If you were to walk up to the average American and ask them "What's their definition of public relations?" or better "What's public relations?" The typical response would either be "they relate to the public," as my father likes to say, or "they're the people who speak for the company when things go bad." Even though the average American might be somewhat wrong about what public relations is, but they're right to a certain extent.
My father is a material coordinator for the largest electric company in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, TXU. He organizes teams of electricians to fix power outages whether it be in Texas or Oklahoma. And sometimes out-of-state. When there were power outages, tornadoes, hurricanes or storms, it wasn't common for me and my siblings not to see him for two weeks depending on the severity of the storm.
Currently, my dad is in New Orleans, La., working to restore power to the rural areas of the state due to Hurricane Gustav. He's been gone for about two weeks now. I was finally able to speak with him for the first time since he left. My dad informed me that the Mayor of Louisiana did an excellent job in communicating with the people of New Orleans to get out while they could. He also mentioned how the city communicated effectively. Yes, my dad said "communicated effectively" to other surrounding states that people from Louisiana would be arriving and to be prepared.
What made this conversation so breath taking was that he said, "This is what you want to do right in public relations? " My response was of course "Yes!" But for the first time he finally gets what PR is, well better than the average American, and he knows I want to do work in crisis communications. I never told a day like this would happen.
Before I thought, parents just don't understand. They'll never understand the value of public relations to an organization and internships. But in time, they do and will.
Best,
GPaul
2 comments:
Believe me, you'll get better & better at having this conversation. You'll be having it with various people for years to come.
I think the #1 aspect of PR that folks just don't get is that we also represent the public to our clients. We strive to build mutual understanding, so we must be a conduit of communication in both directions.
Bonnie,
I agree. The conservation with my dad was an eye opener in that I love public relations and it's what I want to do for the rest of my life. He's starting to understand the value of what I'll be doing in the future.
But little does he know, as you stated, I'll be striving to represent the public, which he's a part of, and communicating to key executives of there needs and wants.
Thanks for the post Bonnie.
Best,
GPaul
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