The Madras Week Celebrations
Mr. G. Sundar
Director, Roja Muthiah
Research Library

Mr. Sivaramakrishnan
President - Consumer Business,
SIFY Limited

“Early Publications of Madras City”

"Madras Nalla Madras"

Speaker:
Ms. Rakhi Lalwani,
director-public relations, South India, the Taj Group of Hotels, Resorts and Palaces

”Best Practices in Public Relations"

'Two PRSI stalwarts remembered'

While Stella Maris is 60 years old, the all-India PRSI body has completed 50 years, and the PRSI, Chennai Chapter, 40 years. It was a red letter day when the Public Relations Department, Stella Maris, and PRSI, Chennai Chapter, got together to organise a memorial lecture in honour of Gyan Haksar and M. Gopalakrishnan, pioneers of PR education in India. Recalling their contribution is
R.K. Baratan, a veteran PRSI member. Rakhi Lalwani, director-public relations, South India, the Taj Group of Hotels, Resorts and Palaces, delivers the first of a yearly series of lectures Stella Maris has planned.

The PR Department of Stella Maris College (SMC) and PRSI, Chennai Chapter, organised a memorial lecture at the college premises in honour of two yesteryear members Gyan Haksar and M. Gopalakrishnan, both no more. Preeti Haksar, wife of Gyan Haksar, was present. The mood was a bit sombre and proceedings got off to a start with a prayer song, a blessing, by Dr. Sister Rita Marneni, secretary, SMC.
Welcoming the gathering to the PR Department's first memorial lecture, Dr. Sister Annamma Philip, principal of the college, said that the effort by the fledgling department (it introduced a master's course only two years ago) marked an effort to institutionalise a vision, which was to open the young minds of professionals to the very finest that a flourishing field like PR had to offer the world today. “The corporate world and businesses are growing at a rapid pace. PR brings the human face; the very idea is to connect with people, reach out to the masses and include everyone in our quest for a better future. This memorial lecture needs the support of both industry stalwarts and academia scholars,” she said.
Dr. Sundari Krishnamurthy, head of the PR Department, SMC, who took the initiative to get the memorial lecture going, said that best practices in PR had to be pursued daily and continuously. The department, she pointed out, specialised in community, customer, employee and government relations, and provided the right environment for all-round education. The curriculum straddled PR in the corporate sector as well as in government.
Recalling the early days, Krishnamurthy said that Baratan (R.K. Baratan, founder-director of the Institute of Public Relations and Communication) and she had to teach and access students, reduce the learning experience to numbers. Everything was measured and there were practical applications through internships. Students were well trained in media usage through lab workshops and networked with professionals; there was research in B.A. and M.A. programmes, she added. The thrust, she said, was on working towards the formation of young women professionals. Striking a poignant note, Krishnamurthy said: “In all of life, nature and beings are well connected by a network of relationships and they mutually impact each other. Those who are no longer in our midst appear in our midst when we remember them.”
Reminiscing about his days as a PR student, Daniel Dass, chairman, PRSI, Chennai Chapter, said that in the mid-1970s Madras hardly had quality PR teachers and he himself had wondered whether he had made the right decision by opting for PR at the University of Madras. PRSI then provided guest faculty as well as industry exposure, and Haksar and Baratan moulded young minds like his then. “PRSI entering its 50th year is a matter of pride for the entire fraternity. SMC has long been a corporate member. We will provide opportunities to students to work at PRSI seminars, conferences, and workshops and also with industry. We hope students will contribute meaningfully to the field of PR,” he said.
Addressing Preeti Haksar, her daughter Ruma and husband Raheja, Baratan said that it was a cherished and emotional moment for him. “Gyan Haksar is the father of PR education in India. Though PR is discussed at almost every PR conference, the only persons who gave it shape in the form of a university degree in the 1970s were Gyan and Gopalakrishnan. In 1974, Gyan had discussed with the then Vice Chancellor, Malcolm Adiseshiah about the prospect of starting a B.A. PR course at the University of Madras. With his usual thoroughness, Gyan provided the details to Dr Adiseshiah and the latter appointed Gyan as convener of a committee to formulate the regulations and syllabus for a diploma in PR,” he explained, showing members a copy of the University's circular dated 25.11.74. Members of that committee included M.S. Madhav, Indian Express; K.K. Nanu, Indian Oil Corporation; C.R. Sundaram (Sir C.P. Ramaswami Aiyer's son); Rajammal Devadas, principal, Avinasilingam College, Coimbatore; and K.R. Sundararajan, Indian Institute of Engineering Technology. At Sundaram's home the same evening, Haksar, Gopalakrishnan and Baratan met. And surrounded by books and papers, Baratan typed out the syllabus for a three-year degree course in PR on his Remington Rand portable as the four agreed on the niceties. Haksar fine-tuned the syllabus the following day and presented it to Dr Adiseshiah. “It was characteristic of his energy and devotion to PR education. Always soft-spoken and in many ways the opposite of Gyan was Gopalakrishnan; together they formed a well-balanced team,” Baratan said.
