About 100 years ago today, a Pensylvania Railroad train plunged into the waters of the Atlantic and tragically over 40 people were killed.
The Railroad company hired Ivy Lee and he created the first press release. Following the accident, Lee convinced the railroad to make a public statement and more amazingly provide a special train to get reporters to the scene of the accident.
The result was a lot of positive press about the railroad company and a complete absence of pressure for US railroad companies to do anything about the 6,000 deaths or 35,000 injuries on railroads that year.
Perhaps a good engineer may have been the more prudent long term hire, but Ivy Lee it was and so PR was born.
Today, much has changed. Social networks have revolutionised PR and increased the challenges facing PR professionals and businesses alike. In fact SEO.PR, PR 2.0 and Social Network Optimisation are the new children of PR. An old article, but one worth a read is 
this over at mad.co.uk.
Right now confusion and excitement abound. Bloggers, wade in and rightly debunk the control freaks. Marketers try to hold onto the last vestages of traditional brand management. Others hail PR as dead and usher in new business models - it does look rather like a train wreck again.
It needn’t be.
We at Spannerworks believe passionately in engagement and the power of social networks.
The fundamental issue business and PR professionals face is not how to reach people with a press release or how to optimise that releases for Google News, De.licio.us, Technorati, etc.
It is how we release our minds and engage with customers, have dialogues rather than make statements, listen and respond with actions rather than words and it’s tough. It’s starts by understanding your place in the ever changing internet ecosystem and the effect you, your peers, your competitors have.
If you need any guidance in gaining this understanding or taking your first steps, you’re more than welcome to contact us and join the revolution and debate.
PR is terminally ill, but with a little help can be a vibrant, dynamic and incredibly useful dialogue that opens up a new world of oportunity.
