14th Int'l
Conference on Public Relations (ICPR)
ICPR 2017
Dec. 10, 2017, Tehran, Iran
The Islamic Republic of Iran's 14th International
Conference on Public Relations (ICPR) was mounted here in Tehran on December 10,
2017 with its theme "Creativity, Innovation and Distinction" at the IRIB
International Center.
The event was held with Nasrallah Jahangard, Deputy Minister of Communications
and Information Technology, Ali Darabi, the Islamic Republic of Iran
Broadcasting (IRIB) Deputy Director, Mehdi Baqarian, Secretary-General of the
Conference and Head of the Kargozar Public Relations Institute (KPRI), and
Mohammad Mehdi Mazaheri, head of the ECO Cultural Institute, in attendance.
ICPR Sec. Gen.: Public
Relations should appreciate their Distinguishing Features
Mehdi Bagherian, ICPR Secretary-General, in his opening address at
the conference, said, "I thank God, who helped me to be with you for the 14th
time at the Public Relations Conference".
"First of all, I would like to thank you all for your support and presence
here," he told the conference participants. "I also wish to appreciate all the
loved ones who exerted every effort to put this event together and mount the
conference in such an orderly fashion.
"It has taken me years to learn that if we are to shape a better future for
public relations, which I suppose is the main reason for most of us to be here,
we have to distance ourselves from our daily lives, rethink our duties and put
creativity and innovation at the center of our programs and activities.
"As a member of the public relations community of Iran, Kargozar Public
Relations Institute (KPRI) cannot be indifferent to this important matter and,
for this reason, has dedicated the theme of the 14th conference to "Creativity,
Innovation and Differentiation" to help understand this process.
"As we all know, without creativity and innovation, even our individual and
personal lives become boring. That is why we try to distance ourselves from
repetitive matters and optimize life with creativity. Even in cooking and
dressing, or anything else that relates to our personal lives, we can make a
difference and do away with the daily routines of our lives.
"The same goes true for organizational life in which creativity plays the same
role it plays in a person's life, with a slight difference.
"In effect, if organizations and companies want to survive, they have no choice
but to enhance the creativity in their institutions, while simultaneously
improving systems and processes.
"But the issue of creativity is a key issue for us as PR professionals. In fact,
all public relations sectors must be injected with creativity so that the
discipline is revolutionized via creativity.
"One way to save the 8th Art of daily life and help PR reach its real status, is
to have a complete rethinking of the various public relations tasks and sectors,
both in structures and in processes. Fortunately, three book titles have been
released by KPRI's publications, the sole PR specialized publisher in Iran,
which can be pretty helpful in this regard.
"Unfortunately, our attitude towards public relations is somewhat similar to
that used in a Snakes and Ladders game. When we arrive at the snake's head, we
get stung and fall back to its tail. It means that we are always operating in a
vicious circle.
"In order for us to save ourselves from this conundrum, we have to practice
creativity and innovation in our smallest duties and activities, so that we can
maximize the influence of what we do and the messages we transmit.
"For example, we shall be more creative in our advertisements. In other words,
we got to find our outstanding features in our work.
"As an example, what makes this conference different from other conferences? Or
what makes a news event or a press release distinct from other similar ones? So,
in all our works, we have to find the way to be distinct in what we do. This
will undoubtedly bring us the desired outcome.
"That is what I mean by Creative Public Relations: The message you design, the
services you offer, the program or campaign you run should be such that attracts
the attention of the audience and customers, and if we managed to do so, we
would achieve our desired goal.
"I believe that creating a "turning point" is the ultimate goal of all public
relations activities. The result of studies back this notion, indicating that
creativity, innovation and differentiation leading to a "turning point" are an
important element in the process of planning and operation in public relations
activities. Therefore, organizations that provide services to the people need to
enjoy creative public relations; formation of creative public relations requires
a creative, innovative director.
"In summary, our activities should be such that if they stopped one day, people
would be able to understand it. So, we have to operate in such a fashion that
our works remains as a valuable "heritage" for our audience and customers, which
we called "the turning point".
"To conclude my remarks, I would like to add that PR is in need of creativity
and innovation more than ever. For this reason, PR professionals should devote a
great deal of their time to creativity.
Conference Speakers
- Mohammad Mehdi Mazaheri, Director of the ECO Institute: Creativity
and innovation should be practiced in all PR activities.
- Nasrollah Jahangard, Deputy Minister of Communications and Head of Iran's
Information Technology Organization: Using new communication tools requires
creativity, especially in public relations.
- Ali Darabi, Deputy Director IRIB for Provincial Affairs: Intelligent PR
requires a creative director.
- Mahdi Naderi Manesh, Researcher, UCLA, Washington State, Idaho: A
knowledge-based world needs creative, innovative and distinctive PR.
- Mohammad Reza Najafi Emami, director and active in the field of visual
effects: PR can exploit creative video communications for exerting more
influence on the audience.
- Ali Mohammadi, professor of communications at the University of Nottingham
Trent, UK, lectured on political public relations and innovation.
- Mohammad Hassan Tawfiqi, founder of the Iranian Design Academy: Design
thinking in PR is an innovative, problem-solving and pragmatic approach.
- Shahab Esfandiari, IRIB University Chancellor: Image management of a nation is
no longer limited to national media.
- Saeed Reza Ameli, Member of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace: Double-space PR
is classified based on the actions of a creative organization.
- Hassan Bashir, Secretary of the Scientific Committee of the Conference:
Message of the 14th PR Conference is "The creative solution to issues and the
need for public relations to highlight its distinguishing features."
Compilation and Publication of the PR Creativity and
Innovation Charter
Creative public relations is a very effective way of attracting
attentions, supporting and developing cooperation and participation of people in
resolving an issue, as well as re-looking and finally generating satisfaction.
The emergence of innovation requires a creative structure, a creative
environment, a creative PR director and creative PR staff who encourage
exploration and promotion of new ideas and new methods to manage affairs and
activities.
An important feature of creative PR is flexibility in dealing with crises caused
by specialized and communicative activities. Public relations with an
uncompromising structure often keep away from creativity and innovation, and
prevent the emergence and flourishing of innovation and generation of novel
ideas.
Appreciating its unique role, the PR society of Iran, in seeking satisfaction
and providing quantitative and qualitative services to the people in accordance
with their needs and demands, commits itself the fulfillment of the three
principles of creativity, innovation and distinction as a priority in its
activities; and pledges to stand its ground on these principles;
Some other ICPR 2017 Programs
- Unveiling of Volume 3 of "Public Relations Standards" by Mahdi
Bagherian
- Unveiling of "Knowledge-based Public Relations and Content Management" by
Hasan Bashir and Mehdi Bagherian. The title entails 11 scholarly research papers
submitted to the 13th ICPR
- Honoring 10 active PRs with the Creativity Cup
- Honoring the Top Articles of the 14th ICPR
- Awarding the 3rd Iran PR Medal to Mr. Reza Taheri, head of public relations of
the National South Oil Company
- Releasing the Special Issue of the 14th ICPR