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| Public Relations is about the Spreading of Information and Creating Goodwill |
What is PR?
PR means Public Relations.
Is Events PR?
Not all events are PR.
Can PR practitioners do Event Management?
Yes.
Do Events and PR complement each other?
Yes.
Then why is Events not synonymous to PR?
Public Relations (PR) practitioners manage the spread of information from the source (client or management) to the intended public or audience. PR is about building relationships and safeguarding image. Sometimes it is used to enhance brands and improve memorability. The objective of engaging a PR activity or campaign is to maintain or persuade trust in regards to the product, services or political decisions made. PR activities are further enhanced when it gets third party endorsements, primarily from the media that do not require direct payment. At the core of Public Relations is ethical behavior and honesty.
Events, on the other hand can be so many things, including:
1. Social i.e. birthday parties, engagement, weddings, baby showers and funerals.
2. Education or career awareness i.e. workshops, exhibitions, conferences, seminars and education or job fairs.
3. Sports i.e. Commonwealth games, Olympics, Wimbledon, Iron Man, and marathons.
4. Entertainment i.e. concerts, award shows, pageants and theatre.
5. Political i.e. rallies, demonstrations, elections and debates.
6. Corporate i.e. product launches, annual dinners, roadshows, buyer-seller meet and programs or MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions)
7. Religious i.e. Maulidur Rasul Procession, Thaipusam, Qurban, and conferences.
8. Fund Raising or Cause Related i.e. donation drive, blood donation drive and auctions.
Events, however, can be a tool that PR practitioners use to build relationships, create awareness, increase knowledge, harness loyalty and everything else that translates into "building bridges" and creating trust. If the objective is to meet the need of building relationships and safeguarding image, than the event is a form of PR. These events are designed and managed with a conscious intention to accomplish the objective of a business/political entity/social organization or individual to generate goodwill.
Unless the event is created to engage the audience with the organizer's products and services that translates into some form of loyalty, the event is not PR.
