Comment: PR Influences is 7 Published January - February 2008 PR Influences enters its 7th year of publication (and 32nd issue) with its focus still on adding value for those holding in-house communication, public relations or marketing roles in Australia. As editor I try to maintain a balance between providing insights, advice and tips based on my 30 years communications/pr experience, and reporting items of interest from the dozens of international PR and marketing sources we monitor constantly. When we started, it was difficult for individuals to monitor PR themselves - and PR Influences filled that gap. Today the landscape and technology has changed and expanded so much with blogs, the availability of RSS and a range of specialist newsletters. Ironically, individuals wanting to stay up-to-date now potentially face an opposite problem - information overload. That means there is still a role for PR Influences in sifting everything that appears, and publishing what we judge to be the most relevant to the Australian landscape. PR Influences remains focussed solely on external communication. However, over the last two years with the growth of online communication channels, our content has increasingly reflected the importance of this to communicators and the management they report to. Over 4000 subscribers now elect to receive our email-alerts advising of a new issue of PR Influences, which is substantial by Australian standards. Many more elect simply to go direct to our website and search our archive of over 100 articles. However, one-way publishing is no longer enough by itself - the trend is now towards conversation. With that in mind, last year we established a presence for PR Influence readers on Facebook. If you want to discuss specific articles, or just engage with others with an interest in public relations, communications or marketing that’s the place to go. Also for those who like to engage online - specifically in the areas of Online PR, social media and technology - take a look at Fresh Chat, a blog produced by the organisation behind PR Influences - Network PR.  Network PR, a medium-sized Sydney-based PR agency, which has more recently become one of the leaders in Australia in using online PR for its clients, really didn’t bargain on what it was letting itself in for when I created the first issue back in February 2001. Thank you to those who have supported us over our first seven years - we’ve had some really great compliments and encouragement over that time. As we enter 2008 we are looking to make some changes, so if you have any comments or suggestions we would love to hear them - either below, by email or on Facebook. Network PR, publisher of PR Influences, specialises in Online PR including both social media and search engine optimisation. To read more about their services click here. To make a no-obligation enquiry click here.

PR Influences: PR Influences is 7