Time to stand up again

I cannot claim to be a frequent blogger.  The opposite in fact and I have tremendous admiration for those that can find both the time and the inspiration.  But I do enjoy the process and I resolve to try harder and be a better blogger.  For starters - I have found a cause.

The last time I blogged - it was in support of a CIPR election candidate.  This time,I am supporting myself. After a four-year absence from the CIPR's affairs, I have elected to stand for a seat on the council.  Why?  I feel I have unfinished business.   Let me be clear about one thing - I have no individual leadership ambitions. I served my time as treasurer and then President and the baton has been firmly passed from that point of view.

But I do still have ambitions when it comes to industry leadership - and that's where the unfinished business lies.

When it came to my turn in the Presidential (very) hot seat; the CIPR was about to begin an almost two-year period of crisis, cutbacks, re-structuring and re-building.  I'm proud of what we did during that period and the strong CIPR that emerged.  I was part of a great team of elected officers that rolled their sleeves up and got on with the job of regenerating the Institute - myself, Sally Sykes, Paul Mylrea and, especially, Jay O'Connor gave up enormous amounts of time and did what needed to be done.

But becoming involved in a corporate governance and re-structuring process was not exactly what I had in mind for my tenure as President.  I wanted to the Institute to prove its worth and relevance to its members across the country and for the profession to be much more vocal about its achievements than had been the case.  I wanted organisations large and small - whether commercial, public or not-for-profit - to respect and take advantage of the power of PR.

I wanted to help resurrect old PR values in a modern world - after all who could possibly object to "a planned and consistent programme of communication between an organisation and its publics" - why should that be dismissed as "spin" or "fluff".

This year's CIPR President, Sue Wolstenholme, has sought to bring academic rigour and discipline to the profession's image and the practice of PR.  The groundwork has been done and the Chartered Practitioner status is a hard won accolade.  Now we need to get even more vocal.

Next year, Stephen Waddington takes the chair and will hit a different audience with his strong social media following.  Now, we are in the position to take much better advantage of that ground work and I want to be part of that campaign from the inside.

I feel I still have something to offer.  And now it will be up to the membership to decide whether to give me that chance.  Here's hoping, and also asking, for your vote.