Los Banos Rotary Club History
Public Relations Man Explains Job

Considerable of the general vagueness surrounding the scope and importance of the public relations departments of big business firms was removed for members of the local Rotary Club Tuesday as Theodore S. Connelly, district representative of the National Automobile Club's public relations department at San Francisco spoke on "Public Relations – Why?"
Connelly was well qualified to discuss the subject, having had extensive experience as secretary of the national committee on education of the American Trucking Associations, Washington, D. C. before joining the staff of the N.A.C.

Declaring that Los Banos and communities of similar size constitute the ideal of public relations insofar as human relationship and understanding is concerned, Connelly explained that in a community such as Los Banos when everyone knows just a little about everyone else and the people's thinking and work are projected in a community way, there is little need for special emphasis on public relations. Good relations and understanding come naturally.

However, big business located in large cities where the people are not personally known as individuals of the community, suffers from a lack of public understanding. Employees of big business, lacking the common bond of personal acquaintance and personal association, are prone to minimize a sense of responsibility or of pride in the business in which they are employed, or of similar business generally.

Hence comes the need, Connelly emphasized, of public relations departments – to foster public understanding and public responsibility, to establish confidence, and to engender good will in the public mind.
In brief, Connelly summarized, the public relations department of any big business or enterprise acts as an artificial but necessary stimulus between company and public, endeavoring to engender in the public mind an understanding and community pride of association that at its best is exemplified in every day small town living.

May 25, 1956

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