Anthony Bullick is bringing the curtain down on his eight years as a volunteer for the North West branch of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR).
The managing director at Outwrite PR spent the past four years as chair of the committee after previous roles including treasurer, social media, and events support.
It was Anthony’s desire to learn and develop new skills that saw him become initially involved in the CIPR, working his way up to the North West branch’s top post in 2019.
He said: “When I joined Outwrite in a junior role I was eager to be in the industry and started going to lots of events.
“I began to know people on the committee and offered to help in any way that I could, and before I knew it, I was a fully-fledged member of the team.
“It was an easy decision to join as I knew I’d develop soft skills and grow my network by making connections with other people in the industry.
“It felt like a natural progression to become chair when the opportunity arose in 2019, and it’s a position I’ve enjoyed and never taken for granted.”
Anthony wants to help impart knowledge before he leaves his role on the committee by highlighting some useful learnings from his eight-year term.
- You make the role as big or as small as you wish: Clearly there is a minimum in terms of commitment, but you set the parameters for how much you can commit.
- CPD extends beyond day-to-day PR: It’s about so much more, from managing and leading people to governance-related meetings, and communication with peers.As a result, being open and honest about personal stories is important.
- Set expectations with friends, family, and work: There is naturally an impact on your time, so explain to people who may be impacted why you are doing it and if there are set dates for relevant items such as the first Wednesday of each month is a committee meeting.
- Imposter syndrome exists – even in a voluntary role: I looked at the other people on the committee and other regional and sector chairs, some of whom are heads of PR at international and national brands and felt out of place. Luckily, everyone was fantastic and made me feel welcome and ‘on their level’.
- Revisit why you do it: I spoke about this at the CIPR Volunteer Conference, but some aspects of volunteering felt like a chore. It needed addressing as CIPR members and fellow committee members weren’t getting the best value from me. I reset and rediscovered why I volunteered in the first place, and all the enthusiasm and motivation came flooding back.
- You really do meet amazing people: Whether it’s fellow volunteers, attendees at events, speakers, HQ staff, they can all inspire, support, educate, and guide you.
- You do have an impact: I will cherish the lovely messages from committee members sent over the years and since I stepped down. They were a helpful reminder that what I did resulted in something positive.
Anthony added: “It’s been a wonderful eight years on the committee and four years as chair.
“I identified three themes, CPD, PRide, and membership, when I became chair, because I wanted to raise standards, increase award entries, and grow numbers.
“I would like to think that I leave the North West branch in a good place as Sali Midjek-Conway picks up the baton as chair.”