About

The Future: Implementing the Stockholm Accords

We are

This second draft of the Stockholm Accords is the result of the collective work and knowledge of some 59 senior professionals, researchers and educators from 20 different countries and 6 continents. Their names are listed at the bottom of this page (footnote 1)

This draft is the final outcome of:
a) two synchronous video conference workshops held through the WebEx-Cisco-Connexia platform on February 16 and March 9 2010 which lasted for a total of four hours and of two weeks of exchanges, in between the workshops, amongst those participants, divided in six working groups and led by these (footnote 2)  six coordinators;
b) the comments, suggestions and criticisms which were posted in these recent weeks on the World Public Relations Forum’s website.

Our Objective

The Stockholm Accords, in its final text to be approved by participants to the World Public Relations Forum in Stockholm on June 14 and 15 2010- intends to be an operative framework for every willing professional, educator, student, leader of professional association, employee or manager of any public, private and social organization around the world.

The Global Alliance invites each of you to freely join and lead – within your specific professional environment – a two year (2010-2012) advocacy program by flexibly drawing from and adapting the Accords’ contents in a conscious and planned effort to argue the value of public relations.

In short, a two- year global public relations program for the public relations profession!

This document is not set in stone and simply describes different key societal and organizational developments. For each of these developments the document identifies where and how the public relations and communication management profession adds value to the organization.
The end result of this effort is to enhance and reinforce the value proposition of our profession to society and organizations, thus improving our licence to operate on both a global and a local level.

Evaluation and Measurement

The Global Alliance will hub (footnote 3)  the global implementation of this program by monitoring and reporting on activities and results which will follow from the single actor’s activity over the next two years (June 2010- June 2012).

The results will feature an evaluation of the dynamics of the profession’s perceived reputation index related to each different territory and selected stakeholder group where the program, however flexibly, will be implemented.

This of course needs to be done by the single actor from day zero and repeated on an annual basis (footnote 4).

Also, we strongly suggest that the actor, again from day zero and on an annual basis, measure amongst selected stakeholder groups of at least these three indicators: credibility of the source, credibility of the content and familiarity of the content (footnote 5).

How we came to this decision

In these last 10/20 years the global body of knowledge, as well as the actual practices of the public relations profession in every corner of the world, have performed quantum leaps that need to be collected, understood and interpreted so that, what has in the meantime become a global professional community, may apply the framework to enrich mutually beneficial organizational and societal relationships.

What you can do now

You can help shape the future of our profession.
You can:
a) read and ponder this final draft;
b) seriously consider the invitation to become an actor – when the final text will be approved in mid June in Stockholm – by deciding to flexibly devise an action program aimed at advocating to any selected stakeholder group in your territory, at least some of the arguments which you find more con-vincing and related to the specific public relations infrastructure of your environment
c) report to the hub (footnote 6)  (the global alliance) on your decision and provide regular updates so that the hub may keep all other actors informed and these may, in turn, benefit from your specific experience.

A specific example

Let’s imagine that in country X the Association of Public Relations, or the leader of a consultancy, or an educator, a student, or a public relations manager, or a solo consultant decide to become an Actor.

These actors select one or more of the themes to develop an advocacy campaign over the next two years and one or more stakeholder groups with whom to do this with.

The association might decide to select the governance and/or the management theme, the consultancy might decide to select the alignment and/or the sustainability theme, the educator might opt for external communication, the manager the alignment and the solo consultant the internal communication…..

The association might prefer to focus on its own members and on the media; the consultancy might select its client and potential client base; the educator might opt for colleagues or students; the manager might decide to advocate with department employees as well as middle and top management; the solo consultant its relationship and client network.
Of course no single actor has territorial exclusivity on a specific theme or stakeholder group.

Clearly, if coherent, the more overlapping the better.

Each actor then decides on how to develop a zero base starting point by flexibly adopting the suggested evaluation and measurement program, and how to frame the two year program by developing appropriate contents, initiatives, events, documents and communication channels which appear to be effectively supporting the program objectives.
Each actor reports the plan to the hub where it will be accessible to other actors and situationally reports on changes, interim results and reactions received by the selected stakeholder group(s).

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