I had a crazy idea come back to me last night, when I couldn’t sleep after watching the mediocre ads from Super Bowl (which made me cranky and is an entire blog post unto itself).
A few weeks ago, in one of my Linkedin PR groups, we were discussing (alright, complaining) about how often other business people do not understand PR (benefits, value, level of expertise needed, etc.), so I suggested a road show. The idea was that we would caravan around the country educating business people about what we do, conquering the world one CEO at a time. A couple people said that sounded fun and they would support me in launching this project.
Around the same time, my Twitter friend Paul Roberts wrote about how PR people are not very good at promoting themselves, which got me thinking that maybe that is one of the reasons there are so few PR jobs / project these days – decision makers simply don’t see the value of PR. Another Twitter friend, @dianesager (Houston, she’s terrific!) and I talked about how frustrating it can be to have these skills and experience, but not have enough meaningful work.
By coincidence, I was introduced to An Inconvenient PR Truth last week, too – a group that irks me to no end, not because of what they are doing, but because they have been forced to do it. Let me explain if you have missed it: this is a PR campaign urging PR pros to be more professional. Not exactly the promotion our industry needs. Apparently, some PR pros need to be taught about “irrelevant press release emails or PR spam.” I have a whole issue with that (which also is a blog post unto itself).
Then, I found out about HAPPO and I just lost it! Aren’t we a sorry bunch? We have public relations pros from all over the country (listed below) promoting “Help a PR Pro Out” day – Friday, February 19th – which is a creative, proactive, lovely gesture, and I personally hope to benefit from it, but what does it say about us as a group? I am not sure I like the message (again, blog post unto itself – which I promise not to say again).
All of this PR energy just boiled over and I started the PR Road Show group on Linkedin with a corresponding twitter account: @prRoadShow. With all that is happening in the economy (or should I say, not happening) and within PR, our industry needs to do a better job promoting itself and maintaining its image. The PR Road Show idea was mostly a joke, but now I am not so sure. I don’t see myself literally driving around the country preaching PR, but reaching out and educating business leaders about PR may be a necessary step to ensure that I am able to continue my PR career. And, unfortunately, I don’t see anyone else doing it.
PR Road Show is not totally evolved, but I have planted the seeds. We (yes, I already have members!) are here to give everyone a little more support, specifically in promoting PR to business leaders and potential clients. How many jobs would be created if every business owner/CEO understood the benefits and value of PR? Clearly some get it, but then again (yes, I mean you millionaire, multi-business owner who keeps asking me “what is PR?”) some do not.
Yes, I am taking it to the streets! Please join me as we ease on down the road and, as always, feel free to share your thoughts or come on over for a visit!
~ Jules
PR Road Show Linkedin Group: http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2742527/
HAPPO is spearheaded by Arik Hanson and the amazing Valerie Simon, with the following champions:
- Jeremy Porter (Atlanta)
- Kellye Crane (Atlanta)
- Doug Haslam (Boston)
- Jennifer Wilbur (Southern CA)
- Gini Dietrich (Chicago)
- Lauren Fernandez (Dallas/Fort Worth)
- Richie Escovedo (Dallas/Fort Worth)
- Justin Goldsborough (Kansas City)
- Arik Hanson (Minneapolis/ St. Paul)
- PR Cog (New York Metro)
- Deidre Breakenridge (New York Metro)
- Valerie Simon (New York Metro)
- Heather Whaling (Ohio)
- Danny Brown (Toronto)
- Mike Shaffer (Washington, DC)
There are also a number of other folks who will be supporting the event in different ways, including Sarah Evans, Dave Fleet, Allan Schoenberg, David Mullen, Shonali Burke, Rachel Kay and a few others.
