Soulati-'TUDE!

She’s A Copywriter; Is That PR?

03/24/2011 By Jayme Soulati

After yesterday’s post, I must have more thought provocation (kidding), and I turn to (and thank profusely) my new tweep Taqiyyah Shakirah Dawud (you can address her as Shakirah because I asked), for this guest post on her talents as a copywriter. Is that PR?

Shakirah Dawud says:

I’m a copywriter. That’s my story and I’m sticking with it. My elevator speech: “Hi, I’m a freelance copywriter.” (I know it needs work, thank you.) My byline: “Shakirah Dawud, copywriter.” I’ve been happy that way for nearly 10 years. And then Jayme started giving me ideas. Illusions of grandeur. I may be something more. Or something less, as Gini Dietrich found some believe. Depends on your experience, I guess.

Anyway, I know what I do: I write copy. But what does copy do, exactly? Well, let’s take for example a brochure. It briefly takes the reader on a tour of a business’s offerings, lists facts, adds stars to the special bits, and makes an offer, leaving the reader wanting more. It does this for all who care to read, but weeds them out line by line until only the interested and qualified customers are left at the end, looking for the phone number or website.

How about copy on the back of a package? It’s even more brief, sandwiched between prerequisites like ingredient and component lists, instructions, and those mystifying recycling codes. It specifically explains what it is, what it isn’t, and all but snuggles into the reader’s arms, getting as comfortable and unforgettable as possible.

And then there’s the press release. Done right, everyone is talking about its subject, seeking the related brochure and reading the package copy right through to the end. They’re forming opinions, debating the outcome, and causing a money-making stir.

I thought for a while that this third piece was the only real “PR” in my line of work. But when you think about it…

All three types of copy face outward, get in the faces of prospects, and offer further means of developing a relationship.
All three constitute variations of what could be the first impression of any company.
All three should be current or at least avoid being dated.
And all three must be planned, strategized, fact-checked, and choreographed into the right places to elicit the right reactions.

I tentatively decided after reading Jayme’s post about the definition of public relations that I, marketing copywriter, probably fit in there somewhere. What I’m certain of is that neither PR nor marketing could possibly live a happy life without the other.

What do you think the relationship is?

(Image Credit: ConversationMarketing.com)

Is Defining PR Just Jargon?

03/23/2011 By Jayme Soulati

We are so close (in this phase) to defining public relations. Thanks to everyone who has taken time and thought to comment and provide insight. As this is my first attempt to garner consensus via a blog (called crowdsourcing, I believe), I’m thrilled with the interactivity. I also thank the silent readers taking this all in who offer a comment on occasion, as well. Everyone is valued and valuable.

As a back story, on this blog there are a series of posts in the last three to four weeks leading to today’s. I hate to repeat myself, but need to so those coming for the first time are aware of what we’re up to. If you’re interested in the prequence (I often coin words), here are some posts (comment scanning is a must to get the true level of conversation) to reference:

(by )

A Wrench

Before you see the variations of the working definition peeps have come up with (we’re close on consensus), let me throw out this wrench courtesy of of and , the 50th ranked blog on the (congrats!).

Gini just weighed in a few minutes ago to say:

“I think this is still too intangible and full of jargon. If I sent this to my parents, they’d still have NO IDEA what I do. My six-year-old niece tells people I work on a computer. Perhaps we should start there?”

Let me also share that of provided insight on these definitions suggesting “It’s still too vague, oblique.” (Guess we still have some work to do?)

Jargon-filled PR Definitions?

Public Relations Is:

A strategic discipline responsible for communicating to and with diverse audiences and organization stakeholders in order to build human connections; clarify perceptions; influence and manage reputation, brand and culture in order to better align with business goals.

A strategic, (holistic) discipline aligned to business goals that builds, nurtures, and masters human connections and perception; influences and manages reputation, brand and culture while communicating messages across mediums.

A strategic discipline responsible for communicating messages across mediums to diverse audiences and organization stakeholders with the goal of building, nurturing, and mastering human connections and
perception; influencing and managing reputation, brand and culture in promotion of overall business goals.

A strategic discipline aligned to business goals that builds human connections; influences and manages brand reputation and culture while communicating messages across mediums to diverse stakeholders.

OK, peeps, challenged by Ms. Dietrich, are these words just jargon (there were many comments about “masters” and “mediums”), or can you identify with them in your respective daily lives? Should we just say:

Public relations uses technology to create relationships with everyone, everywhere.

