Award-winning author and PR veteran to address national communications professionals

Terry Fallis will speak with Canadian Public Relations Society members about essential skills of successful professionals

OTTAWA, June 6, 2013 /CNW/ - Despite rapid changes impacting the industry, public-relations professionals will continue to need essential skills to ensure a successful career.   This is one of the key messages bestselling Canadian author and veteran public-relations consultant, Terry Fallis, will deliver to the annual gathering of Canada's public-relations practitioners.

Mr. Fallis, whose book, Best Laid Plans, was named the essential Canadian novel of the decade by CBC Canada Reads, will deliver the annual Diana and Charles Tisdall Lecture in Communications at the Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS) national conference in Ottawa, June 10, 2013.  The theme of his lecture is 25 Years of Storytelling: Perspectives on the short trip from PR to Novels.

The Tisdall lecture is considered a highlight of the CPRS conference.  It is presented in partnership with the Communications + Public Relations Foundation. Past speakers represent a who's who of Canadian communications professionals and business leaders who traditionally share insights and provocative reflections about the value of communications.

In his address, Mr. Fallis will share his perspective on the changing world of public relations, how his PR career helped him break through as a novelist, the future of the PR profession, and his views on what continue to be the bedrock skills of the successful PR professional.

Following a successful career as a political advisor, Mr. Fallis became a respected government affairs and communications consultant with the international PR firm, Hill and Knowlton. In 1995, he co-founded Thornley Fallis where he has counselled corporate and government clients on various fronts including crisis communications, media relations, issues management, and stakeholder relations.

In 2007, he became an author and published his first book Best Laid Plans which won the 2008 Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour.  He followed that with two more, High Road, and most recently Up and Down in 2012.  In November 2011, CBC-Television announced that Best Laid Plans is in development as a six-part TV miniseries.

Established by the Tisdall family through the Communications + Public Relations Foundation, and in partnership with the Canadian Public Relations Society, the Diana and Charles Tisdall Lecture in Communications aims to demonstrate the societal power and value of public relations and communications thinking.

Charles Tisdall was a recognized leader in public relations in Canada and the United States having established Tisdall Clark in the early 1950s. He died in 2007. During his career, he was named one of the world's 40 outstanding public-relations professionals by Public Relations News.

The Communications + Public Relations Foundation is a not-for-profit charitable organization that is committed to increasing public knowledge and awareness of the role of communications and public relations by providing support to educational initiatives that advance the profession.  It promotes an advancement of communications and public relations as a vital function in society and is dedicated to the public interest.

Founded in 1948, the Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS) is a not-for-profit organization whose members are engaged in the practice, management or teaching of public relations. Members work to maintain the highest standards and to share a uniquely Canadian experience in public relations. CPRS is a federation of more than 1,800 members across 14 Member Societies based in major cities or organized province-wide.

SOURCE: Communications + Public Relations Foundation

For further information:

Karen Dalton, APR
Executive Director
Canadian Public Relations Society, Inc.
Office: 416-239-7034
Cell: 416-258-3168
[email protected]

or

Barbara Sheffield, APR, FCPRS
Executive Director
Communications + Public Relations Foundation
Office: 416 242-6146
Cell: 416 557-3858
[email protected]