M. Gopalakrishnan, who graduated from Presidency College, began his career as Public Relations Manager in the Indian Atomic Energy Commission, reporting directly to the legendary
Dr Homi J. Bhabha, its Founder Director. For personal reasons he was released by Dr Bhabha, and returned to Madras to join the T. I. Group of Companies as Public Relations Manager. He later became Director of the Imageads Advertising Agency.
Gopalakrishnan served PRSI, Chennai, as Secretary and then as Chairman. His daughter is settled in Madras and his son works for the Sundaram Clayton as Works Manager.
Baratan also recalled the calibre of some of the students of the first and second PR batches Satyan Bhatt, MD, Prism Public Relations, Chennai; Suresh Selvaraj, president of the Outlook Group,
New Delhi; Daniel Dass, branch manager, ASP Advertising, Chennai; and Joseph Ashok Kumar, who works in the Publications Division of IMF, Washington.
However, after four batches, the University of Madras discontinued the course. Thanks to Haksar's persuasion, Sister Julius Irene at Stella Maris provided the PRSI a small hall in the college where a one-year part-time PR course was conducted for 12 years.
V.S. Ramana, former chairman, PRSI, Chennai Chapter, said that when he arrived in Chennai six years ago and got associated with PRSI activity and its members, he saw professionalism, buoyancy and a value system in place - the result, he was convinced, of contributions by doyens such as Haksar and Gopalakrishnan. “People need to connect; students and teachers with the PRSI, and PRSI with the corporate world. Companies need to realise the need for good PR professionals and provide internships. We need to take PR to greater heights. PR matters more than advertising. In the early days, we practised and then learnt along the way; today it is the other way round.”
Delivering the memorial lecture on 'Best Practices in PR', Rakhi Lalwani, director-public relations, South India, the Taj Group of Hotels, Resorts and Palaces, said that there was nothing that substituted experience and knowledge. Tracing the growth of the Tata Group, from a trading firm in 1858 and a pioneer in the hotel industry (with the Taj Mahal, Bombay, in 1902), to India's most respected business house today, recognised for its integrity, understanding, excellence, unity and responsibility, Lalwani played a short film on the House of the Tatas, 'Century of Trust' that showed how the company lived its values.
“Taj Hotel Resorts and Palaces began with Jamsedji's love for Bombay. He wanted to offer the city fine buildings just as one would offer jewels to the beloved. The Taj Mahal, a landmark in Mumbai, was the first to introduce American fans, Turkish baths, English butlers, an air-conditioned ballroom, cold storage, and the first licensed bar (Harbour Bar) in India. The Taj is expanding rapidly everywhere,” Lalwani said.
Providing PRSI members a snapshot view of how the Taj approached PR, Lalwani stressed that the Group was driving PR internationally, trying to establish the brand as an emerging global Indian luxury hotel in the global marketplace and consolidating its position as Asia's leading hotel chain.
“Visuals and communication tones are adopted to build the brand. Romantic and power holidays are used to highlight cultural aspects. Our luxury wildlife lodges and dynamism exemplify innovation, and acquisition of the Ritz Carlton in Boston dynamism. We have launched several key destinations and worked with the Indian Government to develop roads and railways as early as in 1974. The Taj was the first to open a resort in Goa (Fort Aguada); it has eight hotels in Kerala. We leverage on our palaces to highlight the brand and work with operations teams to develop a mind-blowing palace experience. Every guest is treated like a maharani or maharaja, welcomed at airports with turbans, and provided signature treatments,” Lalwani explained, adding that the company had made a film on the history of palaces, subtle PR as she termed it.
Another aspect of Taj PR, she remarked, was to get celebrities to stay in its hotels celebrities such as Liz Hurley, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Richard Gere and Gordon Brown. Journalists were brought in to feel the experience. “Give exclusives to media. You have to have a strategy, use a good photo, and understand the publication - each has its style,” she observed.
Dr Sister Colleen North presented a memento to Lalwani.

