Images of PR special issue and the 2013 Barcelona International PR conference

• Introduces the Special Issue on Images of PR.
• Sets the special issue in the context of the Barcelona International PR Conference.
• Identifies characteristics of Conference and Special Issue.
• Links theory to practice around the theme of images.

Now entering its fourth year, the Barcelona International Public Relations conference has, since it began in 2011, gathered a reputation for inclusiveness, openness, and reflection. In this latest set of articles, the conference's openness is visible in the very variety of the papers. This special issue confirms inclusiveness in augmenting contributions from the 2013 participants with articles from non-attendees. The Public Relations Review call for images of public relations drew some surprising submissions so, in the open spirit of the conference, we welcomed them into the refereeing process and they have helped to widen our range. Significantly, this year, although the potentially abstract topic of images of PR did not target applied contributions, most of the articles address practitioner issues – albeit of different kinds and with different levels of engagement. Finally, as the conference has matured, iconoclasm and innovation continue to be the other characteristic ingredients of a Barcelona mix that gives voice to those embracing rather than excluding controversy.