This book introduces the concept of the Picnic Society – a society which we all belong to today because social media has given us unlimited opportunities to create or destroy our own and our circle’s (our bubble’s) realities, possibilities, and reputations.

In today’s world every organization is integrated into society, and the people belonging to organizations are integrated into various continually interacting communities. Social media has – or soon will – erase any remaining boundaries between organizations and the world’s social fabric. It is increasingly pointless for organizations to try to establish relationships with society, because these already exist – 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, and all 365 days of the year. This is what I mean in talking about the transformation of the field of PR – from Public Relations to People Relations. This book discusses the challenges facing public relations professionals working in a contemporary society that is flooded with information, offers endless channels of communication, gives rise to true and false leaders, and is marked by both openness and mistrust, by real and fake news.

This book will appeal to professionals who already have a solid grasp of public relations technologies but would like to review their skills and develop their own model of public relations know-how without being limited by the strict boundaries of traditional PR theory.

Andrius Kasparas is a consultant, managing partner at KOKO PR, lecturer, and author with more than 25 years of experience in public relations. He has created, managed, and participated in more than a hundred public relations projects in the business and NGO sectors; has extensive experience consulting in the energy sector; has lectured in PR and marketing communications at the university level; has given talks at various PR conferences and seminars; and has participated in numerous professional contest juries. Andrius Kasparas was director of the Lithuanian Communication Association in 2016.