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Pamala P. Proverbs, Ph.D., MBA, APR, ABC is the managing director of PRMR Inc. She is a recent instructor and graduate of the College of Journalism and Communications, University of Florida. A career public relations practitioner of over twenty years, she approaches her scholarship pragmatically. Her research interests include corporate social responsibility, crisis communications and issues management particularly related to gender and development. In her role at PRMR Inc. she has written several strategic communications and crisis management plans for companies in a number of sectors including the private, public, multi-lateral and non-governmental sectors.
Discussion 3.
Having dealt with the perception of Sir Roy based on his controversial May Day 2012 comments and historical vantage points in my last blog I now continue this topic with the toughie, which is the public’s perception of Prime Minister Freundel Stuart. I have found Prime Minister Stuart to be one Barbados’ most honest and thoughtful Prime Ministers.
As a reputation specialist I am always tracking with interest the public’s response to issues.
Discussion 1.
The economic crisis has herald a worrying paradigm for the consumer and that is the reemergence of monopolies. With small businesses crumbling under the economic pressure, large conglomerates are taking the opportunity to buy up limping companies to build capacity.
Dr Alfred Sparman has changed the face of Health Promotions in Barbados forever. Pushing the envelop, the entrepreneurial cardiologist whose entry to Barbados in 2001 was met with some resistance, has on top of this, made many turn to the fraternity’s professional code of conduct with regard to advertising.
Granted there is need for some research on the code and its rationale. My first thoughts however, as a student of communications, is that it is antiquated and has no place in our new capitalist society. What is so innately horrible about advertising that local professional codes of practice for doctors, lawyers and architects prevent them from doing so? This archaic rule maintains the status quo and gives the Establishment the edge, enforcing a level of conformity and conservatism that is speedily disappearing from the Bajan everyday reality.
My blog post this week is more up Mariama’s street, she being a Christian, but when I stumbled on RD Magazine’s Blog Post on “Five Social Media Trends That are reshaping Religion,” I could not help but think about the meeting we had just last week with the PR Manager of the Barbados Port Inc., Freida Nicholls and her telling us that church is not the same without her ipad since she uses her Bible app in church, which she prefers to the physical bible.
Wherever you go now in churches, Reverends and Pastors are using tablets to deliver their messages. The Reverend at the Christ Church Parish Church, Canon Noel Burke has taken this even further by being a regular on twitter - very revolutionary for an Anglican priest. His status reads: “I love God, my family, technology and Coffee”.
Now I understand totally why I am spending so much money on hair colour every week trying to keep up with my rapidly greying head of hair. According to PR Newser, it’s my job to blame! PRNewser has quoted CareerCast list of best, worst, most stressful, and least stressful jobs for 2012. At number seven on the most stressful list is the PR executive. My dream job, My passion!
An inside joke of the IABC Barbados board is that our Co-VP Professional Development, Jackie Marshall-Clarke is good at finding “good” men. And last night’s presenter at our professional development event “Communicating Change - When Things Fall Apart and Communications Is the Glue That Keeps It Together," lived up to the billing.
I could not help but jump all over this “I love JetBlue -- Customer Service Done Right” story in Forbes, especially after Mariama brought up the topic of customer service in her blog last week. Being a bit of a flight snob myself, Jet Blue never appealed to me because there is no business class service. The current economic climate however forced me to revaluate how I spend my money and since the back and front of the plane arrives at the same time, I made the decision that flying first/business class was one of those non-essential luxuries that could be cut.
In 2010, when I packed my bags and headed off to Vancouver to pursue my ABC accreditation I decided to give Jet Blue a try - The wonderful equalizer plane that has everyone on the same level.
This is a wonderful age to be living in - electricity, telephony, air travel, Satelites in outer space, A Black American President and now a blind woman, President of the Barbados Senate. Good going Kerry-Ann Ifill. This is brilliant on 2 counts: first female President and a differently abled person to boot.
I love kids. Especially boys. And another boy stole my heart yesterday at the Barbados Port Inc.’s 50th Anniversary Schools’ Essay Competition Awards Ceremony. He was so small that the Hilton Hotel staff had to put in a riser for him to stand on to read his winning essay in the 9-11 age group.
