this year’s Africa Public Relations Conference (APRA).  The conference will address the theme Rising Africa: Imperatives of Communication. In choosing the host country, APRA Secretary General, Yomi Badejo-Okusanya, said the country had shown itself to be a good example to the African continent in terms of democracy and governance; key ingredients required in the successful performance of Public Relations practice. The conference takes place from 10th to 20th of October, and as is the tradition it is expected to bring together top public relations practitioners from Africa and elsewhere.   It would be great to have a good delegation from Kenya. 

6)    7th World Public Relations Forum & The ‘Melbourne Mandate’
As an outcome of a survey carried out from 300 leaders of PR associations on every continent, the Global Alliance (GA), to which PRSK is a member, aims to define a new ‘mandate for communicators’ at the 7th World Public Relations Forum in Melbourne, Australia taking place from 18th – 20th November, 2012.  The 'Melbourne Mandate' begins in the months leading to the Forum and the Global Alliance invites Practitioners and academics to join working groups and online dialogues on the role of communication in three areas:
1.    Defining organizational DNA;
2.    Creating a culture of listening and engagement; and
3.    Understanding personal, organizational and professional responsibility.
According to the Global Alliances, each dialogue will flow into a draft 'Melbourne Mandate for Global Communication,' a consensus-based statement on the organizational and societal value of communication that will be considered by the delegates to the World Public Relations Forum.

•    To find out more, please visit www.globalalliancepr.org/website/news/MelbourneMandate
•    To join the dialogue, please email the Global Alliance Center at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
•    To read the GA survey please click ctrl to follow results of a survey   

The Executive Committee fully endorses this process and urges every member to try and participate in all this very important global initiative. This is one sure way to keep us visible and engaged in current and emerging global PR and communication trends.

Finally and on behalf of my Team, I want to underscore our commitment to serve all our members well.   We want to see PRSK adequately representing and supporting its most import assets and that is you, the PRofessional.  I look forward to engaging with you, learning and growing, and as a result positioning our PRofession where it belongs.

In the meantime, please feel free to send any ideas you would want considered in the survey and/or other area.

My sincere thanks once again to each one of you. I look forward to fruitful engagement with you for the furtherance of our PRofession.

KENTICE TIKOLO, MscPR, MPRSK