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	FYI
	Home Corporate PR International PR International Media Investment, Trade, Tourism Shipping and Ports FYI About Us Contact Us		While a universally accepted definition of public relations seems to elude academics and much of the general public, professionals in the field continue to get on with the job of turning skeptics into believers. Journalists report and inform; both snail and e-mail communicate, but PR professionals persuade. As ethical persuaders, we organize campaigns with concrete objectives to sell a product, obtain votes, gain support for a cause, encourage employee loyalty and so forth. International public relations requires the experience and skill to persuade specific audiences across cultural, linguistic, geographic borders. John M. Reed, veteran international PR practitioner, recipient of the Gold Anvil Award of the Public Relations Society of America, the highest award in the PR profession, has done some unusual research into our profession... Antonio Pigafetta, First Round-the-World PR Man The Patron Saint The First Spokesman Antonio Pigafetta, First Round-the-World PR Man Credit for the first voyage around the world is given to Ferdinand Magellan, a disaffected Portuguese mariner, who led an expedition of five ships under the flag of Spain, departing from the port of San Lucar in September 1519. The fact is that Magellan was slain in the central Philippines, in April 1521. The sole vessel to complete the circumnavigation, the Victoria, returned to Europe with Antonio Pigafetta, Magellan's friend and log-keeper, onboard. Such was the strength of the PR work of Pigafetta that for nearly 500 years most people believe that the first round the world trip was made by Magellan! The Patron Saint Most professions and callings have heavenly intercessors, designated by the Vatican, and PR is no exception. Our Patron is St. Bernardine of Siena, a Franciscan homolist, preacher and promoter of devotion to the Holy Names of Jesus. He was born in 1380 and died in 1444, and may be seen (yes, seen) in a glass casket under an altar in the Basilica in Aquila, about a two-hour drive west of Rome. Bernardine was a gifted writer of persuasive homolies, and proof of his work was seen in a great expansion of vocations to the Franciscan Order of his day. The First Spokesman One term for PR practitioners is "spokesman," that being one form or specialty of our profession. Early in the Bible, in Exodus, we find a clear description of how the first spokesman was chosen and what he did. He was the elder brother of Moses, Aaron, and he followed his client's wishes with great success, resulting in the liberation of the Jews from Egypt!