On Thursday night, Arthur Yann was on the train home from the reception before Silver Anvils when he suffered a massive heart attack and passed away. He was 48.

I first met Arthur in the same way I’ve met many of you…here on this blog.

As the vice president of public relations for our industry’s trade organization – the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) – Arthur had the unenviable job of answering to more than 20,000 professionals.

Professionals like me who are extremely vocal about what the organization is (or is not) doing for the industry. Professionals who think they know best. Professionals who have a platform and a megaphone.

In May of 2011, when some of our peers from Burson-Marsteller were found to have created a whisper campaign against Google on behalf of Facebook, I was on a rampage about kicking them out of PRSA and not allowing them to continue to work in the field. (more…)