By Francis Ingham MPRCA, Chief Executive, ICCO

@PRCAIngham

Last week was the annual measurement-fest that is AMEC’s annual summit. As befits an organisation that yearns for clarity and order, the event was hosted in ever-so-clean, ever-so-polite, and ever-so-organised Stockholm. And as befits a serious organisation, the agenda was deliberative and, well, serious.

Two days of debate. What did I take away?

First, for a necessarily dry subject, AMEC attendees are passionate in their desire for change. They have a vision of the future, and are determined to get there.

Second, for all of that passion, they recognise the complexity of the matter in hand. The search for some silver bullet is long gone. This is now about principles, frameworks, understanding.

Third, they have a plan. Namely:

“AMEC commits:

• To develop and launch a new measurement framework to reflect the reality of integrated communications.

• To invest in a global PR and education campaign to reaffirm our support for the Barcelona Principles and the new “integrated (communications) measurement framework and educate the market about the importance of measurement.

• To work harder with all AMEC members internationally and with our partner PR association members, clients, and academics, throughout the world to make measurement mainstream.”

During the closing session at which these commitments were unveiled, ICCO’s CEO and Chairman, Barry Leggetter and Jeremy Thompson, singled me out in the audience and asked me if I could commits ICCO’s 31 Associations to work closely with AMEC and deliver these plans. As Chief Executive of an organisation representing over 2,000 agencies world-wide, my answer was an unequivocal yes. ICCO is uniquely placed as the premier international PR body to help make these pledges a reality.

We will now work to do so. Because what is clear from our ICCO and PRCA research is that measurement and evaluation lie at the heart of PR’s future –if we cannot explain exactly what our efforts have delivered, then we will never achieve our full potential.

A final thought… The next AMEC summit is in London. What an outstanding choice. Representing as I do both ICCO, the largest international body for PR associations; and also the PRCA, easily Europe’s largest such association, both based here in London, there could be no more appropriate location to make good on the Stockholm agenda. London should be a summit to remember.