What do you think? That just may be our home-base message on the .

(image credit: swordandthescript.com)

Help Edit What Is PR Definition

03/22/2011 By Jayme Soulati

In a recent post last week, (that summarizes the additional sequence of events leading to that post and this), I provided a list of action words to begin to help modernize the definition of public relations. I want to garner peer consensus to define PR for the grassroots level and encourage people to use it in respective channels and with clients and up-and-comers. This topic is not as exciting as SXSW, or s new book ,” but I made a commitment, and I’m going to see this through.

If you’re reading this post for the first time, public relations as a discipline and professionals as an audience are taking a beating from folks who have the dais on national newspapers’ blogs and other key places buoyed by social media. We who uphold public relations image struck back in a show of unity to try and combat the negative publicity. My own commitment is to re-write a definition that’s been done and re-done for years. But, when you look at the definition of PR by the , it’s highly antiquated and confusing, even for a 27-year veteran like me.

So, on the blog link above, there was a list of about two dozen action-oriented descriptions. A handful of people helped pare down the list, and while there wasn’t necessarily consensus, there was agreement in key areas; enough to push us to phase two.

Draft One (Adding all the favorites from the list into one big mashed definition):

Public relations is:

A strategic discipline aligned to business goals that builds, nurtures, and masters human connections and perception; influences and manages reputation, brand and culture while communicating messages across mediums.

Nearly everyone agreed the “for whom” part of what we do is targeted to “diverse audiences, stakeholders and organizations’ publics.”

So, we can add to the end of this initial draft:

I’d like to get your thoughts on this lengthy draft to describe public relations. How can this be sliced and diced without losing its emphasis?

Once we dissect it further, I’m going to present the definitions from various other accrediting bodies and references sources side by side. Then we can see if our attempt at modernizing the definition of public relations is worth a hill of beans.

Happy NoRuz! May We Be At Peace?

03/21/2011 By Jayme Soulati

People may or may not know I’m half Persian. I lived in Iran as a kid (off an on from third grade to sophomore in high school), and still speak, read and write Farsi at a third-grade level. I guess my accent is laughable, but who’s wouldn’t be if you’ve not practiced each day with a native speaker?

Anyway, yesterday/today is the Persian New Year, Noruz — No (means “new”) and Ruz (means “day”). It is the most important holiday of the year, and it occurs on the spring equinox.

What’s interesting to note is what year it truly is, and that’s subject to the Islamic Lunar Calendar (1432), the Islamic Solar Calendar (1390), or the official Persian Imperial Calendar (2535). See below from FarsiNet; I have no ability to calculate this without help!

Question: How did FarsiNet come up with 2570 for 2011’s NowRuz? Iranian Government calendar says NowRuz 1390!!

Answer: The Islamic Republic of Iran Government uses the Islamic Solar Calendar (2011=1390). Majority of the Islamic countries around the World use the Islamic Lunar Calendar (2011=1432). But, as we all know, Persia (Iran) has been around and NowRuz has been celebrated much longer than that.
We used the official Persian Imperial Calendar published by the Iranian Government. The persian calendar year 2535 is documented on the official 50th anniversary of the Pahlavi Dynasty Bank Note & Stamps issued in 1976. The Persian Imperial calendar is based on the establishement of Persian Empire by Cyrus The Great.

Haft Seen

This first image is called the Haft Seen or 7 Esses (S). The items on this No Ruz table all begin with one of the several letters in the Farsi alphabet that denote “S.” For example, “seeb” means apple and “seer” means garlic. Each item has a symbolic meaning, and this Wikipedia definition if a wonderful history of the entire event that is celebrated in more countries than just Iran.

Childhood Memories

Each NoRuz, our family would dress up and go visiting. The adults would give the children gold coins and other gifts, and everyone would serve tea, sweets, fruit, and huge feasts for dinner. We grew “sabzi” or green grasses from wheat and lentils in a dish. Afterward we threw the grasses in the river to get rid of bad luck for the new year. This 13th day after NoRuz celebration, called Seezdah (13) Bedar, was a family celebration with picnics in the mountains and gardens.

Today

My Twitter friend asked my how I celebrate. I sent my Dad a spring bouquet of flowers today, and sent celebratory messages to my family in Iran and elsewhere. I like to recall my youth in Iran when the world was more at peace. I will ignore the call by Ayatollah Khamanei in Iran for Islamic Jihad this entire year and not provide any links. When I look at the theaters of war around the globe, I am doing my best to focus on family and health.

