PR Futurist | Stuart Bruce | Purposeful Relations - 🚀 PR Futurist #70 |💻 All about AI | 🏛 Stuart's blog from Washington DC

Welcome

AI, misinformation, purpose, inclusion, division and she-conomics

Welcome to a special edition of PR Futurist to report on what we learnt at the PRovoke Global Summit in Washington DC. I've written a long-read article summarising my thoughts. We've also curated some of the articles from the PRovoke Media team who wrote up each of the sessions in-depth, as well as some LinkedIn and blog posts from speakers.

It was an amazing event with great sessions where there was lots to learn that we can share with clients. It wasn't all work as we had time to explore The Mall and pop by to see Joe Biden. Unfortunately, he wasn't taking visitors. 😀

A quick reminder that to read any of the articles in PR Futurist click on the headlines or the link at the bottom of the article. If you want to share it then copy the link behind the paperclip icon as it will take people straight to the right part of the newsletter.

Photo courtesy of PRovoke Media and its official photographer.

News

Stuart's summary of the highlights of the PRovoke Global Summit

Don't miss Stuart's article on what he's brought back from Washington DC to share with you. Let us know your thoughts on the topics discussed in Washington DC or if you want to find out more about any of the issues covered.

Karen Marshall

Corporate affairs

A summer of Barbie, women's football and Taylor Swift

The first session of the main summit was a cracker. Weber Shandwick’s Gail Heimann talked to Sex & The City author Candace Bushnell and former political comms director Ashley Etienne about the rise of "she-conomics".

ESG as a term needs to go away

I really enjoyed this session as Michael Maslansky, CEO of language strategy firm maslansky + partners’ demolished the term ESG. He covered just about all my objections to it and clearly explained why we can and must use more understandable and persuasive language than terms like ESG and CSR.

Stuart Bruce

Flooding. Fires. Famine. Droughts.

Finn Partners Brianne Chai-Onn on its panel about tackling climate change.

Straight talking on why PR agencies need to improve diversity and inclusion

An inspiring session hearing from the recipients of the Young Changemakers awards discussing what PR agencies are doing right and wrong when it comes to retaining BIPOC talent... including why BIPOC and BAME aren't terms we should use.

What should ESG really mean?

Communicators need to resist the temptation to lead into the polarisation around environmental, social, and governance issues said Mars vice president of corporate affairs and sustainability Andy Pharoah.

Why don't brands understand people over 50

FleishmanHillard’s John Saunders spoke to AARP communications and marketing chief Martha Boudreau about the impact of ageism in culture.

Disruptive approaches to climate change

A surprisingly interesting session hearing from Sydney Kitson, the CEO of Kitson Partners, a Florida-based real estate company that created America’s first fully solar-powered city.

Data, measurement, analytics

Proving the value of public relations

The summit kicked off with the age-old debate of how to prove the value of public relations and communications. Needless to say, it didn't provide answers beyond it's important and it's hard. That's why we'll keep working to help clients develop bespoke reputation and relationship measurement frameworks that work for them.

Growing an independent agency

Julian Boulding of thenetworkone global independent agency network shares his thoughts on the panel he moderated about proving the value of public relations and communications.

Crisis communication

Tackling disinformation and misinformation

Amid global conflict, major elections and geopolitical tensions, more proactive strategies are required in the battle against disinformation.

AI, digital and social

Communication in the AI era

Silicon Valley veteran Jeremiah Owyang outlines developments in AI and how they will affect communicators, who must ‘start now’ and ‘fight fire with fire’.

Jermiah Oywang on the impact of AI on communications

Jermiah Oywang writes on LinkedIn about his keynote on AI and its impact on communications.

The threat of AI-generated false narratives

“One of the most important priorities for all of us over the next year will be not to buy into AI generated disinformation narratives,” said The Atlantic CEO Nick Thompson.

Research and reports

New research on the power and importance of people being connected

New research by Citizen Relations quizzed 3,000 respondents across the UK, US and Canada on the topic of connection to create the Citizens Connection Report. It revealed that 57% of people felt alone even when surrounded by others and 30% were less likely to discuss controversial topics since the pandemic.