Wikis in PR

PR Week has piece on using wikis in PR, including signs you might want to consider a wiki:

• A press release went out with an error because the deadline was approaching and a change wasn't implemented
  
• Your clients look for you to be an early adopter of networking and social technology coming through the pipeline
  
• You often have projects that require the constant feedback of multiple users in different countries
  
• You've deleted the 20th office-wide e-mail by noon, and not one has had information pertaining to you
  
• Your intranet is too bulky and expensive for your needs

I fundamentally believe the role of PR is changing because of social software, a disruption felt earlier than other sectors because information is their business. Employees of client organizations have always had the means to communicate directly with the outside world, with email it became much easier, and blogs provide persistent amplification.

The new opportunity for PR is to serve more than management and information officers. Blogs don't mean the ability to sell new crisis communications practices. They mean a responsibility to work deeper in the organization to provide media training and help navigate appropriate implicit or explicit policies. Of course, this media training isn't about staying on message. Its helping people understand the implications of their messages while establishing a backchannel of conversation within the enterprise about how it relates to the outside world.