You do the same, OK?

Defining PR Mash Up

03/17/2011 By Jayme Soulati

I’ve been exploring how to define public relations in the last several weeks. The discourse leading to this is all on the blog, and I’m not the only one grappling with the crisis of identity in our profession. Others have been down this path already (Canada, Australia and some in Europe); however, that doesn’t mean we can’t continue the discussion and find some peace knowing this grassroots effort will create the ‘raderie we need to fight the bashing our profession continues to receive. While it may be an exercise in futility, it’s so top of mind to me; I cannot leave this alone until I give it the college try. Join me?

Here are the columns leading to this one: Proposing a Plan to Define PR and Who Is PR (in which I try to credit everyone on the radar for helping further thought). To get this post off to a solid start, I spoke last night with Heidi Cohen, author of “31 Public Relations Definitions” as well as “Where Does PR Fit In Your Company?” She gave me permission to use her highly popular blog post (31 flavors of PR) and grab the key words from each definition and position them into a chart.

No credit beyond the link to her blog is being given to anyone for these words (I did that already in Who is PR, link above), and many of the wordings were repetitive from one definition to the next (in Heidi’s post). In addition, What Is PR? on this blog provided a host of definitions from my colleagues that I’ve also incorporated into this exercise.

As promised, this is a mash up.

In attempting to strategize the best approach, I think we should tackle in phases. I took all the action words to describe what we do and added to a column. This amounted to four pages down a column. Next I tried to consolidate; however, that didn’t make the list too much shorter! How we define PR is exactly what Heidi presented…there are hundreds of definitions!

Here’s the list with my first cut to shorten repetition. Perhaps you can identify the verbiage you think best explains the action orientation of public relations…do you think a number ranking is the best approach to whittle down? Perhaps your top five listed in comments?

Communicating messages
Building good relationships, image
Measuring value
Measure impact of services and tie to strategic business results
Align communications strategy with business goals
Develop strategies that engage audiences
Effecting desired behavior; effect positive change
Planned process to influence public opinion
Builds visibility and creates favorable impressions
Mastering human connections; making a heartfelt connection
Manage, facilitate relationships
Championing “joined up” approach with marketing, digital, traditional PR and social media
Obtaining favorable publicity
Influences and shapes company image, reputation, brand perception and culture
Art and science of talking to the right audience in the right voice.
Crafts an organization’s message(s)
Build communities, engage and discuss
Give voice to worthy projects
Promoting and fostering positive awareness
Create, distribute, disseminate messages/communications
Increase positive exposure
Understand, develop and nurture strategic relationships
Influencing public opinion through communications
Managing communication. Creating content, networking and engagement
Achieve common objectives: credibility, thought leadership and influence.
Managing and shaping public perception
Building mutual understanding and maintaining reputation
Strategic discipline integrated with marketing to achieve business goals
Complements integrated marketing with measurable results
Helps companies create and build their brands
Defining and communicating a company’s narrative
Build communities, engage and discuss, and give voice to worthy projects
Leveraging communications strategies to establish a market position
Intersection of content, social technologies and marketing focused multichannel messages that make a difference, as well as generate a profit in ways that matter to customers.
Provide clarity and insight

I’ll provide my top five after y’all and add them to comments once someone gets a moment to review. We’ll noodle on this through Friday (tomorrow) and then try to hone it to a shorter list. If you have suggestions for a different way to tackle this, I’m all ears! Thank you in advance!

(image: postmusic.org)

Who Is PR?

03/15/2011 By Jayme Soulati

Day two of my plan to help public relations requires a PR roster where I give credit once to everyone at the same time. (I apologize now for missing anyone); what I’ve attempted here is to identify those with whom I’ve had recent engagement whether it be blogs, comments, RTs, emails, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc., and the like, specifically about defining public relations.

Doing it this way frees me up to take words from everywhere/everyone and mash up. No one can take ownership; everyone contributes. No one is completely satisfied, yet everyone contributes. Anyone can participate, anyone can vote, anyone can ignore this entire exercise, and anyone can get on board in support of improving the image of public relations. The common thread is EVERYONE IS INVITED.

