In a milestone for the profession, four major professional organizations in the communication/PR industry have joined forces to support the USC Annenberg Strategic Communication and PR Center’s seventh Generally Accepted Practices (GAP) Study. The biennial GAP study is generally considered to be the most comprehensive and in-depth study of the field. Its mission critical data is used by practitioners in managing and optimizing their communication organizations. The studies track emerging trends, shifting roles and responsibilities, and best practices in the profession. The Strategic Communication and PR Center makes the findings available to practitioners, educators and students free of charge. "As we prepared for GAP VII we decided to take a fresh look at the entire project. We spoke with dozens of senior level practitioners across the country, either one-on-one or in group “Connector Conversations,” and concluded that, among other changes, we needed to make GAP more of a ‘big tent,’ industry-wide initiative,” commented Jerry Swerling, director of the Strategic Communication and PR Center. “That led to discussions with the four professional groups, the outcomes of which have exceeded our hopes. The big winner will be the profession, since the participation of our four partners should make the data from GAP VII more reliable and projectable than that produced by any of its six predecessors." Read the full story on the USC Annenberg site.