Flackette

While reading through my RSS feeds the other day I came across this post talking about a well known European communications consultant, Michael Bland, recommending something he wrote defining the public relations field. Go to his Web site and download his paper titled “What is PR?” It is a great, short read that every PR newbie should take a look at.

A few highlights:

- He talks about how the field of PR “calls for a high degree of creativity, which is often incompatible with good organisation and management,” and that this is one of the reasons why many people do not understand the field.

- He also notes that “the new entrants to PR nowadays are more typically clean cut, hard working young graduates.” Do you agree?

- Bland says that PR professionals should have:

• “A sense of curiosity
• An intelligent, organised mind
• A reasonable amount of business awareness
• An ability to communicate — especially in writing.”

What do you think?

To all the women in PR trying to make a decent name for yourselves…we are being sabotaged.

Amanda Chapel, proud PR “whore” (her words, not mine), has started a new blog that supposedly details the naked truth of the PR world. However, all I’ve seen revealed in her 2 posts so far are cheap shots intended either for getting attention (”Look at me! I’m going to predict the demise of Steve Rubel!”) or inciting catty dialogue (her word to B.L. Ochman: “Who picked out that outfit anyway?”). Wow, I never knew that exposing the PR field could be so shallow and unenlightening.

She likens the relationship between journalists and PR pros to that of a doctor and his pharmaceutical rep. She quotes from the book “The Drug Pushers”: “Drug reps pretend that they are giving doctors impartial information. Doctors pretend that they take it seriously.” I love the way that she tries to whittle down the essence of PR into a brainless analogy.

There are many ethical PR professionals out there that are fantastic at their jobs while maintaining their integrity, and they should be deeply insulted by Amanda’s feeble attempts to get attention.

The biggest disappointment is that many bloggers (save Kevin Dugan of the Bad Pitch Blog—thank God some of our men in the PR field are thinking with their minds and not the little man downstairs…need I say more) are encouraging this kind of smut with their comments. They beg for more pictures, eager for a glimpse of her self-proclaimed “perky” breasts. I especially like this comment from “Rusty”:

“We need more honest conversations from “whores” in every industry.”

Unbelievable. Pour some cold water down your pants, boys, and then get back to work!

There are only a handful of influential women bloggers in the PR field (Katie Delahaye Paine and Elizabeth Albrycht are two that come first to my mind), and for someone like Amanda Chapel to come along and exploit her sexuality to get attention from PR pros is a step backward for women in the industry. She should be embarrassed and ashamed.

The other day while at a recent gathering, I began discussing with some friends exactly what it is I do. Explaining public relations to a group of people with no previous knowledge of the field is difficult and takes you down many different bunny trails of discussions. “Oh, public relations is like advertising,” said one of my well-meaning friends, trying to help me out by likening PR to something that most people have a pretty good understanding of.

*wince*

“Well no, it’s not exactly like advertising,” I corrected. I paused. “It’s really about forming positive relationships with the media so that they will want to cover your client in their newspaper, magazine, radio or TV station. It can also be a management function where public relations professionals guide companies on how to craft their image or how to repair it in the event of a crisis.”

Blank looks.

“In a lot of ways,” I continued, “it’s like schmoozing. You network with people and make friends in all sorts of areas, because in the PR field, you never know when you will need them. If you don’t have good relationships in PR, you’re doomed to failure in this business.”

“OK,” said another friend. “So it’s like butt kissing?”

I laughed. “I wouldn’t call it that.” And the conversation moved on…

I think the art of schmoozing (really a fancy schmancy term for networking) can be an exercise in sincerity and can make you many friends. I am a complete believer. And all it takes is just a little bit of effort on your part. One of the reasons I have been able to keep friends over the years, even ones that are far away, is because I remembered to make that short phone call or that quick e-mail to let them know I should still be on their radar. The reason why I have a great job is because I networked with someone who saw potential in me and gave me a chance. Networking is a golden key to success in any profession.

Guy Kawasaki has an excellent post on schmoozing here. His blog is one of my faves and if you haven’t already heard of it, start reading! His posts are gems of wisdom.