Speaker:
Mr. Chris Wensley,
Director for the Centre for Excellence in Media Practice, Bournemouth University, U.K.

“‘Business Blogging - How blogs and podcasts can be used effectively by businesses for PR purposes”

'Dealing with information in the digital age, a challenge'

The world today is divided into 'digital natives' (youngsters below 15 who are at home with computers) and 'digital immigrants' (the rest who are ill at ease with computers). Youngsters are no longer passive recipients; they have much less deference to authority compared to earlier generations and treat hierarchy with scorn. The new ways of distributing information pose great challenges to authority, says Chris Wensley, Director for the Centre for Excellence in Media Practice, Bournemouth University, U.K.

Thanks to the initiative of Paul Chellakumar, president of the Association of Accredited Advisors on Overseas Education, and chairman, Campus-Abroad, PRSI, Chennai Chapter members played host to Chris Wensley, Director for the Centre for Excellence in Media Practice, Bournemouth University, U.K., and Rachel Sunderland, International Relations Officer. Bournemouth, to the south of London, is inhabited by 165,000 people and is, in the words of Wensley, “a friendly, welcoming seaside town.” It is a modern university committed to innovation and excellence in learning and teaching. Out of its 16,000 students spread over 130 nationalities, more than 100 are Indians. Sunderland pointed out that the university worked closely with industry, to transform student-learning experiences, and shared good practices with other universities as well. Bournemouth University had received a grant of four million pounds from the Higher Education Funding Council for England, an indication of its stature.
Talking about 'A world of knowledge - how the media and IT are changing our lives', Wensley said that the world had witnessed three major revolutions: the Printing Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, and the Internet and IT Revolution. Dwelling on the invention of printing, Wensley said that before printing began, in England, all knowledge was confined to monasteries. When a book had to be duplicated, it was handwritten by monks, an awfully slow process. The vast majority of the population did not know how to read, there was indeed no literature to read, and books were chained to monasteries.
“When the printing press arrived, books were made into a large number of copies. Knowledge was released from chains and made open, universities were set up, and schools took on a different purpose. There was challenge to the church, to authority; people began to think independently. All this led to the Reformation, the growth of Protestants, and a new way of thinking about religion. For the educated, literate citizen, reading became a very important aspect,” Wensley said.
The Industrial Revolution that began in Britain spread in Europe fairly quickly. Peasants who hitherto had been growing what they needed in their villages started to move. The discovery that energy could be harnessed from coal led to the establishment of factories and mass production. The invention of the steam engine meant that people could move around. All this heralded new ways of tourism and trade, and a consumer-driven society that we see today.
“We are at the very cusp of the Third Revolution. The Internet and IT has created a gap between young people less than 23 and the rest. The huge change in technology has led to the chip becoming more powerful and smaller, and things have suddenly opened up in a way that never was previously. People get together in a small village to discuss things; in larger towns that is not possible. The challenge is to bring people together and share ideas. We have online communities now, such as MySpace and Facebook,” Wensley explained.
Wensley provided the example of his daughter who had met about 50 students of a university on Facebook even before she joined the university. Traditionally, knowledge was contained within libraries and debate, discourse and discussion would take place at the heart of universities. The university was a place of instruction with groups of learners exploring together and the teacher transmitting knowledge. Wensley pointed out that Google, virtually a generic term for search; Digg, an online discussion forum for trivial and serious issues; and Flickr, a site for sharing pictures and photographs; and such other sites had changed the whole world of communication beyond recognition. All this in a way supported and enhanced democracy, according to him.
The Encyclopedia Britannica, once staple reference material that cost a huge amount of money to buy, was now as good as non-existent. Wensley mentioned having recently seen a DVD containing 'the whole world's knowledge' for sale at 99 pence in a store in London. The arrival of Wikipedia, which allows users to add information and correct mistakes, had brought a totally new approach to knowledge. “There is the danger that people can put out wrong information but then they get corrected quickly, and information is made up-to-date,” he said.
Wensley talked about how citizen journalism had brought a new flavour to the newsroom. He mentioned about the radio magazine programme in Bournemouth University where students no longer wished to just learn the basics, they wanted to learn to become professionals. “Schools are changing. For example, students in Cayman Islands in the Caribbean are in touch with students in a London school. The broadcast media is becoming interactive; from one-to-one communication, it is now many-to-many communication. Earlier you had the curriculum delivered-wisdom received mode; now it is peer-to-peer communication,” he said, pointing out that even the BBC had loosened controls to make its archives available to people.
So, what does all this mean for journalism? During 9/11 and the London underground bombing pictures were taken by ordinary people. It brought the citizen journalist to the fore and people began publishing their thoughts about events through blogs. “If you wish to know about life in Baghdad better, you can learn about it from a blog written by a person residing there,” said Wensley.
Quoting Mark Princely, Wensley referred to 'digital natives' (youngsters below 15 who have grown up with the digital age) and 'digital immigrants' (the rest who are not totally at ease with computers, who rely on books for information rather than go online, and who have to learn to cope). “Youngsters are no longer passive, they are recipients of ideas. They have much less deference to authority (compared to earlier generations) and treat hierarchy with scorn. The new ways of distributing information pose great challenges to authority. There is also the challenge of what information to believe in. PR and communication should come in handy here,” he said.

Speaker:
Mr. Karthik Subramanian,
editor, Ergo (a recent addition from The Hindu Group)

"A 21st Century approach to news: challenges and opportunities’purposes”

''Journalists have to re-think their roles''

The Internet and the World Wide Web have redefined the boundaries of communication. Or are there any boundaries left at all? What is clear, however, is that the newspaper publishing industry across the world is trying hard to keep pace with the relentless change of which citizen journalism, blogging and Web 2.0 are examples, and making all-out efforts to grab the attention of the reader or viewer. Newspapers are getting a makeover, online sites now have podcasts and vodcasts… for the traditional reader, even the journalist, the changes are too fast to comprehend.
Karthik Subramanian, editor, Ergo describes some of those changes.

