My relationship with PRSA – the Public Relations Society of America – goes back to 1994 when I first got into the business. As a journalist, I belonged to the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) and was even president of the University of Missouri chapter, so I was no stranger to trade organizations.
Both groups talked about visionary things. But talking is not the same as embracing or implementing. And after a few years in the PR business, I learned that PRSA, or at least the Orange County, CA chapter, was more interested in giving out awards than preparing its members for the tidal wave that was approaching and eventually overcame them in the late ‘90s, also known as the Internet.
So here I am, about to speak at a couple PRSA events in San Diego, and little has changed. Too many in the industry talk about “social media” as if it’s something that can be harnessed or “owned” by PR, when all around them every type of agency you can think of, from every discipline, is ignoring traditional barriers of what is PR, what is advertising, what is customer service, or what is media itself.
Far too many PR practitioners reduce communications to “tools” – things with which to communicate. The PR industry, by and large, wants shortcuts. It wants technology to take the place of actual engagement, rather than to serve as a means to communicate in new, powerful, personal ways. Ultimately, it seems many in the industry don’t want to talk directly to consumers, but instead do what they’ve always done – talk to third parties and intermediaries to carry their clients’ messages.
So here’s the challenge to my colleagues gathering in San Diego this weekend – stop talking about what you should be doing. Stop trying to protect your industry and start changing it.
We are living in a new time, it’s getting darker faster. In many ways we have fallen back.
And yet, there is still plenty of time for the PR industry and PRSA to spring forward. Let’s not blow it.
The clock is ticking.
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