Nearly 100 area PR professionals turned out to hear Sue Jolly and Ron Penoyer of Fleishman-Hillard at the Junior League, Oct. 16. The pair of veteran agency professionals gave a textbook approach as to how to incorporate measurement and evaluation into public relations campaigns. The measurement of the success of a PR campaign requires the use of research tools and critical thinking from the project's preparation stage, through its implementation and to a follow-up measurement of its impact. Sue and Ron used case studies to show that a proactive approach to measurement is essential to its success. When determining a campaign's impact, initial benchmarking is as crucial as post-project measurement is. In addition, on-going measurement should take place in the form of media tracking and records of delivery channels. Finally, Sue and Ron discussed how post-project evaluation takes the form of surveys and/or focus groups to determine changes in people's knowledge, opinions and behaviors. One of the most interesting questions was how do PR professionals get employers and/or clients to spend money up front for the necessary research to do a project right. The answer, from years of experience, with a variety of clients: You cannot control what you have no control over. In otherwords, the need for extensive research, thoughtful planning and benchmarking needs to be expressed before the first step is taken.