Practice of Public Relations (8th Edition)

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Summary: Rebecca's Raves
Review: An must read for PR students and practitioners alike. The Practice of Public Relations offers insights into the minds of today's greatest PR professionals -- and the companies and careers that have been created and crushed by them. Nowhere else will you learn in such practical detail how public relations can change everything, from politics to corporate America. Each chapter is filled with advice from long-time industry professionals, tips on how to make your company look good, and ideas for taking advantage of today's technology to get ahead of the competition. A great way to learn the profession or brush up on your skills. Five stars to Mr. Seitel, the industry master.

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Summary: Better works available
Review: Having compared the two for a public relations class (at some expense to myself) I would say that the Ault book is better. I would not totally discount the Practice of Public Relations, but the book is anecdotal and tends to lack substance.

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Summary: Practice of Public Relations (8th Edition)
Review: I have never enjoyed a textbook this much! It is timely, interesting and provocative.

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Summary: A reference you will return to again and again
Review: I'm a graduate student in non-profit management and have always found that the best classes are the ones that use primary materials - no textbooks, please! Well, I suspend my usual reticence with this book by Seitel. I have NEVER had an easier to neogotiate, well-written textbook in all my days as a student. Seitel is meticulous in his notations, all case studies are very current (within the last 5 years), and questions emphasize the basic material but provide food for thought. The additional references and book reviews alone are worth the price of the book.

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Summary: One of the finest PR texts available
Review: I've recently attended Mr. Seitel's PR workshop. A truly excellent and insightful lecture about the truths of PR: how to obtain professional, real results without the BS.

Follow his advice and you will truly be successful in either a corporate or agency environment

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Summary: Seitel Succeeds
Review: Practice of Public Relations is laden with strengths. While it covers public relations in a variety of disciplines, such as multicultural, and it covers a variety of case studies, such as the infamous Exxon Valdez disaster, its sheer strength lies in its writing style. Seitel's style is quite distinct from many other texts, whose writers preach the importance of writing, but fail to practice it. Similar to Michael Levine's Guerrilla PR: Wired, Seitel understands that a message will have less impact if the message is difficult to comprehend. Both Levine and Seitel make a welcome effort to rely on a friendly, warm, and inviting writing style, one that engages the reader.

Practice of Public Relations strives to keep up with an ever-changing public relations landscape. While releases retain their importance, it is equally important to consider video. Similarly, the target public may not be any one demographic, but a multicultural one, each with its own concerns, preferences, gatekeepers, and trusted sources of information. Also, the book takes into consideration the synergy of integrated marketing communication. Public relations does not operate in a vaccuum, and Practice of Public Relations takes that into consideration.

Above all else, the book lives up to its title, explaining the practice of public relations rather than being a lengthy tome on the theory behind the practice.

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Summary: Interesting Book for Everyone in Work Environment
Review: This book is of unvaluable for anyone wishing to be a successful PR manager or executive. It is, moreover, very interesting for writers, journalists, managers, lawyer to read it. Indeed, it is for me the bible of PR for its being comprehensive, informative, full of related cases and examples, and most important, readable. The last chapters dealing with the Internet and IT role in PR seem the most important part of the book. I recommend that everyone take a journey in that book

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Summary: Rebecca's Raves
Review: This textbook is quite possibly one of the finest I've ever used. It is written in a very accessible, friendly style that made reading assigned chapters less of a chore than other textbooks. At the same time, it is not "dumbed" down.

If more textbook authors used Seitel's book as a guide, maybe more students would actually take the time to read their assignments. Both intellegent and accessible, in some spots even humorous, Seitel has given the student a wonderful resource.

Any good teacher/professor knows that if information is more accessible, it can be retained that much better.

Seitel presents several examples of PR success and PR disaster. From the classic "R-O-L-A-I-D-S Spells Relief" PR campaign to the Exxon Valdez PR disaster, each accounting is explained and with the pros and cons of how the PR was handled, and what should or should not have been the course of action.

Seitel also looks at political PR, the history of the profession, different types of PR campaigns, and other important facets of the PR world.

This is an excellent reference for the student, and should be on his bookshelf long after he has an office in the PR Department.

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Summary: Excellent PR text for students!
Review: This textbook is quite possibly one of the finest I've ever used. It is written in a very accessible, friendly style that made reading assigned chapters less of a chore than other textbooks. At the same time, it is not "dumbed" down.

If more textbook authors used Seitel's book as a guide, maybe more students would actually take the time to read their assignments. Both intellegent and accessible, in some spots even humorous, Seitel has given the student a wonderful resource.

Any good teacher/professor knows that if information is more accessible, it can be retained that much better.

Seitel presents several examples of PR success and PR disaster. From the classic "R-O-L-A-I-D-S Spells Relief" PR campaign to the Exxon Valdez PR disaster, each accounting is explained and with the pros and cons of how the PR was handled, and what should or should not have been the course of action.

Seitel also looks at political PR, the history of the profession, different types of PR campaigns, and other important facets of the PR world.

This is an excellent reference for the student, and should be on his bookshelf long after he has an office in the PR Department.