Thursday, June 24, 2004
On the Road
I'm on the road for a week, so I won't be blogging much. It is typical, however, that travel doesn't mean absence. With Blackberry on belt and cell phone in hand, I will be conducting business and as connected as if I were in the office.
The need to stay wired has bothered me since the Internet era started. Too much connectedness overrides time to read and think. Good practitioners devour news and information and from that gluttony, find ideas and avenues for effective communication. Constant thumbing of a Blackberry and talking on the phone pulls one from learning and cogitating. I do not agree with those who see PR practitioners as arms and legs. The business would bore me if that is all that I was allowed to do.
The fun part of PR is not media hits -- although they are satisfying -- and not writing and production -- although everyone should be able to do that, it is tackling problems and finding solutions. It is an ability to walk through a client's dilemma and to find effective and realistic ways to communicate the client's message. Implementation becomes a test of one's recommendations.
But it requires constant reading, learning and thinking to know what to do and how. Constant connectedness is white noise that obscures good ideas. There is a role for silence, and we forget that in PR.
The need to stay wired has bothered me since the Internet era started. Too much connectedness overrides time to read and think. Good practitioners devour news and information and from that gluttony, find ideas and avenues for effective communication. Constant thumbing of a Blackberry and talking on the phone pulls one from learning and cogitating. I do not agree with those who see PR practitioners as arms and legs. The business would bore me if that is all that I was allowed to do.
The fun part of PR is not media hits -- although they are satisfying -- and not writing and production -- although everyone should be able to do that, it is tackling problems and finding solutions. It is an ability to walk through a client's dilemma and to find effective and realistic ways to communicate the client's message. Implementation becomes a test of one's recommendations.
But it requires constant reading, learning and thinking to know what to do and how. Constant connectedness is white noise that obscures good ideas. There is a role for silence, and we forget that in PR.
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