The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) has published the second quarterly report from 2015 CIPR President, Sarah Pinch, spotlighting progress towards her commitment to: ‘Make membership more meaningful to clients and employers’ ‘Stand up for a profession confident in its high standards and able to demonstrate its value’ ‘Build trust in our practice through the code of conduct and continuous professional development’ ‘Reach audiences beyond the industry’

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R E P O RT

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CIPR PRESIDENT'S REPORT Q2 2015
This quarter I have covered more than 2000 miles mainly by train, but once again my Irish trip
requiredtwoflights.
I was honoured and delighted to welcome 700 people to the CIPR’s Excellence Awards at the
gloriously sunny venue of Old Billingsgate Market. It was a great evening, demonstrating how we
continue to innovate and develop. Only CIPR members could enter the individual categories,
making it clear that they abide by the code of conduct and uphold the highest forms of
professionalism. We developed an app, which was widely used on the night. We also published a
bookletof casestudiesfromthewinners.
iProvision, the CIPR’s benevolent fund, celebrated its 50th anniversary and was also the beneficiary
forall donationsfromExcellence.
I was delighted to join Russell Goldsmith for a recording of the CIPR Social Media Panel’s podcast,
kindly provided by us by Markettirs4DC, where we discussed the use of social media in crisis. You
canlistentoit,along withallotherpodcastshere.
I gave the vote of thanks at the Maggie Nally Lecture, in the House of Lords to Bessie Lee, the
inspirationalHeadof WPPforChina.
I was also really honoured to be asked to judge the finals of Debating Matters. The CIPR has
been involved in judging the regional heats, and I am very grateful to the chairs and members of
the CIPR Corporate and Financial Group and the CIPR Public Affairs Group, who are both
sponsoring our involvement. It reminded me again of the power of debate and how if we
encourage our young people to think independently, read widely and communicate effectively
we’ll build a great future for Public Relations.
Many thanks also to the CIPR Northern Ireland committee, the Public Relations Institute of Ireland
and the Public Relations Consultants Association of Ireland for their very warm welcome in Belfast,
fortheCIPR NIMediaAwardsandinDublin,forthePRIIandPRCAExcellenceinPRAwards.
As the sun shines throughthe window of my train,I hope it will be shining on the deck of the SS Great
Britain, in Bristol on 13July, where the CIPR will be holding its National AGM. I do hope to see many
of you there.
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WELCOME TO THE PRESIDENT’S
SECOND QUARTER REPORT FOR
2015
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// Debating Matters 2015

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CIPR PRESIDENT'S REPORT Q2 2015
Over the last three months the CIPR has taken a number of steps to make membership as relevant to
theneedsof workingprofessionalsaspossible.
We have signed agreements with a number of large employers, bringing their public relations and
communicationsstaff into membership – including McDonalds,Home RetailGroup,the Officeof the
Public Guardian,The Institute of CharteredAccountants of England andWales,TheValuation Office
Agency andNewcastleCityCouncil.
To ensure that members know about the full range of benefits which come with joining the CIPR,
a new flyer has been created, detailing all the benefits of membership. It is being sent out to
members as their subscription comes up for renewal.
Many members have told us we’re sending too many emails,so in April we introduced new software
to help us consolidate our outgoing messages. You will have started to receive emails in the new
format,combining updatesfromyour chosen Groupswith news and informationfromthe CIPR head
office.As is often the case,there have been some teething troubles with the software,but I hope you
areallnowgetting thecorrectcommunications.
We understand the importance of supporting members mid-career and I am delighted that we
have now accepted a second cohort of twenty members into our Senior Practitioner Mentoring
Scheme. Demand for this scheme continues to be very strong, with many of you offering to be
mentors and many applying to be mentees, thank you. We will be expanding the scheme over the
coming year.
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MAKING MEMBERSHIP MORE
MEANINGFUL TO CLIENTS AND
EMPLOYERS
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// CIPR Code of Conduct

