Andrea Weckerle

While most of us didn’t volunteer to act as representatives for the groups we are affiliated and frequently identify with, such as our respective country, nationality, ethnicity, race, gender, orientation, religion, marital status, parental status, political affiliation, physical appearance and so on– and in many cases would perhaps only chose to actively represent our chosen professions — conclusions are drawn based on our actions as well as inactions. In other words, we are under a microscope.

Take the public relations industry, for example. Next to the practice of law, perhaps no other profession is as misunderstood, criticized and even vilified as PR — yet at the same time desperately needed (and being connected to both, it’s interesting for me to see them go head-to-head on a regular basis).

Matthew Stibbe’s critique of the PR industry in The Top Ten Lies of PR Companies (which he prefaces with the observation that "not all PR companies are skunks. If you find a decent one, let me know.") and this post providing links to "more examples of PR madness" is one of several recent ones.

Of course (and this is not unique to the PR industry), the actions of some practitioners don’t help positively enhance the profession’s reputation. A good friend of mine becomes livid whenever he sees certain PR "experts" make pronouncements that he feels harm the profession. But what do do? Nothing? Self-police and point out inaccuracies? Become a stronger example for best practices? Well, my vote’s with the latter two.

And while the stakes regarding PR industry reputation management are not insignificant, the stakes in other areas are much higher, such as on the international relations stage.

Earlier this year I wrote about bloggers being ambassadors of sorts and referenced the Business for Diplomatic Action’s suggestions for how to be worldly Americans. Yesterday a Reuters article reported on the Washington D.C.-based Coalition for Citizen Diplomacy’s efforts to "turn millions of Americans into ‘citizen diplomats’ who use personal meetings with foreigners to counter the ugly image of the United States shown in a series of international public opinion polls."

The Coalition, with its impressive roster of member organizations, regularly-held community summits and a July 2006 national summit, believes that "by engaging greater numbers of Americans in meaningful person-to-person encounters with citizens from around the world, we can have a significant effect on our national well-being." 

The Coalition’s three overarching goals are:

1. Recruitment—Increase exponentially the number of Americans who are engaged internationally through their local organizations and see themselves as citizen diplomats;

2. Recognition—Increase the visibility of citizen diplomacy, both its impact and its potential, so that citizens recognize the importance of assuming their responsibilities in building positive and effective foreign relations;

3. Resources—Identify and secure appropriate financial resources—both public and private—for this vital work, as well as expand the role of the federal government in promoting and funding international exchange and education initiatives that advance economic, diplomatic, and social relations with the rest of the world.

These are ambitious goals, no question about it. What’s particularly exciting about the Coalition’s efforts is that it is relying on the dedication, commitment and support of average people to improve the reputation and status of the United States and its citizens (a 32-page downloadable toolkit provides guidelines on how to go about this; PR practitioners may find pp. 15-21 on media relations interesting).