Book Club: Putting the Public Back in Public Relations

• November 15, 2009
• 19 Comments

After publishing Putting the Public Back in Public Relations with Deirdre Breakenridge, one of the greatest rewards was the ability to connect with wonderful people all over the world who are facing extraordinary challenges while also accomplishing amazing things.

I’ve learned first-hand from their experiences, obstructions, struggles and resulting triumphs in almost every industry imaginable. In turn, I shared my journey and escapades to offer outside perspective and ideas to help trigger new opportunities.

As these exchanges continued to surmount, I realized, the common thread tying each instance together was the book. Every company I would speak to initially purchased books for their PR, service, marketing, interactive, digital, and social media teams to read, discuss, and then hopefully innovate inside. In turn, representatives from many organizations  took the initiative to ask for a call, Web chat or in-person visit to discuss the book and also take the time to answer questions from the team.

What unfolded was an online and offline book club that connected ideas, questions, and guidance.

I would like to extend the same opportunity to your company or school.

If you purchase books for your team, please let me know if you’d like to host a book club chat where we can discuss the lessons, examples, concerns, and thoughts contained in the book or those that stemmed from reading it. Or, if your class is reading the book this semester or next, let’s arrange a virtual visit.

In most cases, we hosted a video discussion via Skype to save on travel fees and time. We simply organized the book club team in a conference room with a notebook and webcam one side and me with a notebook and camera on the other. Seamless and effective…

Some of the companies that have hosted Book Clubs to date include:

- Facebook
- Southwest Airlines
- Home Depot
- Wynn
- Forrester Research
- GM
- San Francisco University

Please reach out and let’s explore the possibilities of hosting a live chat.

I would also like to take a moment to thank Lara McCulloch. She created and hosted the first Twitter-based book club series, discussing a chapter online every week. Thank you Lara. And also, thank you to everyone who helped organize a book club in the past.

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