The Public Relations Society of India, Chennai Chapter, got Karthik Subramanian, editor, Ergo (a recent addition from The Hindu Group) to address its members on 'A 21st Century approach to news: challenges and opportunities'. Referring to a 2005 Poynter Institute Study, he urged members to view a flash video called epic 2015 (on the Internet), which is a sort of science fiction that tries
to visualise what is the future of the media - what will happen in 2015 and how news organisations will change.
Subramanian said that players like Amazon and Google were able to save people's preferences by placing cookies in computers. Over a period they knew exactly what a particular viewer liked to read. The implication is that newspapers can be customized for subscribers with the help of robots, and broadsheets may lose their relevance. The e-paper, Subramanian pointed out, was no longer the PDF version; research is on in Japan to produce a sort of flexible paper that enables people to read through reflected light.
So, what then is the future of newspapers? Will editors and reporters have jobs to hold on to? “Journalists have to re-think their roles,” said Subramanian, “The traditional role of journalists as gatekeepers of information needs re-thinking. For example, there are blogs written by people with niche interests backed by a depth of information journalists cannot provide. So, what will differentiate a journalist and a blogger? The youngsters who are coming into
the profession should have answers to these questions.”
The other aspect Subramanian dwelt on was whether the Internet could be trusted as a news source. Does new media have credibility? He agreed that it was a dilemma facing journalists. “We have entered an area of pervasive media. There are 4,400 million digital cameras in the world, many embedded in mobile communication devices, which capture and deliver life as it happens. You can shoot a video and within a few minutes upload it on the Web. That is the extent of technology. What then is the role of journalists in such a situation? What is the role of newspapers? As a sharing society, everyone competes for influence and attention. You no longer need to be a journalist to capture attention. All you need is an Internet connection.”
Referring to the creators of content, Subramanian talked about Wikipedia, which generates more page views than traditional Web sites, Microsoft Encarta, and Google News. The Encyclopedia Britannica was now a thing of the past. “Messages resonate through multiple mediums. People want to read content, hear audio and watch video on the Net. There is a huge challenge today to cater to the 21st Century youth who are also interested in knowing what is happening in the world. There is a fun, anytime-anywhere element now. News on the mobile, for instance, requires a different grammar,” Subramanian explained.
Today, the ordinary person can react to news. People want to know more. The media has to be more transparent and participatory. It is clear that media organisations can no longer afford to be one-dimensional. Information has to be delivered in different formats. According to Subramanian, studies revealed that newspapers would be smaller in format with fewer staff. Proportionately, they would have smaller influence, attention, profits and margins. Newspapers, therefore, would cater to specific, niche target audiences. ”

The Hindu's free tabloid targets IT employees

Ergo in Latin means 'therefore'. On December 10, 2007, The Hindu Group launched Ergo, a tabloid targeted at IT professionals in the 20-35 age group. It is probably the first free sheet to be produced from a reputable publishing company in India. With today's generation not really taking to the daily newspaper, The Hindu management decided to put together a young team to experiment with a new publication. Karthik Subramanian, editor, who heads a 12-member young team, is the oldest at 30!
The revenue for Ergo comes from advertisements. “Advertisers are interested in targeting the young IT crowd and Ergo is a good avenue for them. We have the editorial freedom to do things The Hindu wouldn't, as long as we follow the rule of the land and handle delicately issues pertaining to taste,” said Subramanian, adding, “Sex, gay rights and lesbianism issues are discussed openly by youngsters today. Ergo cannot afford to miss out on these issues.”
So, how has the experience been for the Ergo team? “It is like walking on ice. What you think is right for youngsters they won't read. It is shocking to learn that many of them do not even know simple language. We are going by trial and error, but sailing fairly well. Ergo is a product you can read in 10-15 minutes,” Subramanian said.
When Ergo invited applications for contributors, it received 700 applications, 400 from BPOs. “IT guys hate their jobs. They are starved for entertainment. We give them something to talk about, also issues we want to cover. We need to grab the attention of the audience with attractive headlines. Tabloids do it better than broad sheets. Ultimately, it all depends on individual preferences. Why pass moral judgment?” he asked.

Speaker:
Dr. R.V. Sharma,
Dy. Director General of Meteorology,
Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai

“Is the Climate Changing”

'Pollute less and save the earth'

