About Responsibility in PR
When your passion becomes your career, you sometimes lose sight of why it was your passion in the first place. I’ve always admired the potential of language and it’s in the few (and far between) inspirational pieces that my love for the written word is rekindled. I have to thank PR Conversations’ Canadian contributor Judy Gombita for forwarding me a post by Jeremy Pepper out of San Francisco.
Pepper’s post discusses the responsibility of PR to community initiatives and the sluggishness of social media to live up to this role. “You don’t hear/read about campaigns that are helping change the world. You don’t hear/read about campaigns that are being done with the large agencies or consultants that are trying to help make the world a better place,” notes Pepper.
This post hits home for me because changing the world IS what I long to do. Like Pepper, one thing that attracted me to PR was its command of power and influence, the opportunity to shape or (better yet) change opinion. This is largely what has kept me at Juice, an organization that “strives to change the way the world does conversation” and what motivates me to maintain this space.
Pepper is right. Social media, though still in its infancy, has done little to benefit anyone outside the social media bubble (what Pepper refers to as “self fulfilling”). I know plenty of social media wizards and none of them work in the not-for-profit or community relations sector. Is it that these sectors are not doing enough to attract and retain talent (you can’t blame them– many are understaffed and underpaid) or in this time of social connect are we becoming disconnected from what matters most– people?
Pepper rallies his network to donate to Lisa Gift-Kelly’s blog Clusterfook, a woman who is battling cancer for her third time.
Another worthy (and local) cause is Jessica’s Footprint, a cancer research charity inspired by a child who died just two days after her first birthday.
Do you remember why you got into PR? Thanks to Jeremy Pepper, I’ve been reminded.
~ by Brandon Carlos on July 31, 2008.
Posted in PR/SEO/SEM
Tags: Jeremy Pepper, Jessica's Footprint, PR, PR responsibility, social media
The passion for conversation and how it can effect the way you think and do things in your day to day life. The passion for being creative and the adrenaline rush that comes when that creativity is well received and works the way it is supposed to. The passion to reach people.
That’s why I am in PR and the main part of my job is social media.
I know Jeremy. He is a great guy. I’m so glad you put the spotlight on him.
I started as a trade journalist for the credit union system, and sort of morphed into a corporate communications person.
Finding stories that help people understand their role in the world/organization/community was what attracted me. Still does.
I’m in the health care system now, but it’s still all about finding relevance and highlighting what people are doing and can do. Helping people understand the logistics of dealing with prostate cancer and find the info they need is a good enough reason to go to work for me.
I remember it quite clearly…I was a reporter for the Boston Globe and was working on an assignment about two kids killed in a snow mobile accident in Lynn, MA. I had to go talk to the parents, who invited me into their homes and poured their heart out to me. It was gut wrenching. I couldn’t do that any longer (though I wrote about business and politics before I jumped the fence).
But you and Pepper are right. Socialnet has been sucked up by big businesses and smart brands that are really just trying to push their bottom lines. It’s more of a brand building than a community changer at this point. Adding to that is the fact that socialnet really hasn’t hit the mainstream yet. Yea, folks on Facebook and Myspace are those who might not know about Twitter, Pownce, BrightKite, and all the other services out there and how they can help move a cause, but like I said, adoption has been relatively slow.
As more non-profits seek the use of socialnet in their PR campaigns, you’ll start to see more of a “do something” attitude around socialnet versus “just being part of the conversation.”
I love PR and love what I do. What I don’t love is the fact that you need clients to pay the bills and more often than not, the agenda you are pushing is a corporate agenda. Yes, you can throw in cause marketing, CSR, etc. in the mix, but who of the big brands are actually doing what they say they are doing?
The dust will settle at some point and there will be some break through. It’s really up to folks like us to make that happen. It’s our job to provide counsel to clients that will result in programs that will make a difference.
Brandon, I am happy to point you to new people and resources and sincerely appreciate your (off and online) thanks and recognition, but (truly) what matters more to me is what you do with the information. In taking Jeremy Pepper’s rally cry to heart, illustrating it with the personal, and examining and reaffirming your own motivation and values, the PR Ninja has added another layer to this conversation. That’s the best reward: playing a part in motivating a colleague to communicate from a position of strength.
I believe that PR, in its purest form, is about relationship building. Effective PR is based on the foundations of knowledge and balance, synthesis and critical analysis, strategy and tactics. It is about raising the bar to expand or enhance those relationships (whether the relationship is personal or organizational, particularly when it results in private/public civic discourse and effective actions). And at the end of the day, it’s about the clarity and effectiveness exhibited in communicating all of these things.
Jessica’s Footprint was unknown to me; thank you for highlighting a Guelph-based initiative.
Now I’d like to borrow some PR Ninja time to spotlight another effective platform for charities and micro-financing: http://www.givemeaning.com. This community initiative is the brainchild of Vancouver-based Tom Williams. For several years Tom was a six-figure-earning wunderkind at a big American tech company (recruited at a ridiculously young age), when one day he had an epiphany on the beach: that his rich material life was soulless at the core. So he packed it all in, returned home, and used his resources (i.e., rapidly diminishing personal wealth and ongoing brain power and tech creativity) to create Give Meaning. One of the best things about this platform is that projects aren’t dictated by Williams: the community gets to vote as to which (worldwide) initiatives are the most deserving of funding. I’ve been lucky to have the opportunity to chat with Tom Williams two times; on both occasions he was accessible, gracious and appreciative. Best of all is the sense that Williams is fulfilled and gratified in his new direction of deliberate choosing. I believe in his motivation, and I believe in the goodness of his intentions (and resulting success) in making the world a better place. That’s why I take every opportunity to do my PR bit to bring Williams’ “generous” social media platform and local/international outlook to the attention of a wider audience.
And I hope you stay on this right-instincts path, too, Brandon. I look forward to you and your readers (and our) continuing dialogue on responsible PR.
Some great discussion by some talented folks. Eric, my organization does alot of work in the healthcare sector– it’s a difficult and challenging area and nowhere is communication (particularly internal) so necessary.
Judy, I love hearing stories like Tom Williams; folks who had epiphanies and risked their lives on a great cause. I had a professor at Laurier who, after years as a geologist at a major mining corporation, up and left and chose to pursue a phd in philosophy. Now he’s shaping great minds and making a real difference.
I support anyone using this blog as a front for charity recognition– let’s make a difference, let’s start the community relations social media movement.