Running head: CODE OF ETHICS

Code of Ethics

Sarah Roti

Dr. Beadle

01.22.2016
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Preamble/Purpose

After college, I plan on becoming an event planner, specifically for weddings. The

practice of public relations plays a significant role in the event planning industry because it can

effectively generate public awareness, attendance, sales, and bring in the media to a clients

occasion. Public relations can take a lot of work and time commitment. Spiewak (2012) said,

public relations for event planning can make the difference between a good event and a great

event (para 9). The point of public relations is to create favorable images between a company, a

client, and the public. The purpose for a code of ethics is to guide ones behavior in the world of

public relations and compel PR professionals to make ethical choices when planning events.

First, I will discuss the personal and professional standards that I feel are appropriate that

correspond with the ethical standards of an event coordinator in the PR world. After discussing

the professional standards, I will explain current ethical dilemmas that are relevant in the

business world today. In the hopes of becoming an event planner, I would like to analyze my

future profession using the philosophy of Aristotle's Golden Mean. Through this process, I will

explain how I plan to revise and improve my own ethics the further I get into my career.

Personal and Professional Standards

As an event planner, it is important that the primary focus stay on the client and her

desires and needs. It is necessary to stay focused and on top of the event. The most significant

value that a person in this industry can have is organization. As an event planner, you are

responsible for making sure all the essentials are getting done correctly and in a timely fashion.

When any of this planning goes wrong, you must be able to have backup plans and think on your
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toes if need be. While a good planner has everything planned out and organized chronologically,

an excellent planner has a secondary plan to make sure everything runs smoothly.

Remaining tactful, especially when dealing with the client, is important. It is also

important that you are sensitive and aware of their emotions. During stressful situations, it is

important to be understanding and diplomatic. Clients can be very emotional, especially on the

day of the event. With emotion and stress running high, things can potentially take a turn for the

worst. In these situations, it is the role of the event planner to console this person, to empathize

with them, sympathize and then maintain their focus on the bigger picture. It is also important to

keep your positivity and attitude not only for yourself, but the client as well; this includes not

reacting to their negativity or stress. You have to maintain positive force and light in this

situation as hard as it may be. If the planner remains tactful, the less stress a client should feel.

Another value critical to ethical decision-making is honesty. Event planners need to be

completely honest and truthful when giving their professional advice or opinions and also when

promoting their capabilities to their clients. To be an honest event planner means that you are

able to create a foundational relationship with your client based on truth and trust. It is important

to be sincere when speaking to a client so you can both communicate thoroughly and smoothly.

If an event planner is not honest with their client, then it can ruin your profession and credibility.

The fourth value essential to this profession is congeniality- what makes a good planner

is someone who can make their relationship with the client feel personal as well as professional.

This means being someone who becomes more of a friend to the client, who is there with them

and planning step by step. What clients want is somebody who makes them feel as passionate

about their event as they are. A planner must be open and welcoming to their clients while
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holding an engaging presentation. You must be able to converse well with others and be a good

listener while the client tells you his or her ideas.

Being Resourceful also plays a significant role in this industry. A professional planner

goes out of their way to make connections with people that they know have the potential to

benefit them in some way and make their business better. They network themselves and form

these relationships with others to build their resources. For instance, making a point to introduce

yourself and establish a relationship with the owner of a floral company that might be of use to

you down the road is an example of building your resources. Other resources that are pertinent in

this event planning process include vendors, food caterers, decor organizations, music, etc. It

can be to the planner's advantage to find multiple sources for each particular category. In the case

of a first option falling through, a planner will have a wide selection of other resources that they

can trust.

Creativity is another essential value to have as a planner; this comes in handy when asked

your personal preferences on any aspect of the event or the planning. A planner can provide her

input when requested and can come up with ideas that differentiate their event from others. A

planner listens to the client's request and makes sure they are completed in a timely fashion

because, after all, the planner's primary goal is to make the client happy. However, clients do not

always know what they want. A great planner can offer the client creative new ideas from their

personal perspective in these situations to help the client get the results that they are seeking.

Ethical Dilemmas Event Coordinators Face

Every day we are faced with moral choices. In public relations, you are faced with many

on a daily basis, and how you handle the dilemma is how you define yourself as a professional
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and a person. Event planning is very cutthroat in a world of competition and one-upping each

other. One ethical dilemma that PR faces on a daily basis is deciding whether or not to keep your

integrity as others cheat. Public relations can often be an unethical profession, as you take short

cuts lie to consumers, etc. As a PR professional, it is important to remain honest and faithful to

clients, superiors, and fellow colleagues. If the PR world started to be more dishonest than

truthful, the business and profession would be chaotic (Molica, 2015).

