Welcome
by Trevor Cook, Jun 28, 04

Blogging is shaping up to be one of the most important developments in media and PR for a very long-time.

For millions of people around the world, blogging is their first opportunity to report and comment on matters of importance to them without having to go through the intermediation of journalists, editors and other gatekeepers.
Blogging will never replace mainstream media, but it will challenge their powerful position as the (often exclusive) conduit for public discourse in modern democratic societies.

For PR professionals, it is creating many challenges and opportunities - we probably don’t know most of them yet. Through corporate blogging, still very much in its infancy, our clients will have many more opportunities to engage with their stakeholders and they will feel much less beholden to the interpretative whims of media gatekeepers. The flow of information will increase to an extent we could barely imagine possible just a few years ago.

These, and many other issues, will be discussed during Global PR Blog Week 1.0.

When I first proposed this idea to a few dozen fellow PR bloggers a few months ago I was amazed by the positive response, since then I have been even more impressed by the willingness of so many to get involved and help set all this up and publicise it across the blogosphere and beyond.

In particular, I would like to thank Constantin Basturea for his relentless dedication. Like so many other bloggers, I know nothing about software and Constantin’s knowledge and persistence has been absolutely critical.

I hope, I think we all hope, that this event will raise the profile of PR blogging and encourage many more practitioners to get involved. We also hope that the posts and comments on this site will form a significant contribution to the debates around blogging and PR and many other current issues facing the PR profession. We also hope that it will form a great resource for anyone interested in these matters.

An online event like this should I think be an example of the power of blogging - that people can participate in these discussions without incurring the costs of travelling (and exorbitant attendance fees) and to be able to do so in a format that is much more consistent with our busy lives. Though of course I hope to meet at least a few of you in my travels over the next few years! And Australia is a very attractive destination.

Thank you again to everyone who has helped get the event this far, and let’s have some fun.