Agustí de Uribe-Salazar: "Lobbying has always existed, what did not exist was its regulation".
The pioneer of Public Relations in Spain since 1964 has shared his experiences with the students of Master's Degree in Political and Corporate Communication.
Agustí de Uribe-Salazar, a pioneer of Public Relations in Spain, shared his experiences with the students of thea pioneer of Public Relations in Spain, shared his experiences with the students of Master's Degree in Political and Corporate Communication (MCPC). During the session, he delved into the meaning of lobbying in Spain, the actions of lobbyists and the different forms of action they can take to influence decision-making. De Uribe began his professional degree program as a PR expert in Spain fifty years ago; he has been actively involved since 1972 in the promotion of associationism as a way to give prestige to the public relations professional internship , and is currently a member of the committee advisor of MCPC of the University of Navarra.
"Lobbying is not a sin", said Agustín de Uribe to focus the discussion. "Many people are afraid of the word lobby, but there are many others to define it: Public Affairs, Political Communication, Institutional Relations, Public Affairs, Governmental or Parliamentary Relations... but in the end it is all lobby", clarified De Uribe, who also explained to the students that lobby is not the buying of wills or extortion: "That is shameless; that is corruption, not lobby". Lobbying is influence, it is the legitimate defense of the interests of different groups before public institutions for promote decisions favorable to the interests of that particular sector of society, said Agustí de Uribe. To this end, he advised the students to be humble and, above all, to be able to think of others, "not only of the client, but also of the client's client" in order to understand status well. Success, according to De Uribe, lies in rigor, work and attention to detail, the most important things in our profession.
De Uribe recalled the words of former US President Kennedy on lobbying, stating that the great advantage of lobbyists is that they could make him understand a problem in just ten minutes, while his collaborators took ten days. De Uribe guarantees that this is the core topic: "to perfectly grasp the status and to transmit it in a concrete way to all those who make the decisions".
"We must use slow-communication, that is, think much more before acting," he advised. The core topic is in the analysis and strategic planning, before action and assessment. "First use your head, then use your arms and act," he pointed out. De Uribe also dared to speak about the future and gave hope to the students. In this regard, he said that, with the good professionals there are at the moment, "especially those of this University, it is impossible for the profession to die".