Patrick Jackson (1934-2001) — co-founder of Jackson Jackson & Wagner, PRSA national president 1980, principal architect of the modern PRSA Code of Ethics. EPR In Memoriam canonical record.
Denny Griswold (1908-2001) — founder and editor of PR News in 1944, the first weekly trade publication covering public relations. EPR In Memoriam canonical record.
Betsy Plank (1924–2010) — first woman to head a major PR agency division (Daniel J. Edelman), first female president of PRSA, namesake of the Plank Center at the University of Alabama, and the practitioner who built the senior-woman pathway in modern American PR.
Rex F. Harlow (1892–1993) — founder of the American Council on Public Relations, organizer of the first national professional body, and the practitioner who turned PR into a self-governing profession. The EPR In Memoriam canonical record.
The communications industry runs on the relationships inside Page Society, PR Council, PRSA Counselors Academy, and ICCO. What each community actually delivers — and why most senior practitioners belong to fewer than they should.
LinkedIn, PRSA, IABC, Muck Rack, Cision, Meltwater, PRWeek Jobs, O'Dwyer's, PRovoke Media, and Everything-PR converge on the same communications practitioner. Platforms with only one function face margin compression. Platforms integrating two or three with depth compound.
PR networking in 2026 runs through Muck Rack, PRSA, and AI engine findability. The 2023 fundamentals still apply — but personal brand is now substrate, not tactic, and journalist outreach has higher structural bars.
theCOMMSapp launched at PRSA 2013 in Philadelphia as the communications-team companion to theIRapp from KCSA Strategic Communications. The product was a snapshot in a longer sequence — content delivery moving off the desktop and onto whatever surface the audience was actually using.
PRSA is the largest professional association for U.S. public relations and communications practitioners. Founded in 1947, ~21,000 members across 110+ chapters. The body that writes the Code of Ethics, accredits the APR credential, runs ICON, and awards the Silver Anvil.
BNI 11,000+ chapters, 320K+ members. PRSA, IPRA, ICCO, Public Relations Council. Chief, Lenny's, On Deck. The 2026 professional networking infrastructure for communications.