In mid-June, the Second European Summit on Measurement will be held in Barcelona. The Summit is jointly organized by the International Association for Measurement and Evaluation of Communication (AMEC) and the Institute for Public Relations. The highlight of the conference will be a debate to “articulate and agree on standard metrics and measurement techniques…” according to a press release issued last week.
David Rockland, head of research for Ketchum, will lead the session. Mr. Rockland has a lofty vision and high hopes for the debate, “We regard this as the industry’s ‘Commitment Conference’. This is a very powerful moment in time in the history of public relations. Until now, public relations has been undervalued due to its inability to measure itself. The goal of this summit is to establish consistency in order to increase credibility.”
The three-day conference is expected to be attended by about 150 people, including many measurement thought leaders. It should be interesting to see what comes out of this event. Will it serve as a wake-up call to the industry? Time will tell. I’ll post some thoughts once the summit concludes.
Keeping it real…and transparent
- I am a member of the Institute for Public Relations, Commission on Public Relations Measurement & Evaluation
- My agency, Fleishman Hillard, has agreed to join AMEC (pending paperwork)
- Ketchum is a sister Omnicom agency
It could be a wake up call, obviously. While people from some markets are very conscious of the problem with PR (and communication) measurement and are undertaking some activities to educate their industry (USA, Great Britain, Germany), people from other markets (for example my country, Poland) – completely not. Maybe such an international document could be a good point to start local debate or a pattern to create good practices? I will participate in AMEC conference for the second time and I am looking forward to it.
Don – I’ll be there, too, and will undoubtedly find this debate of great interest. There’s no way to predict the outcome at this point, but I look forward to reading your take on the proceedings. Glad you all joined AMEC.
Hi Anna,
Thanks very much for your thoughtful comment. I believe the international document could serve as a focal point for conversation and a starting point for best practices. It will only be a starting point however, much education and adoption must occur before victory is declared.
Glad you are attending the conference. If you would like to email me your reactions to the conference, I’ll try to include them in my post-conference blog post.
Thanks again, Don B
Hi Angie,
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. I’ll make you the same offer as Anna – if you want to share your thoughts about the conference with me I’ll include them either with or without attribution. Enjoy the summit!
Safe travels, Don B