I’ve never been to an Annual General Meeting (AGM) before, so this was my first one this evening which was held by PRISA: the Public Relations Institute of South Africa. I wasn’t sure what to expect as what I know from AGM’s, they usually tend to be quite boring and unnecessary. This however, proved for interesting and and a learning opportunity for us all.
The first speaker began with
the meeting agenda and minutes from the last meeting, giving us an overview of
what was discussed. She mentioned that when an AGM was to happen,
participants/members had to be notified 21 days before the event. We were then
presented with the chairperson of the Western Cape region for PRISA, Aloysious
Gowne. He added that the Western Cape was voted region of the year 3 times in a
row but unfortunately experienced a decline since last year in terms of
membership and participation, especially after the leader left. He described
the scenario like this:
The Captain of the “plane” decided to parachute out and left
the rest of the group on the plane with the turbulence that they were
experiencing. The group had two choices: to parachute out of the plane too or
to take control. They chose to take control of the flight and be the catalyst
of change.
Since then they outlined the goals for the coming year:
·
To revive the region
·
To save the organisational structure first
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To do this, they met with members. They asked
the questions such as what can PRISA do for you? What were the threats? They
also conducted a SWOT analysis.
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PRISA decided to focus on different individuals
challenges and needs.
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They wanted to see continuity and movement
forward and wanted to look for partnerships.
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They wanted to increase the value of membership
for very member. This was the main strategic plan for PRISA last year.
We were then graced with the presence of a guest speaker by
the name of Alayne Reesberg, CEO of World Design Capital 2014. She spoke to us
continuously about the World Design Capital in which Cape Town won the bid for
in 2014. It originated from Montreal, Canada. The event looks at how design
changes and reminds consumers of what they can and can’t do. Cape Town was seen as being able to offer
creativity and ingenuity. The main question we ask ourselves from this project
is: How is Design Having Social Impact?
This is where you look at things such as the transport system in the city and
how we can design it better to make it more feasible and efficient.
Throughout the year next year, there will be 6 events hosted
by the World Design Capital within the mother city and its going to be amazing.
The launch is going to be in the beginning of December when the city lights are
switched on, and they are hoping to involve the whole of Cape Town in on the
event. They will have a thing known as “Design Weeks” every week which
showcases designs from a different country each week. They will then have a
gala dinner and then extra things such as exhibitions, workshops and try to integrate
something into the infamous Jazz Festival that happens every year.
The public plays their part in submitting suggestions of
things that were started here in South Africa and have made a name for itself
overseas. The second round of submissions is in July. Once they have a list of
submissions, the team needs to shortlist them down to 200 ideas.
The public relations people of the city give the voice to
the voiceless. It’s a profession where you have to work on crafting messages. Reesberg
wants us, as PR practitioners to go and find the stories. Go and find areas
that need improvement and let the World Design team know: give a voice to the
voiceless.