A PR professional's job is to maintain an image in the eye of the public. Abourizk

mentioned, An ethical issue can damage the reputation of an employee and company (para 1).

Another ethical dilemma that may occur in the world of this profession is portraying a false

image and posting misleading information about a company. In this case a rep would fired from

a retail company for not following through with the promises and providing false information to

clients regarding the customer services. This caused a problem with the customers and even

caused the company lose them. When comparing this to an event planner, it is important that the

professional, portray their capabilities honestly and respectfully. The event planner must

accurately represent the company and hold their presentation through the event that is planned.

After all it is the event planner's job to maintain an image at the event for the client.

Philosophical Analysis

Aristotle addressed happiness as being the ultimate human good. He focused on the

person or actor to determine whether or not it is an ethical choice or decision. He believed that

virtue ethics flows from both the nature of the act itself and the moral character of the person

who acts. Aristotle believed that one could achieve excellence through daily activity. In

Aristotle's philosophy there are three steps to behaving ethically - in the following order they are:
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know what you are doing, select the act for its own sake, and the act must spring from a firm

character. Also, virtues lie between two extremes known as deficiency and excess.

As a public relations professional, the happiness of the client is the primary goal. Also, it

is essential to behave ethically as a planner and stay true to your client. Public relations is also

about keeping clients happy, which can be achievable through hard work. When defining

yourself as a professional, it is important that you behave ethically because that also defines you

as a person. Aristotle's three steps focus on the person himself and the task being done. It is

important to know what you are doing when event planning because the more you know the

easier the task may be. The second step in Aristotle's how to behave ethically is to select the act

for its own sake. Aristotle would define this act as doing what you love and enjoy. Do good

because you want to do good, not because people are pressuring you to. And lastly, the act must

spring from a firm character; this is something that is very important in event planning. If you

have a timid and weak character, you are not going to be able to take charge and do what you

need to. Aristotle argues that this act must spring from a firm character because you must have a

firm character to act morally and ethically correct.

I will resolve conflicting values by following the above code of ethics and staying true to

the client.

Revision

I plan to revisit, revise and improve this code of ethics over the course of time. The

further I go into the profession, I plan to continuously revisit this code of ethics and revise it

based on my experience and some other values that I begin to deem more appropriate. Other

people may have access to this code of ethics with revisions, as they deem necessary. I plan to
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review the code at least twice a year to make sure that I am staying professional and ethical to

the clients that I take on. If by chance these professional standards are not followed, the code will

be re-evaluated based on the situation. Some issues that may provoke review of this code of

ethics could be if someone were to be dishonest with a client and promise something that they

are not able to follow through with. Another issue that I deem appropriate to revisit this draft is if

a client has been unsatisfied with the communication skills between the client and professional.

Conclusion

Public relations is about making the clients happy and receiving a positive image in the

eye of the public. In the world of public relations, a lucky day as an event planner involves

staying organized and making sure all the tasks get done smoothly and efficiently in a timely

fashion. As emotional as the day can be for everyone, a planner remains calm, cool and

collected. The more honest and open the communication line is between you and your client, the

more rewarding the results will be for both parties. Building a relationship and being personable

with your client can also be beneficial for both sides. Another benefiting factor to a planner is

building your resources by gaining relationships with different resources including florists, food

caterers and vendors. Any planner can pick out flowers, food, and a venue but it takes a great

planner to add creativity and spice to the event. Public relations is about maintaining a

relationship and positive image within the public, just by planning a real event, you can be a

successful, honest, tactful, and an organized public relations professional. Aristotles Golden

Mean is the most appropriate philosophy to define this profession, as it is your goal to be

successful and make a client happy. To behave ethically in this profession is also important
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because it upholds your business and who you are as a person. A moral and ethical event

planner can make the difference between a good event and a great event.
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References

Abourizk, R. Ethical Issues in Public Relations. Retrieved from

http://study.com/academy/lesson/ethical-issues-in-public-relations.html

Spiewak, M. (2012, May 8). Its My Party: The Role of Public Relations in Event Planning.

Retrieved from http://smpsboston.wordpress.com

Mollica, J. (2015, September 14). Ethical dilemmas in the PR world PRSay. Retrieved from

http://prsay.prsa.org/2015/09/14/ethical-dilemmas-in-the-pr-world/