"What Kind of Communication is @ the Center?" Preconference of the Public Relations Division
"What Kind of Communication is @ the Center? An Investigation Into the Public Relations and Marketing Relationship"
Sponsored by the ICA Public Relations Division
Thursday, 26 May 12:00 - 17:00, Westin Waterfront Hotel
Currently, marketing has subsumed public relations as the center of focus in communication departments in corporate, nonprofit, and even agency outreach efforts. This discussion focuses on the nature of communication emanating from a particular perspective with an effort to clarify the communication outcome. A critical perspective offered by James Hutton will serve as the framework for this session. How departments can better understand what is at the center of a communication effort should provide a more fuller sense an approach offers to an organization's capabilities to develop relationships.
Cost: $ 50.00USD (includes afternoon refreshments) Everyone who attends the preconference must be registered for the conference. The registration site can be found at http://www.icahdq.org; contact organizer at bonita.neff@valpo.edu if you have further questions.
Agenda Chair: Bonita Dostal Neff, Valparaiso U, United States
Noon-12:15pm - Background Reading and Keynote Speaker
James Hutton, Professor-Fairleigh Dickinson University
Over the past 20 years, for a variety of reasons, the relationship between marketing and public relations has become increasingly complex and increasingly pivotal to the future of the public relations field. Dr. James Hutton goes so far as to suggest that defining the relationship between the two fields is public relations' "most important challenge." Hutton a professor of Marketing and Communication in the Department of Marketing and Entrepreneurship at Fairleigh Dickinson University, New Jersey, wrote an article for the Sage Handbook of Public Relations (edited by Robert Heath) called: "Defining the Relationship Between Public Relations and Marketing: Public Relations' Most Important Challenge." (2010, 509-515) Hutton poses a challenge to the public relations discipline especially in the area of nonprofits which should be Public Relations' turf.
12:20pm-1:35pm - International Panel
David McKie, Professor
School of Management Communication Studies
Waikato Management School
University of Waikato, New Zealand
Paul Willis, Director
Centre for Public Relations
Leeds Business School, England
James Hutton, Professor
Silberman College of Business
Fairleigh Dickinson University, New Jersey
Richard Varey, Professor
Waikato Management School
University of Waikato, New Zealand
1:35-1:50pm - Break for Refreshments
1:50-2:50pm Research Paper Panel
"Public Relations and Her Big Brother IMC" - Erika M. Grodzki, Lynn University, Florida, United States
"Who Owns the Social Media Sphere? Analyzing Stakeholder Needs as a Basis for Public Relations and Marketing Within Social Media" - Brian G. Smith, University of Houston, United States
"Community Conversations Take Center Stage: Exploring a Ethos of 'Community' over 'Control' in Digital Brand Communications" - Kelly Page, Cardiff University, United Kingdom
2:55-4:10pm Research Paper Panel
"Complexity Theory and the Age of Turbulence: New Strategic Approaches at the Interface of Public Relations and Marketing" - Paul Willis, Leeds Business School, United Kingdom
"Cold Fusion or New Energy? Public Relations, Social Marketing and the Evaluation Challenge" - David McKie and Margalit Toledano, Waikato Management School, New Zealand
"The Public Relations Contributions to IMC: Deriving Opportunities from Threats and Solidifying Public Relations' Future" - Brian G. Smith, University of Houston, United States
"Where Public Relations Should Reign in the PR/Marketing Interface" - James Hutton, Fairleigh Dickinson University, United States and Richard Varey, University of Waikato, New Zealand