Since I’ve embarked on this journey with no real end but a destination in mind, I’ve been introduced to PR practitioners from all corners of the world. My friends to the North in Canada are highly interested and committed to improving the image and “brand” (if you will) of public relations. I just got a link to a PR e-report by in Australia written by Judy Gombita on her blog PR Conversations.

Lea Werthman, APR, accredited by the Canadian Public Relations Society, just stopped by yesterday to share her group’s definition of public relations, and also a new colleague from Canada is highly supportive of this exercise, my posts and the broader conversation. Danny Brown, a Scotsman living in Canada and a man I hold in the highest esteem, is more than just a PR person yet keeps his affinity for the profession at the forefront of the work he does. Elissa Freeman, who tweets , hails from Toronto and adds value to the conversation.

In Sweden, Jon Buscall is a dear friend and colleague. His thriving public relations (and more) business, Jontus Media, takes him to all corners of the European Union. Jody Koehler represents public relations in The Netherlands and publishes a daily Paper.Li on PR; his coverage of the profession is widespread and not exclusive to the EU. In England, Sharon Cain, of , invited my guest blog, “PR Is Taking a Beating, Why Is That?” and it was a passionate, heat of the moment piece written in the height of the ‘ debacle. Petya Georgieva, of Bulgaria, is the first to tweet and respond before I awake each day. In France, is an expat life coach helping entrepreneurs and hopefully educating them about the value of public relations.

In India, Gautam Mahtani and Melissa Arulappan are two newly introduced colleagues grappling with their own public relations image crisis in their country.

And, in the U.S. in my Twitter backyard, there’s a healthy stream of PR peeps I’m meeting each day who contribute so much to my own professionalism with healthy debate, chuckles, intelligent banter, and more. Foremost, I need to identify and thank Gini Dietrich, CEO of and the highly engaging Spin Sucks blog, for her support, RTs and sharing of her followers with me.

, who launched this journey for me with her guest post (the link is above on the word “Hamptons”) in re the restaurateur who called our entire industry crazy, provides a great sounding board for me as she insists she’s NOT in public relations (because she does employee communications), and I insist she is. Alongside and always supportive is Davina Brewer of 3 Hats Communications who lends great insight and ‘raderie. My dearest colleagues from Chicago and days include Christine Esposito of Terracom Chicago (please like her Facebook page) and Michelle Hellyar of Hellyar Marketing Communications.

I’ve been recently introduced, and gratefully so, to an entirely passionate and connected group of PR people each committed to addressing this issue. I’m going to mention many and try not to leave anyone out (I apologize):

, associate director of PRSA national and part of the PR Breakfast Club gang
, an accredited business woman and PR practitioner with a highly credible following
Erica M. Allison who blogs at Allison Development Group
of Bristol Harbor Software who brings an amazing perspective on life, technology, public relations, and the pursuit of happiness.
who lends wonderful comments on all blog topics
Beatriz Alemar who tweets and I appreciate our conversation
Rebecca Neufeld of Edelman Financial PR, one of the early adopters on this journey
is a publicist and musician
Patty Swisher, who writes amazing guest blog posts and commentary from her vantage point in an architectural firm; follow her @pmswish
Kailas Simha who tweets @VoyageofThought is a new favorite supporter in the stream
Mary Deming Baber
Frank Strong who is exploring these issues on his blog of late,
Rachael Seda
Lara McCulloch who tweets here
Kathie Manchester, with , has great insight on this topic, and I appreciate
Heidi Cohen who wrote on March 8, 2011 “” and provides an entire new list of practitioners who contribute to our profession

If I have your links wrong, or you’d like a different hyperlink associated to you, please advise, and I’ll update. Add a comment here or please tweet me @Soulati. Again, my apologies for missing anyone, getting names spelled incorrectly, or having broken links. Will gladly update!

Next Post: The PR Definition Mash Up (scheduled for Thursday)

Proposing Plan to Define PR

03/14/2011 By Jayme Soulati

credit: millerlittlejohnmedia.com

In the last three weeks, my head has been spinning like a top zinging from one blog to the next and amplifying the echo about an entire profession being targeted with negative publicity — GASP! We in public relations need to do better public relations.

We’re abuzz with content that continues to present the negatives and showcase the problem areas, and the same or similar comments are being made on everyone’s blogs.

I’d like to alter that and elevate the decibel to attain new heights and a grander image for our profession that’s taken a few hits of late. No sense crying over spilled milk; it’s a call to action, PR, and anyone can participate. Here’s my suggested proposal to define public relations with a modernized definition we can use to educate our stakeholders and future practitioners.

