My Thoughts on PR

Blog topic: 300-500 words about what you think or thought PR was upon entering this room.  Discuss your definition or your stance and where you might go from here.

Alright so, I am an AD/PR major, I recently returned to GVSU after a 4 year hiatus. I left GVSU with only 6 (yes, count them 6), classes left. I had some personal issues going on, and the couple semesters before I decided to take a break and go home, were not so good. So, in actuality, I have taken this class 3 previous times (sad, I know). I have failed it twice, and dropped it once. Not my finest moments, I’m know. I don’t really like to talk about it much, but this is the reality of the situation, and I have found that embracing the truth is much easier then trying to act like it didn’t happen. The last time I was enrolled in this class was Fall of 2009, and that’s when I dropped every class I had and moved home. So as you can imagine, I’m slightly older than most of the students in the class. It took me 4 years, but I finally came back and I will be graduating in April. Pheww.  What I am trying to get at here is, I did have some idea of this class and PR, but A LOT has changed in the PR scene since 2009. Nature of the beast, I suppose.

Ah so, my thoughts on PR. I definitely think that the definition, what it is,  and what it entails,  is hard for most people to grasp,  It’s a broad, multifaceted field, that is has a lot of sub-fields within it. Creative writing, Graphic Design, Journalism, Advertising, the list could go on. PR is a way for a company, person, or organization to mediate between themselves, their publics and of course the media, to put it simply. A way of creating open communication, a two-way street, so information can flow freely. Whether or not that information is good, bad or in between is the responsibility of the PR team within.

Social Media has exploded on the PR scene, even since 2009. I mean the way people get information now is crazy. Constantly connected to everything, the world at your fingertips, never having to wait for information that you need or are curious about. So now, more than ever, companies, people, and organizations need to be on top of their game. This is where having a PR department comes in handy, having people trained to deal specifically with the ramifications of what this means, i.e. what social media is capable of. It’s a scary thought and it’s a big, crazy world out there, and it’s important to get a handle on this now. PR is constantly evolving, changing with the times, and with technology, and as PR people, we should be highly adaptable and constantly changing as well. This is all part of becoming an excellent PR person, keeping up with times, and always learning.