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CIPR PRESIDENT'S REPORT Q2 2015
In May we decided to abolish a regulation dating back to a previous era, which meant that any CIPR
member who declared themselves bankrupt automatically had their membership terminated. This
seems unnecessarily harsh in the modern world,and in future, termination will only occur when it can
be shownthat thememberacted outside our Codeof Conduct.
It is vitally important that our training and qualifications reflect the needs of the profession,so earlier
in the year we commissioned a piece of research from Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, into
future skills needs in the PR profession. We have now received this study and it will guide the steps
we take in reforming our syllabus and updating our programmes. In fact it is on the board’s agenda
for this month.
In the coming quarter – we will be starting the syllabus review,introducing new student membership
benefits and forming aneditorial boardforour new members’magazine.

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Over the last couple of months we have spoken out to defend communications professionals
working in both local government and in the police. Both were the subject of attacks by the
Taxpayers’ Alliance, which placed stories arguing that communication with the public is a waste of
money,diverting funds from front-line services.
We have also taken a stand on the principle of self-regulation of lobbying. Some years ago we
formed the UK Public Affairs Council (UKPAC) together with the Public Relations Consultants’
Association (PRCA) and the Association of Professional Political Consultants (APPC). Both
organisations have now withdrawn from UKPAC and both now operate registers only of their own
members.TheCIPR remains committedto theprinciple of apublic register of lobbyists which is:
Ÿ universal - coversasmany people engaged in lobbing aspossible
Ÿ open - tolobbyists whoare notCIPRmembers
Ÿ free- forlobbyiststo register themselvesandforthepublic to use
For these reasons we announced the launch of the UK Lobbying Register (UKLR, following the
closureof UKPACattheendof June.
I took part in the FutureComms 15 conference along with Past President Stephen Waddington and
robustly disputed the notion that we are here to ‘tell a version of the truth’ not ‘the truth’. It was a
shame that the conference did not live up to its name. But I was pleased to have the opportunity
to hack the panel I was chairing and introduce a woman to an all-male line up. If you are putting on
any talks or conferences, please work hard to have a gender balance. I have been delighted with
the number of people who have come forward with ideas about how to respond to the future in
PR and communications, more aboutthatnextquarter.
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STANDING UP FOR A PROFESSION
CONFIDENT IN ITS HIGH
STANDARDS AND ABLE TO
DEMONSTRATE ITS VALUES
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// FutureComms 15
CIPR PRESIDENT'S REPORT Q2 2015

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CIPR membership should represent a conscious choice by individuals identifying with our ethics
and values.This is the foundation on which the future of our profession will be built.Therefore,from 1
April we have stopped requiring people to become CIPR members in order to study for our
qualifications -itis nowoptional,asit alwaysshouldbe.
We’ve been thinking a lot about how our members’ work adds value to their clients and employers,
and how our activities as a professional body support this value exchange. As a result we have
published our first ever annual report set out on the principles of . This placesIntegrated Reporting
the CIPR among the earliest adopters of Integrated Reporting worldwide. It also makes us the first
professional body in the UKoutside thefieldof accountancy to produce anIntegrated Report.
Finally, if you have received a new Membership Benefits leaflet in recent weeks, or seen the new
qualifications brochure, or advertisements in the Independent, you may have noticed that we are
introducing some new design elements into our brand. We believe this new look supports our
energetic andforward-looking ethos.Ihope you agree.
In the coming quarter I will be continuing my tour of the UK,visiting many groups in the summer and
early autumn. I look forward to talking about ethics, professionalism and standards and to hearing
from you.
CIPR PRESIDENT'S REPORT Q2 2015

