03 November 2009

The third CIPR guest lecture of the series warmly welcomed Andy Green of Green Communications. Apart from working for this successful agency, Andy has also written a number of though-provoking books, such as Overcoming Stupidity in the World Around You and The Upturn: Your Part in its Rise.

Andy began by talking about why we as PR practitioners are not propagandists and then went on to discuss with the audience what our views of Public Relations are. He used his own experiences and examples to explain and help us understand spin. Andy also talked about truth and the ethical issues surrounding the PR industry.

The lecture′s main theme was Memes, which Andy defines as ′communication that is able to replicate itself.′ Andy used Meme Triangles to illustrate the idea and then guided us through a number of example PR memes, such as the swine flu campaign and the change to PIN codes. He talked about the importance of making the messages you communicate sticky and meme-friendly, in order to be effective.

The lecture was full of audience participation, which kept the listeners engaged. There was a rendition of the happy birthday song, a number of hand gestures that the entire audience experimented with and many question and answer opportunities.

An interesting analogy that Andy mentioned was that of predator and prey. He explained that the prey scans the environment for threats, where as predator pushes its view out in to the environment. He concluded that PR practitioners are both the predator and the prey.

All in all, it was an attention-grabbing lecture led by a witty and friendly speaker, which included some exciting new ideas that the audience could take away with them.

The next guest lecture, which for many is the most eagerly anticipated of the series, will be led by Sarah McCartney, who is Head of Communications at LUSH. This will take place on Monday 16 November at 6.45pm.