A Tough Call: PRSA National Assembly Recap

PRSA held it's annual Leadership Assembly Meeting in Washington, DC on Sat., Oct.16, 2010. Hundreds of delegates from every chapter, section and district gathered to discuss issues facing the society, elect new leadership, review our finances, and explore how we want public relations to evolve.

You can catch the official recap here, but here are some quick highlights.

• National dues will remain the same for 2011.
• Rosanna Fiske, APR will take the helm as PRSA National President in 2011. Gerry Corbett, APR, will be National President in 2012.
• Marisa Valbona, APR, PRSA Fellow (from the San Diego/Imperial Counties Chapter) was elected to the National Board of Directors to represent the Western District.
• The amendment to remove the APR as a requirement for National Board service. 104 delegates voted in favor of the amendment and 172 opposed the amendment. The APR remains a requirement for national board service.

A member of the Assembly asked for a roll call vote on the amendment (because of a desire to create transparency), but the motion was defeated (many delegates were concerned about the time a roll call vote could take). So, in the interest of transparency, I will explain how I voted and why I voted the way I did.

I voted against the amendment.

It was a tough call. As I've explained before, I believe that if PRSA is going to promote the APR as the professional standard for our industry, those leading the association should be accredited. However, as a chapter and district leader, I have had the honor of serving and working with many professionals that (for one reason or another) are not accredited. These individuals are incredibly talented and serve their clients and companies well and it pains me that they will eventually "top out" in the leadership chain of the industry's leading organization. I have coached, pleaded and begged some folks to get their APRs because I believe our organization could benefit so much from their leadership.

I pulsed the chapters within the district. Some were in favor, some were against. There was no clear majority in either direction. In the end, I had to make a call, as a district leader, about what I thought was best for our membership as a whole.

I voted against the amendment.

I am sorry if you disagree with my vote. I hope that rather than letting this issue become a perpetual division in our organization that we can find a way for us to continue the discussion about what qualities we want in our leadership, what we want the APR to really mean, and what we can do to improve the value of the APR to our members and hiring/contracting authorities.

On a more humorous note, Derek DeVries, a delegate from the West Michigan Chapter, organized the third (?) annual assembly flash mob (because all of this serious business needs to be broken out with a bit of fun). Unfortunately, the tribute's honoree, muckraker Jack O'Dwyer, didn't quite get the joke.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity of representing the Western District at this year's Leadership Assembly. It was my honor and pleasure to serve.