Global warming is a term that is frequently used nowadays. As surface temperatures rise alarmingly because of the pollution of the atmosphere by man, the future of earth and all living beings in it looks bleak. More natural disasters have occurred in recent decades than in the past, the disasters are not only more frequent but also of greater intensity. Climate change will kill billions of people this century as the earth approaches a coma, says Dr. R.V. Sharma, deputy director-general of meteorology, Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai, and warns that the world has reached a point of no return.
Human activity contributes more than 90 percent towards climate change, according to an Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change Report. After the tsunami of 2002, climate change acquired a whole new focus. “Global warming is a subject that is changing everybody's life. Ever since mankind arrived on the planet, weather and climate have been dictating terms. We have to adapt our lives accordingly. Nature is supreme. You cannot dictate to nature. If you do, mankind will suffer,” said Dr. R.V. Sharma, deputy director-general of meteorology, Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai.
Is climate changing? According to Dr Sharma, the past two decades have seen lot of unusual weather occurrences. Surface temperature has been rising and outgoing radiation reducing. He pointed out that there are two schools of thought: according to one, increase in pollution results in a rise in gases that absorb the radiation (this, however, does not seem to be happening); according to another, greenhouse gases are getting trapped and not being released into the atmosphere, with the result that surface temperatures are rising.
“Is temperature change real or is it just a cycle? Has something like this happened earlier? We can only rely on data that we have collected over the past 100-200 years. If over a long period there is any deviation, such deviation has substantial value,” said Dr Sharma, while pointing out that 1998 was the warmest year ever recorded, and 2005 the second warmest, with surface temperature 0.48 degree C above the mean value. There is a probability, he added, of 2007 being
the hottest year yet, with surface temperatures 0.54 degree C above normal.
“Three times more natural disasters have occurred in the 1990s than in the 1960s. These disasters are increasing in frequency and also in intensity. Economic loss has increased nine-fold. Whatever energy or money is put into developmental activity is being eroded by the disasters caused. Therefore, we need to reduce disasters. If change is natural we can do little, but if it is man-made, we can,” Dr Sharma said. In Bangladesh, more than one million people are displaced each year; they turn 'climate refugees', he added, stating that it was wake-up call for everybody.
Determining the reasons for climate change is not easy – as good as finding motives for a crime. Since 1950, ground temperature has been rising steadily. For instance, Chennai has been getting warmer the past ten years, with the mean temperature rising from 32.2 degree C to 34 degree C. The anomaly, Dr Sharma said was that while temperature in the lower region of the atmosphere was turning warmer, at the higher levels, it was getting cooler. “Usually, as we go higher, temperatures decrease by 5-6 degrees C per kilometer; however, the rate of inversion at higher levels is changing. Glaciers are melting. As glacial waters stream into oceans from rivers, the oceans get warmer.”
Dr Sharma emphasised that the world had reached a point of no return with global warming. “Climate change will kill billions of people this century as the earth approaches a coma, a state from which it may not recover. The U.S. administration under George Bush has abandoned emission targets, not wanting industrialisation to suffer.”
In 1991, the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change had submitted its first report based on research funded by world agencies. Its second report suggested that there was a discernable human influence on global warming. The third brought out new and stronger evidence of global warming attributable to human activity. “And now, it is definite. Greenhouse gases cannot be recycled or reduced. Human activity exerts pressure on the natural functioning of the earth. CO2 emissions are 12 times more than in 1990,” Dr Sharma said.
So, why should India be concerned? Global warming will affect agriculture, the rise in sea level could submerge coastal areas, there will be social imbalance and conflicts as people migrate, there will be more frequency of extreme weather events, and the loss of coastal wetlands would reduce fish population. With the Himalayan glaciers retreating at the rate of 10-15 metres a year, the volume of water in the rivers is likely to rise and cause floods; later, there would be water shortage. A 1-2 degree C change could result due to the irreversible melting of the seas around Greenland and Iceland.
“Think of your grandchildren. If we can reduce and stabilise greenhouse gas emission, it could have a positive effect on the environment. The situation is already getting out of hand. Adapt to changing climate while reducing emission. Population growth is a major factor. Everything is linked to it – as requirements increase, there will be less food and water, more deforestation
and urbanisation.”

