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This week on Inside PR, Terry and David discuss public relations as a profession. They also welcome an audio comment from Omar Ha-Redeye.
Show Notes
00:30 Terry introduces the show.
01:10 Terry and David were on vacation – they talk about how they coped without each other.
03:45 Omar Ha-Redeye sends in an audio comment.
09:40 Christine Smith and Dave Fleet write in with comments on PR as a profession. This leads into this week’s main topic for discussion on the profession of PR.
31:00 Inside PRoper English: continual and continuous
31:45 Fans of Inside PR group on Facebook. Click here to join the group on Facebook.
Music: our theme music is Streetwalker by CJacks, and is from the Podsafe Music Network; Roger Dey is our announcer.
I wanted to comment on falling into a profession, lest anyone get the idea this is unique to PR. I spent 9 years in university and graduate school training to be a classical scholar, and 4 years teaching undergraduates after that–and ended up falling into consulting and working primarily as a writer. Several of my fellow classicists now work in some kind of computer-related field. Mitch Joel started out as a music journalist and now runs an ad agency.
It may be a bit less common to “fall into” professions like medicine and law that require degrees and licensing, but apart from that, fewer and fewer people these days have only one career in their lives, and even if they do, it may well not be what they imagined when they were in high school.
Terry and David,
I think you were thinking about Micahel Deaver in regards to the man who worked behind the scenes with Ronald Regan. As a San Jose State grad, I remember him from our PR classes as one of the more influential alum.
As far as falling into PR as an occupation, it’s not a glamour job rather it tends to be one that is hard to explain. After nearly 10 years in the industry, I still don’t think my family realizes what I do exactly.
I chose the profession after looking to marry my hobby, sports, and a career. I figured PR would be a great background to have in case I did not find that dream job in sports…you have to have that fallback. I really don’t remember how it came about, but I figured I wrote well and received A’s on my English papers I always waited for the night before the due date to begin and then a little research put me on track with PR.
I do have to say my education is a bachelor’s in public relations, having attending one of the handful of schools offering it as a major and not lumped in with communications. After a few years in tech PR, I ventured out in the realm of college athletics and I feel your pain David regarding the afterhours and weekend commitments of sports. I can’t remember having had a free weekend from August through May for nearly six years.
I welcomed the opportunity to get back in the tech game and am loving it, getting immersed in social media, Web 2.0 and the unique and ever-changing landscape of the profession. Kudos to both of your for this awesome podcast.
Thanks Sallie. You make a good point about having more than one career in our lifetime. I was in politics before ultimately landing in PR. It’s the nature of our economy and our times I guess.
Good to hear from you Brian. I feel your pain when it comes to explaining exactly what we do (“sometimes we’re trying get our clients into the media and other times we’re trying to keep them out of it… etc., etc.). I think we’ll all get better at it as it becomes crystal clear that we need to be able to describe our profession simply and succinctly. We need the “elevator pitch” without undermining the scope and complexity of our work.