The Public Relations Institute of South Africa (PRISA) opened its annual conference yesterday, Sunday, 29 May 2005, with the theme: 'Catch the Sunrise - Embracing communication at the dawn of the African Century', held in KwaZulu Natal this year. The venue is the stunning just-opened Sibaya Casino & Entertainment Kingdom, 20 minutes north of Durban in the midst of the sugar cane fields.
The conference was opened by new PRISA president and the second black president of the organisation, Merle O'Brien (APR), who outlined the organisation's commitment to transformation, its role in building a positive future for Africa, and its commitment to working closely with other African PR professionals through the Federation of African PR professionals (FAPRA) and global PR body, The Global Alliance, both of which are holding their annual conferences in South African in 2006 and 2007 respectively.
Past-PRISA president, Kate Bapela, is vice-chair of FAPRA: SADEC region and in charge of driving the establishment of operating structures for FAPRA in Southern Africa.
Buoyed by the balmy Durbs weather and the PRISA song (There is a song! "....strategically follow the day, la la la..." etc, etc!), the industry's determination to shake off credibility issues associated with PR in South Africa and take its place in the boardrooms of business, is clear: this is the information age and PR is going to be one of the leading professions in the next five years, as Fortune magazine recently predicted - provided PROs can step up to the challenge.
PRISA is the largest PR organisation in South Africa, representing about 40% of the industry in South Africa.
In his opening address, Narend Singh, KwaZulu Natal MEC: Arts, Culture & Tourism, said the quality of the information distributed in this information age was key.
Said O'Brien: "PRISA's vision to be the leader in PR in Southern Africa is being realised. Other major issues we will be addressing in the coming year are: diversity and transformation, and another issue, very close to my heart, is that of ethics. We have taken on the global ethics protocol from the global alliance. It is an imperative, a way of life that we have to live. We have adopted the protocol as this is the way we want to be leading the profession and how we see ourselves going forward in an industry that is largely unregulated.
CEOs are talking strategically out there about PR and communication. It is part of the thinking taking place at a global level in these times we live in. Communication has never been more important, O'Brien emphasised.
"This is the time for communications... and we need to find out what interventions can we, as PRISA, make to increase the dialogue... how do we create the think tanks for ideas, engage in building more trust... for sustainable organisations?"
