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Genesis Blog

A CIPR committee member in East Anglia

Ruth Ryland writes…

I joined the CIPR when I was a student in London studying for my MA in Public Relations. I wanted to encourage other students to get involved so I took on the role of CIPR student representative at my university.

Since becoming a member I have always considered the CIPR as an advocate and voice of the public relations profession, offering a highly respected resource for professional interest and training.

I had found, whilst I was studying, that the case studies and breadth of information available on the CIPR website was hugely helpful for my studies. When I finished my MA and joined the world of work as an Account Executive at Genesis PR I continued with my membership but wanted to find a way to be more actively involved with the CIPR. To do this I decided to join the CIPR regional committee in East Anglia.

Joining my fellow colleague Amy, who has been a member of the committee for three years, I went along to the first meeting and joined the events team, with my first task, along with another committee member, to organise a CIPR East Anglia PR conference.

The plans are in full motion for the CIPR East Anglia conference and I am really looking forward to seeing it all come together. When I attended my first CIPR AGM this week I was able to listen to other PR professionals in the area voice their thoughts and opinions on what membership meant to them and what they want from it in the future – it certainly helped us, as a committee, finalise some details for upcoming events.

Being part of the committee also gives you an understanding into the challenges the group faces in this region. The East Anglia branch of the CIPR covers Suffolk, Essex, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire. It is a large geographical patch and PR practitioners are spread far and wide throughout. Engaging with such a disparate audience can be difficult but by hosting events all across the region and using our digital forums to find out what our members need and want from the CIPR in their area helps us in trying to overcome this.

We’ve got an exciting year planned for the CIPR East Anglia group, a big part of that being the conference that I am a co-organiser of and the annual PRide awards – always a fun and glamorous event. We are also looking to introduce more workshops, training opportunities and digital coffee mornings, so there is a lot for East Anglia’s PR professionals to look forward to this year.

I’ve found being on the committee a fantastic opportunity. I feel as though I am part of a group that is shaping the future of the CIPR membership and that is helping to bring more exciting events, personal development opportunities and workshops to East Anglia. It’s also a really great way to meet other like-minded PR people in the area.

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March 28th, 2013