Speaker:
Mr. Kiruba Shankar
Co-founder of F5ive Technologies
and Founder CEO of Business Blogging Pvt Ltd.

“‘Business Blogging -
How blogs and podcasts can be used
effectively by businesses for PR purposes”

'Yes, a blog can be an effective public relations tool'

Blogs have arrived. Indeed, in the past four years, the number of blogs has grown a hundred times. A new blog opens somewhere almost every minute. Blogs provide people an excellent vehicle to air views and converse. Some of them engage the attention of even hardcore journalists. And several blogs together generate much more information than what newspapers can hope to produce. Kiruba Shankar, founder-CEO of Business Blogging Pvt. Ltd., says that unlike sending a letter to the editor of a newspaper, writing a blog is all about creating a powerful tool, sometimes a very effective PR tool.
Kiruba Shankar, co-founder of F5ive Technologies and founder-CEO of Business Blogging Pvt. Ltd., is a man of varied parts – he has been a rowing champion, has participated in the Chennai and Bangalore marathons, and is now passionate about “ultimate Frisbee”. Shankar has now established himself as a reference point in the field of new media; he is known for organising what he calls “unconferences” where there are no speakers as such, no dais, nobody wears ties – subjects are decided impromptu and people initiate the discussion. So, it was an expectant group of PRSI, Chennai Chapter members that waited to hear Shankar talk about how blogs and podcasts can be used effectively by business for PR purposes. And he didn't disappoint, armed with chocolates to “break the ice”!
Shankar began with interesting examples of how powerful blogs can be. He cited the case of a 23-year-old boy working in an unknown IT company in Hyderabad who had managed to cause
a dip in Club Mahindra sales. In a brilliant analysis in his blog of the organisation's brochure, the boy refuted point by point what Club Mahindra had unveiled as 'a wholesome travel package', stating that all that is offered was accommodation at the resort subject to availability. Food, travel, sightseeing and other expenses were extra. When the blog appeared on the first page on Google when 'Club Mahindra' was keyed in, it did not spell good times for the resort company. So much so, that Club Mahindra has now roped in Shankar to advise its team on blogs and PR!
Shankar himself was petrified to read the same blog once, just after he had returned home one day, triumphant after investing Rs 30,000 in a Club Mahindra holiday share that promised an incredible free travel package. He immediately called up the Club Mahindra salesman and requested for cancellation and a refund. On another occasion, undecided on whether to choose a Reliance or Tata Indicom phone card, he ventured to find what people had to say about both on Google. 'Don't go with either of them – they suck so bad' was the general refrain, and Shankar bought neither.
“Blogs have thus taken an important role. Between 2004 and 2007, the number of blogs has grown a hundred times (New York Times survey). Every time I blink, two blogs open somewhere in the world. When you add 'small talk', they amount to much more than the Washington Posts and The Hindus of this world,” he said.
Pointing out that a blog is really an online diary where you can write whatever impresses you, Shankar provided the example of a girl in Northeast India working in the corporate communications department of Infosys in Bangalore. A girl full of life, who loves cooking, has a cat, treks, takes photographs, learns salsa and French, is divorced and now keeps herself fully occupied. In her blog she writes about living in a new city, her visit to Hogennakal, how she rescued three kittens and found them homes, and how she and her colleagues filled potholes on a Bangalore road. “So, what's the big deal? Many think blogs and podcasting are geeky. The simple truth is that they are so simple. These things will become so commonplace, you would not invite me to come and address you again,” Shankar said.
Shankar's presented yet another interesting case – of an IIT Madras-IIM Ahmedabad graduate who was working for IBM. Writing about the woes of his cousin in his blog, the IIT-IIM graduate mentioned that a particular course conducted by the Indian Institute of Planning Management (IIPM) for which his cousin had enrolled, was not recognised by the Government of India. When IIPM asked him to 'seize and desist' (delete the entry), the youngster refused. The management institute then threatened to sue him and burn 500 IBM laptops in front of the IBM office (it had purchased 7,000 laptops from IBM). It was a case fit for a PR expert. A senior IBM manager asked the youngster to delete his entry as the company was facing heat. The boy refused, stressing, “I respect my freedom of speech.” He resigned and walked out. The story soon appeared in several blogs, thanks to the close-knit IIT and IIM batch-mate network. Many attacked IIPM and raked up a whole lot of muck. Soon, newspapers began picking up the story. Such was the power of blogs, Shankar explained.
The session was fairly interactive. How does a Website appear on the first page of Google, asked one member? It depends on three basic parameters, Shankar said – how many sites are linked to your site, what type of sites or people are linked to your site (sites like Wikipedia has high weightage), and how long has your site been online. “Never ride piggy-back on another site,” he advised. Can I feed blogs and destroy opposition, asked another. “It does not really happen,” Shankar replied.
A third asked: How can I use a blog to my company's advantage? “Traditionally, companies do not have a conversation with customers. Only a 'contact us' link is provided on the Web site and you don't even know where it goes. Simple things like enabling people to contact us the right way makes a difference,” Shankar said. He added how ordinary citizens can make a difference, citing the example of a person in Rangarajapuram who posted pictures of street garbage on his blog, it elicited a lot of response, and ultimately got the Chennai Corporation to put up a notice stating that no garbage was to be dumped outside the bin provided.
How should a good corporate blog look like? “Various people in the team can talk about what is happening in the company,” said Shankar, citing the example of Google's chief Internet evangelist Windsurf who has written a first-person account of himself on Google's site. He cited the example of Kriptonite, an American manufacturer of cycle, bike and car locks, which demonstrated what bad PR was all about. A video uploaded on YouTube showed a 17-year-old breaking open a seemingly impregnable Krytonite lock. The company decided to keep quiet, hoping that attention to the video would drift. However, when Engadgets.com noticed the blog, things became different. Eventually, the New York Times carried a piece and Kryptonite had to recall the faulty lock and spend 10.3 million U.S. dollars in the bargain. “If the company had a good corporate blog, it could have responded to the faulty lock video and offered to send the faulty lock to its engineering team for evaluation. It could also have reassured customers by saying that if any of them had a problem, the company would replace the lock. Wouldn't that have been a good way to go?” Shankar asked, adding, “Blogging is not like sending letters to the editor of a newspaper. You now have the power.”
But do bloggers take undue advantage? Perhaps not. For instance, when Microsoft launched Vista, it decided to allocate a sizeable amount of publicity effort to new media. The company selected 100 top bloggers and gave them free copies of Vista, loading the software on a gleaming red Ferrari laptop. There was no catch. However, half the bloggers returned the laptops, engulfed by the feeling that they were being bribed. Many were unhappy because they were not on the list of the 100. Microsoft changed its stance – it asked all the chosen bloggers to return the laptops after trying out the new Vista version. Now it was the turn of those who wish to retain the laptop to get peeved!

The Madras Week Celebrations
Speakers:
Mr. G. Sundar
Director, Roja Muthiah
Research Library

Mr. Sivaramakrishnan
President - Consumer Business,
SIFY Limited

“Early Publications of Madras City”

"Madras Nalla Madras"

'A celebration of the old and the new'

