2011 has been an interesting year in PR. With the media industry in the midst of a crisis of ethics and inquiries and social media opening up communications to the world and their dog to break news, break down stories and go public with their own take on things it has been a difficult – but interesting – time to be thinking about what makes for good PR.

The Orchard team have come up with our three highlights for 2011, showing what is good, bad, and frankly quite weird in the world of PR this year.

First of all, let’s look at the ‘good’. Steve and Cat both suggested the Royal Wedding, which as well as being a good old fashioned knees up for much of the country, was a lesson in absolutely impeccable media and public relations. According to Steve (who knows a thing or two about dealing with Royals) “Paddy Harverson, the director of communications at Clarence House, has done an amazing job in managing the profile of The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall since 2004. The Royal Wedding this year of Prince William and Kate Middleton was a PR masterpiece, combining tradition and ceremony with modern popular touches – and a nice classic car!”