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BUILDING TRUST IN OUR
PRACTICE THROUGH THE CODE
OF CONDUCT AND CONTINUOUS
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
............................................................
Our ambition for 2015 is to drive forward the number of members recording Continuous
Professional Development (CPD), building on the steady progress we’ve made in recent years. We
have made the simpler to use, as well as mobile-friendly so that members canCPD Ladder website
easily record their learning on the way back from an event. Our national, regional and sector groups
are enthusiastically supporting this drive for CPD and many are setting themselves ambitious targets
to get more of their members recording CPD.I have been delighted with the number of groups who
now have aCPDchampion named on their committee.
We’ve continued to weave CPD into the fabric of our activities: from this year anyone wanting to
judge the PRide Awards must be recording CPD to be eligible. We also recently amended our
Regulations to make it a requirement in future for anyone applying to become a Fellow to be an
Accredited Practitioner.
Last year we took part in Ethics Month,an initiative brought forward by the Public Relations Society of
America (PRSA). We have now published the which were created as a result of theguidance notes
round tablemeetings held at that time.
In parallel with taking over the lobbying register, we have recently produced detailed guidance on
lobbying. Our Code of Conduct sets out generic principles for professional behaviour at a high
level,and we intend to produce a number of more detailed pieces of supplementary guidance in the
future.The lobbying guidance isthe firstof these.
In the coming quarter I am looking forward to holding an inaugural ‘Meet the President’ lunch for
each winner of the PRide and Excellence Young Communicator of the Year awards since 2012. The
initiative is the brainchild of Anne-Marie Bailey, winner of Young Communicator of the Year 2014 in
the North East. She has proposed that we meet to talk about the challenges and opportunities for
young communicators andtoencourage themto getinvolved with CPD.
Finally, we are also preparing for the 2015 Ethics Month, which will takes place in September, and
which Ihope will involve activities from someof our national,regional andspecialist sector groups.
// Anne-Marie Bailey,
CIPR North East Young
Communicator of the Year 2014
CIPR PRESIDENT'S REPORT Q2 2015

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As mentioned in my introduction, the CIPR is in its second year of sponsoring the highly successful
national schools debating competition, Debating Matters, and a number of our members have been
volunteering as judges in the regional rounds.I was involved in judging the National Finals at the British
Library.
Our first Integrated Report has just been published and we have joined the steering group on training
for Integrated Reporting, established by the . We areInternational Integrated Reporting Council
working together with partners in other countries to develop a training programme to help other
organisationstransitiontoIntegratedReporting.
We have been involved in two initiatives to do with risk management. We supported a new publication
on from Tomorrow’s Company, and we hosted a round table discussion with PARN onRisk Leadership
RiskinProfessionalBodies.
Adapting to technological change is another example of a cross industry issue. In May we hosted a
cross-sector group of professional bodies who meet regularly in the Digital Leadership Forum. Our
Chief Executive also presented a paper on behalf of the CIPR at the Ashridge International Research
Conferenceontheimpactof roboticsontheworkinglivesof professionals.
In April we commented on a report from the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants on how
companies need to value their intangible assets, and we are currently taking part in a benchmarking
exercisewiththeRoyalPharmaceuticalSociety.
In June we also joined forces with the PRCA to protest against proposed changes to EU Copyright Law
which will effectively end our freedom to take and distribute photographs of buildings for commercial
use.Much of Europe already enjoys ‘Freedom of Panorama’ but if the proposals are not changed by the
European parliament, they will hugely restrict how PR professionals can use photography in their work.
We have been working to raise the alarm on this question with a broad coalition of interested parties,
andarehopefulof securingamodificationintheproposedlaw.
In the next quarter, we will be continuing to work with co-collaborators. I am delighted to be jointly
hosting the CIPR/NUJ late summer garden party in the Cotswolds in partnership with Louise Tickle, a
winner of the CIPR Education and Skills Journalist of the Year award and I am constantly encouraged by
the number of other organisations, journalists and individuals who have come to us to ask for our
advice, or comment on our work on gender pay, flexible working and agile working. In the coming
quarter we will be continuing to use our expertise in these areas to start conversations with other
bodies.
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REACHING AUDIENCES BEYOND
THE INDUSTRY
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// Debating Matters judging
CIPR PRESIDENT'S REPORT Q2 2015