The American Chamber of Commerce in China held its third CEO forum of the year on November 1 at Beijing’s Swissotel. Richard Edelman, president and CEO of the award-winning PR firm Edelman, spoke about the importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and social engagement in the global marketplace.  As the top man at the world’s largest independent public relations firm, Edelman is well versed in the meaning and significance of CSR. He gave the fifty-person audience insights into ways of building reputations as good corporate citizens while achieving business goals.  

Edelman said that CSR is not about philanthropy. It is about business and being socially responsible helps to improve a brand’s reputation, which in turn improves its business. 

“You can’t buy your reputation. You have to act to build your reputation. Be it, don’t buy it,” says Edelman.¼br> He went on to talk about the development of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and how for-profit companies can work with them.  The discussion also surveyed changes in China’s international business climate including the growth in the number of NGOs and the Chinese government’s focus on social issues, such as environmental protection and conservation. ¼br> A lively Q&A session followed Edelman’s speech with many AmCham-China members offering examples from their own business dealings about ways of addressing the issue of CSR in China.¼/p>

Author Debbie Weil gets it right

Thirty AmCham-China members received insights on Internet communications during an event featuring Debbie Weil, author of ‘The Corporate Blogging Book: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know to Get It Right’, on October 16 at the Beijing American Club.

Weil discussed why CEOs should blog, who is doing it successfully, and some of the challenges of posting online. She said there is a social media revolution in corporate communications, branding and imaging, and that blogs allow for authentic feedback, making it an attractive way of CEOs to keep in touch with stakeholders. She also noted that blogs can be an effective tool for crisis communications. The Q&A session afterwards covered areas ranging from the use of blogs as internal communication tools to the frequency with which CEOs should blog.

The event was co-sponsored by the Media and Entertainment Forum and the PR Forum. Weil’s China book tour is sponsored by Edelman. AmCham-China President Mike Barbalas moderated the event.