Will Michelet

Bill Michelet served most of his career as the spokesperson for one of the largest companies in Baton Rouge—South Central Bell–and helped guide the company through one of the most difficult and visible divestitures (1982-84). The monopoly that the Bell Company held since the telephone was invented, suddenly found itself in competition for the public’s telephone business. Bill helped the company move into its next phase.

Michelet and a handful of other public relations professionals decided it was critical to move the public relations profession forward by focusing on ethics and continuous education. The Public Relations Association of Louisiana began to form and Bill was foremost in the effort to make that happen.

He envisioned an organization that was local, provided public relations networking and mentoring, focused on ethics, and had a fair membership fee to allow even entry level PR practitioners to participate. The Public Relations Association of Louisiana was formed, and Bill continues fighting to keep the membership fees low and the ethics high.

Another fight was to get PRAL involved in an organization that would allow networking outside of Baton Rouge and Louisiana. He believed in sharing information and learning from others. Bill was there at the beginning of SPRF.

Michelet has held every position in PRAL and SPRF and has always been an advocate for practitioners becoming Accredited. He pushed for universal accreditation while serving as proctor for both the APR and APRP exams for every person sitting for the exam in Louisiana for 20 years. He was responsible for the first APRP class of eight in the Mississippi Public Relations Association.