Terri-Helen Gaynor out as PRIA president, replaced by Mike Watson

February 10, 2014 1:11

The head of the country’s biggest public relations body the Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA) Terri-Helen Gaynor has chosen not to renominate as national president and is to be replaced by Swinburne academic Mike Watson.

Watson told Mumbrella he felt it was time to have a “tilt” at the role, signalled he will soon begin the search for a new CEO of the PR industry body, and added he would ” give some greater priority to some of those areas that I have thought needed attention.”

Watson has more than 20 years public relations experience and has held roles at Carma, iSentia and Telstra as well as his own consultancy MawPR. He is now lecturer at Swinburne University in Melbourne and a long serving member of the PRIA board.

His predecessor Gaynor has been national president since late 2012 and stood for re-election at last year’s PRIA national conference. However due to an “administrative dispute” had to renominate at an extraordinary general meeting last week.

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Nic Christensen

Nic Christensen worked for Mumbrella from 2013 to 2016, in roles including deputy editor and media & technology editor. He is former media writer for The Australian and has also worked as a reporter for The Daily Telegraph and senior producer for Radio 2GB.

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