BU Research Blog

In a contribution to the international PR Measurement Week, regional practitioners attended an evening training session in The Media School on September 16.
The public engagement event was organised by Professor Tom Watson and Wessex Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) chair Natasha Tobin, who lectures part-time on the BA Public Relations programme. It was attended by 14 CIPR members, who also gained CPD points for their annual professional training quota.
The practitioners were shown basic media measurement techniques using an Excel utility which Professor Watson has developed. It features in the third edition of ‘Evaluating Public Relations’ (Kogan Page 2014) co-written with former BU lecturer Paul Noble.
“Measurement and evaluation is one of the top PR practice issues and we were pleased to organise hands-on training for regional PR people as part of the international week,” said Professor Watson. “BU has had a long relationship with CIPR since BAPR was started in the late 1980s and so they were natural partners for this initiative.”
Measurement Week has been organised around the world by the Association for the Measurement and Evaluation of Communication (AMEC) and has the support in the UK of CIPR and the Public Relations Consultants Association (PRCA, which both recognise BU’s public relations courses.

Delegates and Professor Tom Watson (c) at the training session