Back to Volume 13
	Introduction By David Finn

Harlan Cleveland was a profound thinker who believed that what is happening here has a relationship to what is happening everywhere. John Safer created his Plexiglas sculpture which one might consider to be a symbol of everything. Together they introduce this issue of MOVE! devoted to global connectivity.

In Ten Transformational Trends, Kathy Bloomgarden describes how the Internet and other new technologies have impacted media and communications. She lists ten trends that are changing PR. She writes that new media has given third parties great influence and that the explosion of news outlets facilitates the proliferation of misinformation and magnifies misdeeds. These challenges give Public Relations a leadership role.

In Embracing Change, Nick Leonard describes how public relations is playing an unprecedented role in the current marketing environment. He points out that newspapers, magazines and broadcast channels are all dwarfed by blogs and social networking forms in which we can play a significant role. He believes it’s time to be open-minded and to recognize that the changes taking place can be exciting, energizing and highly rewarding.

In Health 2.0, Yan Shikhvarger describes how the online community provides unprecedented resources for the medical community. Web 2.0 allows patients and physicians to network through blogs, wikis and mash-ups. This new form of communications brings major changes for both patients and caregivers. Access to essential health information is now available to physicians.

The article entitled The Internet, China’s New Pop Culture was written by three members of our Chinese offices: Edward Morton Jack, Carine Senft and Roland Wei. They point out that the number of Chinese consumer relying on social media for informationon purchasing decisions is far greater than the number of Americans.

The Internet plays a major role in the country’s effective marketing methods. Kristie Heins Fox writes Overload: Howto Succeed in PR in the Era of the 24-Hour News Cycle.

The world has changed with the development of E-mail, blogs, wikis, IM, RSS, podcasts, YouTube, Second Life and other creations. Ruder Finn employees spend an average of four hours a day responding to and composing emails. Knowing how to manage the influx of information has become a required skill for PR executives.

There are two articles on ethics. The first is Ethics in a Real World in which I mention that the ethical problems that were faced by the ancient Greeks are similar to those we still face today. One current example I describe has to do with our work for Phillip Morris and the health problem of smoking cigarettes. That was when we learned that the advice of independent ethicists can help us to address difficult issues. The second article, entitled Ethics in a Virtual World, by Emmanuel Tchividjian, points out that there is hardly a human activity that does not have an Internet application. However, the Internet in not a Value-Free Zone or the Wild, Wild Web. It poses some new ethical challenges in dealing with issues such as terrorism, computer fraud, cyber-bullying, violation of privacy, copyright infringement, plagiarism, and identity theft.

Dena Merriam, in Connected Consciousness, writes that the Internet has given civil society new tools to build a more connected world. She gives the example of The Global Peace Initiative of Women, which she created, that helps civil society mobilize itself to deal with some of the world’s worst conflicts. It has brought people together from the Middle East, Africa and Asia to address conflicts in which they are involved.

Frank Walton writes The New Reality, in which he compares the historic achievements of the great ballets of the past with sandboxstyle action-adventure video game Grand Theft Auto IV of the present. The new performances tell us something about today’s Web-informed environment that can reach hundreds of thousands of people. He writes that YouTube creates a new and transcendent status for images and messages.

In Cause to Connect, April Dinwoodie describes the role the Web plays in achieving social progress. It provides information about how the Web can play a role in education, energy, healthcare, imagination, the economy and even Iraq. She describes how this new resource is helping young people play an increasing role in achieving social change. She describes its contribution to social networking and in achieving healthy lives.

In his interview, I.M. Pei, the great architect who is now 91 years old, tells about his early life in China and when he came to the U.S. to study architecture and start his firm. One of his most challenging projects was the Louvre, where the glass Pyramid was a significant innovation. He is now working on major projects in Luxemburg, China and Qatar, and he is delighted that Ruder Finn has been retained to work on the latter.

In E-Learning, David Katzive writes about the development and values of distant learning. Today, more than half a million American children study online. He gives the example of The Jason Project, an electronic field trip for oceanic exploration that provided a live television broadcast to students thousands of miles away. Ultimately E-learning will provide a window onto the entire universe.