This is an unofficial exercise. I’m not getting paid; in fact, I have no idea how this happened, but there’s no going back now — full speed ahead (because I’m a pirate). I ask only for respect for all ideas and each other.

Here’s the action plan that will unfold on this blog and hopefully elsewhere:

Objective: Define Public Relations with a modern and simple definition

Proposed Ed Cal:

Day 1 — Set Course: Objectives, invitation to participate
Day 2 — Who Is PR? The Practitioner Roll (ala a blog roll) of those who’ve lent food for thought already. Consider this the post that recognizes everyone simultaneously.
Day 3 — Drilling In to the Mash Up: We’ll explore the definitions on the table already to find wording consensus.
Day 4 — Drilling In Deeper to Consensus: All the definitions should be on the table with comments that will become part of the main blog.
Day 5 — Climbing Out of the Hole: Will we be able to pick five statements that define what we do?
Day 6 — The Final Tally? I believe I’ll use Survey Monkey to manage this process (with your help).
Ongoing, as needed, until we reach agreement

The only thing missing, is you. Consider this my invitation to anyone in public relations to help us define who we are today, the services we offer and to whom. Ask yourself how you define public relations, and then stop back here to share your perspective and be heard.

Thank you in advance; this is a team effort, absolute!

Momaraderie is Homeschooling, Grantwriting Canadian

03/13/2011 By Jayme Soulati

Momaraderie is an occasional feature I write about professional moms I meet, engage with and want to learn more about. I first was introduced to the inquisitive Dawn Comber via a Headway Theme Twitter chat. We got to exchanging tweets, and she seemed to pop in to lend her thoughts on a regular basis.

Dawn Comber (@DawnComber on Twitter) is a keen lifelong learner with a passion for building communities both on and offline. She hails from Oakville, Ontario, where she manages her small business, volunteers for a housing charity, and raises her youngest child, who is 13. The other four of her five children were homeschooled for nine years while she managed a grassroots not-for-profit.

Dawn began juggling her own education along with that of her kids, heading back to school part-time and emerging with a Master of Arts in Leadership. Grant writing for a single organization morphed into consulting to a variety of nonprofits, eventually leading Dawn to focus on helping clients articulate who they are and what they do online. She now specializes in rewriting offline materials for Web publication.

Speaking with Dawn, it’s immediately clear she’s serious about making genuine connections via social media and the small business community; here’s Dawn:

Thanks so much for asking me to contribute to your Momaraderie series.

One of my bigger goals for social media has been to really contribute to community, or find a sense of community with a few people online around me. You kindly reached out to me and that was encouraging. I want to contribute to other people’s blogs and business life in a genuine way — not with a goal to increase my presence, so to speak. I want to make genuine/real connections online; you know, the “social” in social media. (I blogged about it here.)

Participating in your blog is a creative way to get some peer-to-peer support virtually. I am also building offline learning partnerships and working partnerships with women! I meet monthly with two colleagues to discuss new business tools – online or otherwise. I also work closely with 2 colleagues (who are also good friends) on web development (me on the word side) and marketing for start-ups. I try to attend a monthly WP meetup — another place to learn and make connections.

For now, I’ll leave you with a final thought from Dawn, on how she stays centered:

My partner/husband laughed out loud when he saw that question. I’m not really very good at taking care of myself (a downfall of many a woman I am afraid) — but a glass of wine and a hot bath helps sometimes. Mothering keeps me from obsessing on business and vice versa. And friends really help a lot – I have a nice circle of people that I care about and who care for me.

To learn more about Dawn we couldn’t squeeze in here, visit Dawncomber.com. And, please share your suggestions for a Momaraderie feature!

A PR Recap With Thanks

03/09/2011 By Jayme Soulati

I had no idea this conversation would explode as it has. Without each of you commenting, RT’ing and Facebooking the like out of it, no way could we engage on a global scale about how to define public relations.

Thanks for the invite by Sharon Cain (@sharoncain) of Quest Public Relations in the UK where I’m a guest blogger today, “PR Is Taking A Beating; Why is That?” This post was written in the heat of the moment last Friday, March 4, when this blog blew up and my IT guy checked in to ensure the server was not on fire.

