Chapter 8

Chapter 8 discusses the different ways and strategies of public relations planning. The three types of public relations plans discussed in the book are ad hoc plans, standing plans, and contingency plans. Understanding the different types and purposes of PR plans is very important for a pracititioner because it sets the information for the details of the plan.

I found a blog post on prblogger.com that discusses twelve steps to a successful PR campaign. I found it to be really interesting because it combines information that has been covered in the past few chapters we've read. Here are the twelve steps that this blogger thinks are important:
1. Research
2. Situation Analysis
3. Objectives
4. Identifying Publics
5. Identifying Stakeholders
6. Key Messages
7. Strategy
8. Tactics
9. Timescale
10. Budget
11. Crisis Issues and Management Place
12. Evaluation
Also many of the responses, from PR practitioners, agreed with these twelve steps. I also agree. He gives a pretty good breakdown of all of the different steps, including strategy and tactics, two important topics for this chapter. While in many situations that PR practitioners have to deal with, there is not enough time to do all of these steps fully. This checklist is convenient to look at and I think I would find it particularly helpful when starting out in the PR business when you don't want to forget something important, yet it's not completely ingrained in your mind.

I also found this article about PR planning specifically for non-profit organizations which is particularly interesting to me because I have seriously considered working for one and truly enjoyed my internship when I did. This article does the same type of stuff as the blog post before but in greater detail and accommodating for a non-profit organization. This article also gives an example communications plan for a hospital. Seeing a communications plan written out as if for an actual organization really helps solidify the information and the importance of each step in the plan. These articles take the basic four elements of the written plan mentioned in the book and adds more details and elements to truly fill out the plan. That said, noting that the book only had four (goal, objectives, strategies, and tactics) shows that you do not always have to include every step and you should choose the most important elements for your situation when you are planning.