Former co-worker Joseph dropped by the office yesterday. He currently works in public relations, a field I had spent a good six years in, though primarily in a support capacity. As it happened, Marc went into info-fishing mode, asking as many questions as he could about PR with the obvious intent of getting into it soon. Sounds like a part of the company's natural progression.
Public Relations is primarily image/identity management, wherein a company or individual engages in activities that build goodwill and positive recall among targeted "publics," whether it be stockholders, employees, the media, a particular market segment, etc. Though similar to advertising, public relations isn't meant to generate sales. It's a lot of fun, and there's a whole bunch of activities one can engage in, from the simple daily perusal of every single news publication for "clippings," to the planning and execution of a full-blown event, to writing scripts and attending shoots for the corporate video.
As an Aquarian, I guess PR interested me because of the variety of stuff to do. There were things to learn and a whole bunch'a different people to deal with on a daily basis. And I miss the occasional freebies and gifts. Still, it's exhausting work and takes up a lot of time. A know a couple of people who've ended up either throwing in the towel or, like me, breaking apart because of the strain. It's a wild ball game, like Quidditch or other, so you have to have good team players if you want to win big time.
Public Relations is primarily image/identity management, wherein a company or individual engages in activities that build goodwill and positive recall among targeted "publics," whether it be stockholders, employees, the media, a particular market segment, etc. Though similar to advertising, public relations isn't meant to generate sales. It's a lot of fun, and there's a whole bunch of activities one can engage in, from the simple daily perusal of every single news publication for "clippings," to the planning and execution of a full-blown event, to writing scripts and attending shoots for the corporate video.
As an Aquarian, I guess PR interested me because of the variety of stuff to do. There were things to learn and a whole bunch'a different people to deal with on a daily basis. And I miss the occasional freebies and gifts. Still, it's exhausting work and takes up a lot of time. A know a couple of people who've ended up either throwing in the towel or, like me, breaking apart because of the strain. It's a wild ball game, like Quidditch or other, so you have to have good team players if you want to win big time.
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