PRSI, Chennai Chapter, celebrates Madras Week with two sterling presentations by
G. Sundar, director, Roja Muthiah Research Library, and V. Sivaramakrishnan, president, Consumer Marketing and Portals, Sify Limited. While Sundar's presentation on the early imprints of the Madras region takes the audience back many years, Sivaramakrishnan's thrust on the benefits of the Internet lead many to wonder what the future might have in store.
The first meeting of the Public Relations Society of India, Chennai Chapter, after the installation of the new committee coincided with the celebration of Madras Week. Quite befittingly, it was a celebration of the old and the new, with G. Sundar, director, Roja Muthiah Research Library making a presentation on the early imprints of Madras City (from the Library collections), and V. Sivaramakrishnan, president, Consumer Marketing and Portals, Sify Limited, talking about how to build an Internet community around Chennai.
Sundar had set up the micrographics unit at the Roja Muthiah Research Library and has been associated with several preservation projects there. Consultant to archives and libraries in South Asia, he is now working on his thesis 'Textbook Culture in Colonial Tamil Nadu'. The Roja Muthiah collection is named after Roja Muthiah Chettiar in Kottaiyur; the collection, which covers ancient, medieval and modern literature, as well as indigenous and popular culture, was later shifted to Madras. The earliest in the collection was a publication from Jaffna. It was in 1994 that the University of Chicago bought the collection comprising 100,000 items such as books, periodicals and newspapers, and decided to bring it to Chennai; the University not only provided funds but also arranged funds from other institutions including the Ford Foundation.
While making his Power Point presentation, Sundar mentioned that there were 207 printers in Madras in 1908-09, and 35 in Madurai. He showed the audience the official publications of India brought out by the British Government, the primary source for researchers studying 19th and 20th centuries’ history. While one set was sent to England, another was retained by the Tamil Nadu State Archives. These included a Public Instruction Report (1885), Progress of the Madras Presidency (1892) and Information on Seaborne Trade (1914).
Sundar proudly presented the 1812 edition of the Thirukkural published in Madras, the first edition ever printed. He pointed out that F.W. Ellis, the English officer in charge of the Mint, had translated portions of the treatise. He then took PRSI members on a journey through Tamil folk literature and newspapers and magazines, a late 19th Century-early 20th century ballet on toddy shops; ballet on the Emden bombing; a people's park; the Railways when trams were introduced; Thatva Vasani (1885), published by Munuswamy Naicker; The Mail (1868), published by Arthur Hayles and taken over by Anantharamakrishnan of Amalgamations in 1945; The Hindu (1878), which was first a weekly and had its first page full of advertisements; Swadesamitran (1882) that was produced to create political awareness; Logopakari, the reading of which was considered equivalent to reading several magazines; Dinamani, published by Sadanand; the Little Magazine movement that published magazines like Shakthi
(1939-54); and Jagan Mohini, one of the earliest magazines edited by a woman.
Sundar rounded up his presentation with a display of old issues of Kalki, Kumudam and Ananda Vikatan, and film magazines such as Cinema Ulagam (1935), Pesum Padam and Gundoosi. The Roja Muthiah Library had been able to trace only five magazines pertaining to the 18th Century (Madras Courier, Madras Gazette and Hirkaru), he said.
Sivaramakrishnan brought PRSI members back to the present with his take on the Internet medium and the dot-com community. The Sify.com portal, he said, contains more than 520 gigabytes of data. More than 3.3 million users walk into Sify Iway cyber cafes across the country everyday. Sify, which was established in 1999, is the first company in India to get the Internet service provider license and the first to get listed on NASDAQ. “I am extremely proud leading an international company based out of Chennai. We compete for revenue and profitability with others. Chennai accounts for the largest chunk of its e-mail transactions. Our vision is to make the Internet work for you, enable you to stay in touch and to connect. We have a horizontal portal, chennailive.in, which provides information, news and entertain-ment. Our objective is to build a community of citizens or netizens, or a community of people online.”
Sivaramakrishnan said that chennailive.in would help users get information about the city's traffic, entertainment spots, and enable them to book cinema tickets or reserve tables in restaurants. India, with 50-60 million Internet users, is the fastest growing in the world, he said. Infrastructure, or the connecting factor, is the only limitation, he added. “With Internet, you can watch and react instantly, and that is why it is so interesting”.
Sivaramakrishnan pointed out that history is not one of Sify's top categories yet. “Today's youth wants to share information via email and chat or download ring tones, songs and movies. We provide them a platform. For instance, film directors or publishers are able to interact with their fans.” Sivaramakrishnan promised a series of promotional activities from Sify for Madras Week in 2008.
At the start of the programme, Daniel Dass, newly elected chairman of PRSI, Chennai Chapter, thanked outgoing chairman V.S. Ramana for coordinating with the Hotel Accord Metropolitan (sponsors) and the organisers of Madras Week and making possible the function. He introduced to the audience the newly elected members of the PRSI, Chennai Chapter . R.K. Dharan, southern regional vice president, exhorted members to participate in the PRSI National Conference scheduled for December.
Note: The Roja Muthiah Research Library collection includes matchbox labels, postcards, letters, wedding invitations and posters. The Library is using its facilities to collect as much material as possible and microfilm it. It also welcomes old material from people for documentation.

'First city of modern India needs more PR'

PRSI, Chennai Chapter members gladly welcomed S. Muthiah, senior journalist and author, but better known as Madras historian. Muthiah has been actively associated with the Chapter for several years; he is a past president. Not one to lose an opportunity to speak about the “first city of modern India” and the need to preserve its heritage, Muthiah addressed the members:
“Madras has been my passion. For 30 years and more, I have been fighting losing battles trying to get recognition for Madras. So, when Vincent D'Souza very successfully organised the Mylapore Festival the past seven or eight years, I tried through one of the high-powered organisations to get a Chennai festival going, long before politically backed Chennai festivals started. Unfortunately, the organisation was not able to get it going, and Vincent and Sashi Nair turned up one evening in June four years ago and said, 'Why don't we get a Chennai festival going?'
August is Madras's anniversary. By the time we drew up plans there were 15-20 programmes during the first year. Madras Day had become Madras Week. Since then, it has been growing. We have about 60 programmes this year. Madras Week is the Sunday-to-Sunday bracketing August 22 (the day the city was founded).
In 1639, the Nayaks of Poonamallee and Wandiwash, representatives of the last vestiges of the Vijayanagar Empire, gave a grant of three sq. miles of 'no man's sand' to representatives of the East India Company in this region Andrew Cogan, Francis Day and Beri Thimappa. Four walls were built, with a small building in the centre and a few thatched huts. In 1640, this area was grandiosely called Fort St. George, Madraspatnam inside and Chennaipatnam outside.
Significantly, every single institution in modern India had its beginnings in the city be it medicine, engineering, the Municipal Corporation, or the educational system. Today, everybody has forgotten that. We are the first city of modern India. It was to focus on this that I have been campaigning over the years, and we decided the best way was to get Madras Day going and create a consciousness in people.
A significant aspect of Madras Week is that almost all of it is done with no support at all from government or the corporates. It is purely based on voluntary efforts by organisations like the PRSI organising something or the other. There is no financial support. This year, a few colleges and schools are taking part on their own.
It is very well to have the PRSI organising this. But what about the practitioners of PR in all the organisations doing something? Each organisation must think of organising some programme next year.”

