When a delegation of public relations professionals from Azerbaijan arrived with their interpreters and UN style headsets at our South Gaylord Street offices last spring, we figured we were in for a very interesting morning. About ten minutes later we were sure of it.

Representing government ministries, professional associations, and nonprofit organizations, the Azerbaijan delegation was traveling the United States on a State Department sponsored mission to examine how government agencies and private businesses work with the press to promote understanding and generate public support.

We expected to talk to them about how PRSA supports and furthers the goals of PR professionals in the United States, and suggest some professional resources they might be able to use back home.

As we launched into our presentation, one of the delegates stopped us cold. “Please

explain,” he asked politely. “What is this thing you call public relations?” Okay, time to scratch the prepared notes.

Our new friends told us that in their country, outside public relations firms are virtually unheard of. There is little in the way of professional training and no Universal

Accreditation process, so some members of the profession are not as qualified as they could be.

In fact, they told us that in Azerbaijan the word for PR is propaganda. Most professionals work for government agencies as the official press office spokesperson. Private sector PR, like the private sector itself, is still in its infancy. Having been part of the Soviet Union for so long, the notion of a free press is still a very new concept. We realized, much to our chagrin, that in the United States, we take having a free press for granted. The idea of public relations without a free press is kind of like a musician performing before an audience of cardboard cutouts, or a sitcom with a laugh track. It’s canned applause. It’s propaganda.

In spite of our obvious differences, we also learned we had a lot in common. We asked Metin Mirzayev, press office director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (the Ari Fleischer of Azerbaijan), and Zaur Abdullayev of the journalists union, about the relationship between government information officers and journalists in Azerbaijan. Just like in America, public information officers usually feel they are providing all the information they can, while journalists are convinced they are not getting the entire story.

The meeting was a great opportunity to exchange ideas and experiences. We compared crisis communications notes with a gentleman from the Ministry of Ecology who recently had to take some journalists on a helicopter ride to get a close up look at a major oil spill. The delegation was very curious about the role American PR firms play in counseling clients, strategic planning, crisis communications, and media relations. They were hungry for professional development resources and opportunities to network with their peers around the world.

In the end, we learned just as much from them as they did from us. It was an unforgettable experience. We have a standing invitation to visit Azerbaijan, and a great group photo to remind us that every time a reporter makes us mad we should be grateful for our free press and the thin line that separates PR from propaganda.

Jon Pushkin, APR, is president of Pushkin Public Relations. Dan Christopherson, APR, is the owner of Christopherson & Co. The two run their own firms but often team up for projects as members of the collaborative agency Sage Public Relations Group. They share office space on Old South Gaylord Street in Denver’s Washington Park neighborhood.

The meeting was organized by the State Department’s International Visitor Program. From Denver, the delegation traveled to Ohio and New York before returning home.