Ever wondered what trade organisations do? The CIPRs president talks PRmoment through her day

CIPR president Jay O’Connor’s day shows that she is relishing her new role. Jay O’Connor took on presidency of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) in January and is also a postgraduate student at the London School of Economics and Political Science. There are many meetings in O’Connor’s day, but this doesn’t mean to say that it’s all work and no play …

My Day

6.45am: Alarm goes off. Start the day with the Today Programme, check emails and digest the online news before reviewing the diary for the day. I am extremely fortunate to be able to balance my time between the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, the London School of Economics and a very small number of clients – a real change from my previous role as a consultancy managing director.

9.00am: First meeting of the day in Central London; crisis planning with a client. The economy has hit many organisations hard and boards of directors are having to make extremely difficult decisions. My role is to work with the board to develop a strategy to communicate the rationale and substance of the decisions. It’s not an easy task but an incredibly important one.

10.00am: Off to the CIPR’s offices in Russell Square. The role of president is varied, working closely with the CIPR team and our volunteers on the council and the board to enhance the professionalism of our members, and the reputation and standing of the profession.  Do a quick walk around the building to say hello to the team and then its five minutes at my desk to check emails and catch up on messages.

11.00am: Meeting with founder of the Inconvenient PR Truth campaign to discuss CIPR’s co-ordination of a working session with practitioners, media and bloggers to develop guidelines on media spamming.

12.30am: Grab lunch on the way to a meeting with our policy team to discuss priorities for 2010. Measurement and evaluation, and social media are two key areas of focus for the Institute this year. We discuss our approach, timelines and the desired outputs for members.

2.00pm: Weekly meeting with acting director general Ann Mealor, to talk through our membership, professional development and policy activities. As the PR profession’s chartered body, we have a large and diverse national and international membership, but also an obligation to support the profession as a whole, in the public interest. The range of activities is huge – from the launch of new diplomas to regional events via our committees, awards programmes and new guidance on best practice. There is a lot to keep track of. Spend time discussing our new three-year plan and upcoming initiatives, including the launch of our new website.

4.00pm: At the London School of Economics for a seminar on political communications. Today’s discussion is on the perceived crisis in public communication and the media’s role in the crisis. It’s another lively debate. LSE’s School of Media and Communications includes policy makers and political journalists, so there is an excellent mix of academic rigour backed by experience of government and the media industry.

6.00pm: Off to dinner to meet a consultancy colleague. An essential part of the role is to connect with practitioners and listen to diverse viewpoints so that we can closely align the Institute’s policy activities with what is going on in the profession. There is light-hearted conversation too – it’s not all work!