Greetings, Round Table Colleagues and Friends:
When we wrote to you in February 2023, we explained that the San Francisco Public Relations Round Table was at a crossroads after a difficult couple of years, and we asked for your help in figuring out how we should proceed. As a result, we heard from a number of Round Table members who expressed an active interest in the future of our organization.
A core group of these interested members have come together to form a task force dedicated to charting a course forward: Darolyn Davis, Brenda Kahn, Diane Fraser, Sally Haims, Warner Johnston, John McDowell, Paul Rose and Molly Walker. We’re grateful to these colleagues for their dedication and time. To ensure that we stay on track and come up with concrete solutions within a short timeframe, we have engaged a communications colleague and coach, Erin Hosilyk, to serve as facilitator.
At our first meeting on May 3, we agreed that the priority for the task force is to recommend a strategy that could ensure the future health and viability of the Round Table, and should that not seem possible or likely, to suggest how we should go about merging with another organization or dissolving the Round Table.
We met again on May 24 and plan to meet virtually every three weeks. We have engaged an intern to support our work by researching other Bay Area communications organizations to see where PR Round Table fits into the landscape. Our intern will also interview a sampling of local PR colleagues regarding what they’re looking for in a professional organization. We’ll be sharing our survey soon, so please watch your inbox and plan to help us get the word out. (Also, if you are interested in being interviewed, please contact Alex Hosilyk or Molly Walker by June 14.)
The San Francisco Public Relations Round Table has been around for more than 80 years. Among its offerings: a winning formula of engaging programs that connected our members to top media stars; an exemplary scholarship program that supports and mentors Northern California college students wishing to pursue a career in public relations and communications; and networking opportunities with some of the best public relations professionals in the business.
Our hope is that we can continue to enrich communications professionals’ careers and to improve on our offerings. If we are to continue, we will need people to take on Round Table volunteer leadership roles, to plan and organize events, to serve as mentors, to do all the things that can make a real difference in our professional lives.
Please let us know how you would like to help us. Thank you for supporting this important work as we seek to make decisions about the future of the Round Table.
—Molly Walker for the PR Round Table Task Force
info@sfprrt.org