FOR RELEASE:
WEDNESDAY MAY 2, 2001.
NEW ROCHELLE NY, May 2. – The elected head of the Public Relations
Society of America urged communicators to “know your audience” and “focus on
your message, not the technique.”
Kathleen Lewton, Senior Vice President and
Partner of Fleishman-Hillard, Inc. of New York City, and PRSA’s Chair for 2001,
told Iona public relations students to do thorough RESEARCH, then aim for
RELEVANCE and RESONANCE in communicating to global audiences.
Ms. Lewton spoke tonight at the final “Public Relations
Pathfinder” Lecture for 2000-2001 sponsored by the Iona College Chapter of the
Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA).
“We are moving away from mere message
delivery,” said Mrs. Lewton. “We must
make sure that our messages are relevant to our audiences and that these
messages have resonance with them – in other words, ‘Did our message motivate
people to change their behavior?’ This
is the bottom-line criterion by which the public relations profession will be
judged in this century of non-stop, ‘24/7’ interconnected global
communication.”
In the question-and-answer period, Mrs. Lewton
pointed out that so-called “viral marketing,” combined with the power of the
Internet, are combining to form a rapid, credible communications force that can
have immediate positive or negative consequences for organizations.
A native of
Illinois, Ms. Lewton is a recognized expert in the area of health-care public
relations. She is the author of the
only specialized textbook on this subject, and has lectured frequently around
the country on the importance of health-care institutions communicating effectively
between patients, physicians, hospitals, health-care manufacturers and
health-care providers.
The Public
Relations Society of America, Inc. is the world’s largest public relations
professional society, with almost 20,000 members from the United States and
overseas. Founded in 1948, it is
headquartered in New York City and has over 100 chapters nationwide, plus
special-interest sections dealing with all aspects of the public relations
profession.
PRSSA is the student arm of the Public Relations Society of America. With over 6,000 students in 200 chapters nationwide, PRSSA offers students many opportunities to learn about the public relations profession by sponsoring guest lectures, professional development projects and on-campus public relations activities. The PRSA Westchester/Fairfield Chapter sponsors Iona’s PRSSA Chapter.
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