As a result of last week’s festivities (for those of you just checking in, the previous posts are still alive and kicking), the industry has united all in the name of positioning public relations to loftier status. As promised, I’ll be continuing this exploration here, and I’ll recognize my peers’ comments and definitions of PR so we can hone a digitally updated definition for the profession.

Meanwhile, I need to call out the amazing blog post written by Heidi Cohen “31 Definitions of PR” on March 8; amazing compilation, and she’s received mass amounts of attention for it, too. Congrats, on that, Heidi!

The comments on these posts are inspiring; the healthiest conversation I’ve ever seen and highly in-depth with intense debate at times, too. I encourage you to take a look at some during which PRSA stopped in and others offered suggestions about why/why not issues.

So, this has been a wild ride for me and a very stimulating and exciting one, too. I had not met 80 percent of you until the last week (that’s what’s so cool), and we’ll get some global perspective coming soon, too. I’ve exchanged a few invitations with some PR peeps in India who are interested in sharing some thoughts here.

So, thank you, ALL, for the …raderie. I bow to you.

Help PRSA Define Public Relations

03/08/2011 By Jayme Soulati

Anyone in public relations knows the recent events of the last several weeks where a restaurateur in the Hamptons incited our entire industry to unite in force to uphold our professional standards. As one of the bloggers who posted a series of articles on this debacle and its fall out (assisted with a guest post by the lovely and talented writer Jenn Whinnem), the theme for me awhile is going to be about public relations.

I promised to keep it alive because many who commented are counting on me/us for …raderie (my latest coined term). If per chance you’ve moved on with this issue (I can see why one be tired of it), then please be forewarned!

A post I wrote last week What is PR? was intended to help define our ever-changing profession. Prior to the ability to launch into a global, crowdsourcing message mapping session to define public relations, I must first turn to one of our accrediting bodies to hear its definition.

Sadly, the current Public Relations Society of America website adopted a definition of PR in 1982, and it has never changed! (Do you realize this definition below pre-dates the fax machine?) In my post, I called upon PRSA to update the definition (others agreed), and here’s what the highly confusing explanation states:

“Public relations helps an organization and its publics adapt mutually to each other.”

“Organization” is denoted in this context, as opposed to the more limiting “company” or “business,” to stress public relations’ use by businesses, trade unions, government agencies, voluntary associations, foundations, hospitals, schools, colleges, religious groups and other societal institutions.

“Publics” recognizes the need to understand the attitudes and values of — and to develop effective relationships with — many different stakeholders, such as employees, members, customers, local communities, shareholders and other institutions,and with society at large.

In answer to the call for modernity Keith Trivitt, associate director of PRSA, said they were open to suggestions from the field. He also pointed to an excellent jump-start comment by Rosanna M. Fiske, APR, Chair and CEO of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA).

In response to the New York Times Small Business guest blogger who skewered the entire industry so unabashedly (I am no longer linking to that series of posts), Rosanna eloquently published a newer definition of public relations, and I call upon her to use this as the basis for revising the 30-year-old archaic definition of public relations on the PRSA website:

…publicity/promotion and public relations… The two are not synonymous. Promotional work is not necessarily part of public relations firms’ services, and “buzz” is greatly identified as an advertising and word-of-mouth tactic that found some support through publicity.
Public relations is a profession that has as its base high ethical standards, as set by the Public Relations Society of America’s Code of Ethics (https://ow.ly/41htJ). While we may use elements of persuasion, as do many other disciplines, a core component of those ethical standards is the adherence to the highest standards of accuracy and truth in advancing the interests of those we represent and in communicating with the public. This couldn’t be more important if you’re trying to build long-term credibility and reputation equity for a company.

Watch this space for more input from my peers in public relations. It’s going to take a bit to cull through everything, as at last count I had 43 pages of cut and pasted comments to sort and put into a semblance of a blog. Meanwhile, will you keep giving this some thought and be ready to chime in this week once the series continues?

On a final note as to why I feel compelled to do this…my entire career I’ve felt the need to give back. I have hired interns, recent graduates, and freelancers in my businesses. I teach public relations to anyone who’ll listen, and I’m a guest lecturer on many occasions to students in business courses, and others. My desire is to uphold our profession with high-level standards. When I see, feel and hear the youth of my profession running away from it due the bad reputation we have, it pains me. This is why I’m sticking with it for awhile and we’ll see where it goes. Join me?

(Image: CafePress.com)

« Previous Page