What is PR?

Last night I attended a dinner organized by a fraternal organization I'm involved in, the PNA. (It's a national insurance benefit society for people with Polish ethnic ties that sponsors language schools, dance groups, parties and all kinds of other fun stuff.) Anyway, I was talking at this dinner to one of the young ladies I know through the Polish Centennial Dancers. She is a senior in high school and is thinking about a career in PR. I told her about my internship experiences at The Henry Ford and Eisbrenner PR, the volunteer work I've done for the Westland Historical Museum and the PNA, and PRSSA, an organization for PR students in college. I also gave her a briefing on what PR is and how it works in different capacities for different organizations.

It dawned on me, though, that many high school and college students considering a career in PR might not know what it consists of. (I didn't understand what PR actually was until I took a class in organizational communication at EMU in my sophomore year.) So, I thought I would look up an "official definition" of PR to share with readers.

According to the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), "Public relations helps an organization and its publics adapt mutually to each other." Easy enough. But how does PR accomplish this task? I decided to look around the Web for a site with more info about the tools of PR, what is achieves, why it's important, etc. And, miraculously, I found one site with everything I was looking for. It's the London School of PR and Branding. (Who knew there was a school entirely devoted to PR?!) It has an awesome section on what PR is, its tools, its functions, reputation management, and what PR accomplishes in the world. It also includes a list of books on the PR field. (I think I might look for Creativity in Public Relations at Borders the next time I run in.) This Web site is a great resource for anyone considering a career in PR - you have to check it out!