#PRDefined: 300,000 website hits. 30 trade and business media articles. 50 blog posts (if you're reading this you’ll now know it’s 51). Thousands of blog comments from respected professionals (even going as far as renowned theorists). 1,000 submitted definitions of public relations, and finally, thousands of tweets.

And we’re still not there, yet.

However, in true public relations style, the campaign has created a storm of its own.

There has been much debate since the initiative launched on 21^st November 2011, with many backing the view of Steve Barrett, editor-in-chief of PRWeek’s (US) recent column entitled, ‘Let’s Cut the Crap and Get On with the work’.

Mr. Barrett states, “Let's quit our inside baseball obsession with defining stuff, cut the crap, stop wasting time, and concentrate on getting on with the work and addressing issues that really matter.”

He argues that the tools, channels and techniques enlisted may have changed over the years, but the meaning of PR has not.

Where many of us can seemingly relate to the argument Steve Barrett makes, on the flip side, it does leave you wondering…

Is it just that we’re too busy ‘getting on with it’ to take the time to truly respect how hard we do work in an industry that’s been around for more than a century?

Gerard F. Corbett, chair and chief executive officer of the PRSA, and the man at the heart of venture, thinks so.

Having recently taken time out to speak to The Drum on his online column, Mr. Corbett says, “Society has a preconceived notion of what PR professionals do – some concepts more targeted than others – but no universal definition exists”, which in his opinion, leads to the fact that “we in PR admittedly have a PR challenge”.

And it appears he’s not wrong. After conducting recent research of my own, I found that the range of opinions and definitions towards PR wavers greatly.

From the more pragmatic view, “It’s much more than pushing releases into the press, it’s about using PR tactics to leverage thought leadership – particularly in B2B. It builds equity in your brand and provides secondary endorsement from media channels”.

To the more negative, “Champagne, high heels and parties”.

While many may laugh, one thing is clear, Mr. Corbett is right when he states, “No one definition is considered the de facto industry definition”.

After analysing nearly 1,000, “Public Relations Defined” is in its final phase, with just three definitions remaining. These are now up for public vote, and the winner will be the new modern definition of public relations in the digital revolution.

• Definition 1 – Public relations is the management function of researching, engaging, communication and collaborating with stakeholders in an ethical manner to build mutually beneficial relationships.
• Definition 2 – Public relations is a strategic communication process that develops and maintains beneficial relationships between organisations and their key publics.
• Definition 3 – Public relations is the engagement between organization and individuals to achieve mutual understanding and release strategic goals.

Regardless of which side of the fence we find ourselves on, we, as public relations professionals owe it to ourselves and our industry, to cast a vote, because one thing I’m sure we can all agree upon, is that it’s about time the fluency of voice we give our clients is aptly represented by a defined voice of our own.