Communicators host December sessions on hiring PR agency, free virtual tour of PR museum

The National Press Club Communicators Team is hosting two lunchtime events this month for members to learn more about the workings and history of the public-relations industry.

During a Lunch and Learn session on Thursday, Dec. 3, at noon, Steve Drake and Robert Udowitz, founders of RFP Associates, plan to describe how the “request for proposal”, or RFP, is traditionally used in the agency-selection process. The virtual, via Zoom, event is free for all Club members. Click here to register.

Throughout their careers, Drake and Udowitz have been on both sides of the negotiating table while developing business at PR agencies, and identifying and selecting agency resources as communicators at corporations and trade associations.

For organizations, agency selection has become confusing, time consuming and seemingly inefficient. For agencies, it’s always a risk-versus-reward proposition. But a well-thought, carefully written RFP, coupled with a fair and transparent search process, will increase the likelihood of satisfaction for both sides.

During this program, participants should learn the best, systematic approach for finding the right prospective agency respondents, developing a pre-qualifying questionnaire and writing a top-notch RFP. 

On Wednesday, Dec. 9 at noon the Club plans to co-host the first-ever virtual tour of the Museum of Public Relations featuring a treasure-trove of historical artifacts that chronicle the evolution of the PR industry. As a holiday gift to the PR community, the Club and the museum are offering the tour at no charge. However, advanced registration is required. 

During this event see many artifacts from the museum, including a souvenir from Light's Golden Jubilee celebrating the 50th anniversary of Thomas Edison's incandescent light bulb in 1929, the original press kit from 1948 for the release of Disney’s movie "Dumbo", and a stereoscope from 1900 used to give viewers a 3D perspective on current events, travel destinations and even "bathing beauties of Coney Island."

Founded in 1997 in New York, the museum is the only one of its kind in the world that is dedicated to the field of public relations. It was founded with a donation of papers and other materials from the estate of Edward Bernays, the “father of public relations” who was a friend of the museum’s founders and curators, Shelly and Barry Spector. The Spectors plan to conduct the tour live from the museum.