Tom Martin's May 29 column ("Decision-making table requires an etiquette for effectiveness") clearly lays out the requirements for being a PR leader.
Without so stating, he differentiates between what it takes to be part of the policy and decision-making process and the job of managing the communications function.
Managers aren't always good leaders. Leaders aren't always good managers. But one thing is clear: Being able to manage a function won't necessarily lift you up and out of the cafeteria.
Peter Osgood
Osgood O'Donnell & Walsh
New York
Good news for PR?
As I read "Annenberg study shows stability in PR industry," (PRWeek, May 22), I wasn't sure if I should laugh or cry.
The results were reported rather optimistically considering that PR got $646 per $1 million from Fortune 500 corporations and $962 per $1 million from Fortune 1001 to 2000 corporations in 2005. Furthermore, money spent on PR was 1.28% of the advertising budgets.
Is this supposed to be good news? For next year, perhaps Annenberg should skip the study - it's too depressing - and spend the money on a PR campaign for PR.
Susan Tellem
Tellem Worldwide
Los Angeles
Releases need real news
I applaud Swift Communications for introducing the press release 2.0 ("Evolution of press release could drive differentiation," PRWeek, May 29). The company has taken a long-used strategy - breaking up a news release into individual chunks - and applied it to fit today's tech-crazed PR pros.
There is one missing item, however. You still must have real news in a release. Dressing up non-news with truncated bits won't produce news value.
You can put a tutu and a tiara on a pig, and maybe even teach it to dance, but in the end, it's still a pig.
Wilma Mathews
Arizona State University
Tempe, AZ
Corrections
A June 19 story reported that Robert Tappan, named president of Burson-Marsteller's DC office, will oversee Direct Impact, BKSH, and Schoen & Berland Associates. He will only oversee Direct Impact.
In addition, a June 19 People Moves entry noted that Steve Singerman joined Weber Shandwick from Edelman-Chicago. In fact, Singerman was an MD at Zeno Group in Chicago before joining WS. We regret the errors.