The SCIENCE BENEATH the ART of PUBLIC RELATIONS ™
July 8, 2015
Karen Freberg, Ph.D., University of Louisville

Social media is not just a tool or "fad" to be reckoned with. The intense speed of social media has captured the attention from both practitioners and educators to potentially build a bridge to bring forth new ideas, applications and partnerships to the table.

By exploring these new tools and providing hands-on applied experiences while discussing key conceptual issues arising in the new digital landscape, educators are embracing and setting forth a new educational paradigm of a social education economy. Social media in the classroom is a win-win situation for all parties involved in the public relations field. 
Latin American communication professionals mostly opt for online media when building relationships with stakeholders, gatekeepers and audiences, according to the 2014 - 2015 Latin Communication Monitor. However, these same professionals may be dissatisfied with challenges in their chosen career.

"Latin American strategic communicators are capitalizing fully on a multiplicity of engagement strategies to link organizations and stakeholders," said Dr. Juan Carlos Molleda, chair of the Public Relations Department at the University of Florida and IPR Trustee. "However, as with their counterparts in the U.S. and E.U., they face evaluation and insight challenges partly because of the difficulty in analyzing the large data sets these virtual relationships produce." Read more. 
Tina McCorkindale, Ph.D., Institute for Public Relations

Last month, Frank Ovaitt retired from the Institute for Public Relations after serving an incredible nine years devoted to promoting IPR and research that matters to the practice. Frank is also the first CEO of IPR to have retired twice from the organization. Frank has bought a beautiful horse farm in Kentucky with rolling green pastures and a porch where he can sip sweet tea and eat derby pie.

Frank will continue to serve as an IPR Trustee, and we look forward to his continued involvement in the profession. If I could give him a standing ovation in this post, I would. Thank you, Frank, for all you have done. The public relations profession is better because of you. Read more.