'A call for higher PR standards, understanding media'

Is drafting a press release or arranging a press conference all there is to PR? Do PR practitioners do their homework? Why is PR thought of as fluff both by media and corporates? Why is PR not given the status of a profession? How many PR people are on the boards of companies? The answers to these questions require some soul searching indeed. Although PR in India has come a long way in the past 20 years, it has miles to go. While it needs to understand the latest developments in media, it also has to set high standards for itself. Finally, as Sushila Ravindranath, editor, The New Sunday Express, says, “We have a job to do. You have a job to do. But we have to work together.”

Media and PR have grown and evolved over the past 20 years. Today, there is a literal churning within the newspaper and media publishing industry. Communication is not limited to newspapers, radio or television. People, young and old, have come to rely more and more on the Internet and mobile for instant information. Breaking news is no longer for the people, it is by the people. The world's most dramatic times are being brought to the world by citizen journalists. Today, technology allows the average person to capture news and distribute it globally. Pictures can be snapped using mobile phones and portable devices and distributed around the world within minutes. With serious bloggers capturing the attention of even journalists, today's audience is keen to take on the role of publisher, editor, broadcaster, content creator and advertiser. Has PR kept pace with these changes in media? That is a question PR practitioners should ask and find solutions to.

Indeed, these were some of the points raised at a meeting where Sushila Ravindranath, editor, The New Sunday Express, chose to interact with the audience to put forth her points of view, especially of media and PR in the past 20 years. Looking back, she pointed out that PR was in its infancy in India 20 years ago; companies hardly relied on PR and there were very few stand-alone PR companies. Networking with company executives helped journalists gather information.

“PR and media are really two sides of the same coin. With the IT boom, things have changed a great deal. We don't have ten heads and 20 hands; so, when we have to file 20 stories, we can't be going and filing the stories on our own, especially when we have deadlines. We depend a lot on PR,” she said, adding, “PR has a large role in media's life. But it can't be only planting stories. There has to be communication on both sides and PR should know what media wants.”

Ravindranath encouraged PRSI members to study trends, developments and initiatives in the media, not just in the print media, but on television and the Internet. “PR practitioners usually become hyperactive only during a public issue. Rest of the time, they don't bother about us, probably just taking care of internal communication. That has to now change and there has to be a healthy interaction between both sides.”

Ravindranath emphasised that “we are not doing each other a big favour by sending press releases.” She was all for PR people being alert to and identifying trends and public opinion, identifying spokespersons in companies (because “not everybody can be articulate or provide information”), and working together to help lobby corporate groups, which would help government know what was happening on the ground. She asked whether people knew what exactly was happening in Nandigram or Singur and why people were protesting, or about the Narmada Dam, why it was necessary and how many people it was feeding. “Why are the Tatas and others not going into a PR exercise saying they are not land grabbing? Till today, in India, many in large corporate groups think that PR is only about dealing with top echelons in government. They don't exactly bother to let the general public know. Do we really know whether Coke and Pepsi contain pesticide? There is such a lot of negative publicity about SEZs (special economic zones). Doesn't creating jobs matter? Why is PR so poor in our country? Where are we going wrong? Why are we not a PR savvy country at all? Where are the awareness campaigns?” she asked, adding that even attempts at crisis management did not usually work very well.

To the point raised by V.S. Ramana, chairman, PRSI, Chennai Chapter, that many corporate honchos were not PR-driven, Ravindranath agreed, pointing out, “If you can give me the information, I don't have to talk to the MD.” PR people should play a role, she said, by telling the journalist that there was something interesting, and by presenting facts. “The PR department has to sit with the media. You send me a press release or email I won't do (publish) it. Study readership. Choose the media you want.” She referred to the launch of the Apple iPhone: “They do it so well. There is something to learn from these people.”

“I have no time. That is the reality of media today. We fight deadlines and fight competition. Media is a business. Don't imagine it is only for the people's good. I believe in giving people what they want,” she said, referring to the media coverage of the Aishwarya-Abhishek wedding and the readers' interest in the hand-woven saris worn by Sonia Gandhi.

Reacting to Nabarun Ghose's remark that in India PR practitioners never really looked at the results or kept a track of results, Ravindranath said, “When I started my career, PR people were those who arranged railway and plane tickets; they were looked at as fixers. From that, it has come a long way. In the developed world, PR and media work hand in hand. Good PR will help media. How many Chennai-based corporates are proactive? They don't think image is important or that they have to communicate with people. It is not the media's problem. Corporates have to say what they want. There is no PR department or PR company that does PR on a day-to-day basis.”

Providing a poignant end to the proceedings, Dr K. Sundari, HOD, Dept. of Communication, Stella Maris College, wondered whether there was something wrong in the psyche of people in PR. She said that she found it difficult to convince her students that PR was a good career option.