By Gini Dietrich

Last month, we had Fred Cook—the CEO of Golin—in this very hot seat.

Today, I am pleased to introduce you to Robert Phillips, who spent time as the CEO of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa at Edelman—the world’s largest (and private) PR firm.

To say he’s a big hitter is putting it mildly.

But one day, he up and quit his job.

Why?

In his words, he “no longer believed in what he was doing.”

He says, “Messages can no longer be managed. The age of spin is over.”

Amen.

What You Will Learn

He has a new book out, Trust Me, PR is Dead, in which he denounces the profession because it is “so seemingly unaware that it is experiencing its own death throes.”

Though the book has been met with some criticism, the issue most have is with the title itself.

Robert says the same things we say here—the industry needs to evolve, things have changed, it’s time to embrace the new and get on with it.

But, he also paints the industry as being interested only in consumerism, manicured messages, and making money.

It’s going to be a really interesting conversation!

You’ll learn:

• How companies such as Unilever and Patagonia have evolved their PR practices.
• What public leadership is and why it should displace PR.
• The model of leadership and accountability Robert proposes.
• How to create a more sustainable program between business, government, and society through PR.
• Where the industry goes from here.

So, get your questions ready, and grab some Gatorade (you’ll need the sustenance). Our author Q&As go at a fast and furious pace and you won’t want to miss a second.

Today’s Author Q&A with Robert Phillips

At noon ET (that’s 11:00 CT, 10:00 MT, and 9:00 PT for those of you who can’t do time zones), Robert Phillips will be here to answer any and all of your questions.

In order to participate, all you have to do is:

• Make sure you have a Livefyre account or be ready to sign in with one of your social networks.
• Set a reminder for noon ET today.
• Order Trust Me, PR is Dead.
• Create a list of questions.
• Come back here, scroll to the bottom, and write a comment in the form of a question. As soon as you hit “post comment,” Robert will see it and reply to you. You can even join the conversation around questions others are asking, if you like.

We’ll be here for an hour so you can join us the entire time or step in and out during the hour. It’s entirely up to you; just make sure you’re here before 12:59.

Win a Copy

Those of you who participate in today’s author Q&A with Robert Phillips (even if you’re late to the party, but not if you’re an Arment Dietrich employee) will be entered into a random draw for a free hard copy of the book.

Don’t forget—you have to actually leave a comment, ask a question, or participate in the chat to be entered in the draw. Otherwise we won’t know you were here.

Get ready with your questions and join the conversation. And don’t fear! If you missed the live portion of this, we’ll keep the drawing open until midnight PT so you still have time to get in your questions.

Former Guests

For former guests, check out Margie Clayman, Sarah Robinson, Mark Story, Beth Hayden, Sarah Evans, Stanford Smith, Chris Brogan, C.C. Chapman, Mitch Joel, Danny Brown, Chuck Hemann, Michael Brito, DJ Waldow, Tom Martin, Ahava Leibtag, Jay Baer, Shel Israel, Mark Schaefer, Gini Dietrich, Rob Biesenbach, Steve McKee, Neal Schaffer, Ed Zitron, Ann Handley,Tim Frick, Tom Martin, Paul Roetzer, Diana Kander, Jeremy Miller, Hessie Jones, Maddie Grant, Ryan Hanley, Jim Mitchem, James Altucher, and Fred Cook.

What’s Next?

I think it’s time to retire this series. We don’t know, yet, what will replace it, but stay tuned.

And, if you have any ideas, we are all ears!