This piece originally appeared as a free article in the Early August edition of The Measurement Advisor.
The Institute for Public Relations’ Measurement Commission has been the leading champion of standards and good measurement practices for nearly 20 years. I was a founding member, so the IPRMC is near and dear to my heart. Naturally, I was thrilled to welcome six new members last month.
The IPRMC requires no entry fee or member dues, but members pay in far more valuable currency, their time. It’s not just the meetings, which are actually quite fun. Members also sign on to do numerous other (and frequently thankless) tasks, including writing and reviewing papers, crafting standards, debating thorny issues like ROI, promoting industry standards and judging awards. IPRMC members are rarely recognized for all their hard work. They do it primarily because they care deeply for the profession and practice of communications research. (For a full list of members click here.)
So it is with huge amount of gratitude that I bestow our Measurement Maven of the Month Award on these new members as they join the Commission. They are:
1. Allan Dib, SVP, North America Planning & Analytics
Allan Dib
Allan Dib currently spearheads MSLGROUP’s efforts to deliver insights for understanding media, consumers, businesses and brands across North America. Allan brings knowledge and expertise in traditional and survey research, as well has knowledge of analytics to the IPRMC. He’s held senior positions with WPP, LRW, GfK Custom Research, IPSOS-ASI, and Nielsen Online. His experience has been focused on understanding the role of communications, both traditional and non-traditional, in the consumer journey and determining what contributes to effective communications.
2. Marcia DiStaso, Associate Professor of PR, Penn State
Marcia DiStaso
Barack Obama had just completed his first full year of work in the U.S. Senate when Marcia and I started working together. I received my first email from her in 2006 when she was helping Dr. Stacks put on the fabulous International Public Relations Research Conference in Miami. She impressed me then, and she’s continued that habit ever since. She’s tackled everything from the errors in Wikipedia entries to the history of social media research. Truth be told, when I was just figuring out how to measure social media, she was already researching it, so I relied heavily on her work. We expect great things from her on the Commission.
3. Allyson Hugley, President, Measurement and Analytics, Weber Shandwick
Allyson Hugley
I’ve had the pleasure of working with Allyson on standards since she’s been a leading proponent for the standards both as the co-chair of the Council of PR Firms’ measurement committee and the vice chair for the North American chapter of AMEC. She brings a wonderful perspective to the discussion, having worked both on the traditional as well as the social side. Allyson is currently responsible for leading measurement and analytics work across Weber Shandwick’s global network, spearheading agency thought-leadership in this area and providing analytics and insights counsel to the agency’s top global accounts. Since joining Weber Shandwick, Allyson has worked on measurement and program evaluation projects for several key accounts including: Honeywell, Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, CVS Caremark, Samsung, Verizon, and Electrolux. She’s currently pursuing a master’s degree in predictive analytics at Northwestern University. Yay, another data geek! I particularly love the fact that, like me, she received her undergraduate degree from Connecticut College.
4. Elizabeth Rector, Sr. Manager, Strategic Marketing, Cisco Systems
Elizabeth Rector
Elizabeth was our Geek of the Week back in 2010 for her incredible love of statistics and good data at Cisco. She was advocating for and implementing great measurement programs before many of the more popular measurement vendors were even a gleam in their founder’s eyes. (Full transparency: I helped her design a few dashboards back in the day. So I’m particularly pleased to see her expertise added to the Commission).
5. Sue Serna, Media Analyst, Cargill Corporate Affairs
Sue Serna
Sue began her professional career as a business reporter for Michigan’s Lansing State Journal before working for The Raleigh News & Observer in North Carolina. Throughout her decade-long reporting career, she covered retail and consumer trends and ran a successful blog about coupons and saving money in Raleigh, NC. She currently leads Cargill’s media/social media monitoring and analytics team. They monitor all mentions of Cargill globally in 47 different languages, 365 days a year. She and her team are also responsible for reporting, analyzing, and putting into context social media activity for the company. They provide on-the-spot, real-time analysis as well as longer-term in-depth reporting on trends and ongoing issues.
6. Stacey Smith, Senior Counsel & Partner, Jackson Jackson & Wagner
Stacey Smith
When I heard that my fellow Granite Stater, Stacey Smith, was joining the IPRMC I was worried that other members might accuse our tiny state of New Hampshire as having disproportional influence on the rest of the country – but we’re talking research here, not electing the POTUS, so they let it slide. As part of the New Hampshire contingent at countless PR events for the last decade or so, I’m always astounded that I see Stacey more often at conferences than I do in New Hampshire (given that we only live about 20 miles apart). Her dedication to good, research-based decision making in PR is unequaled and I’m thrilled that she will be bringing her expertise to the Commission. Stacey’s work at JJ&W has included: counseling clients in crisis planning and problem solving, facilitating and training, developing public relations and marketing plans, and organizational development. She is a member of: the PRSA Educator’s Academy, PRSA Employee Communications Section, American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR), and National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA). She was formerly president of the Yankee Chapter PRSA. ∞
