I gave a five minute riff this week at Swinburne University's PR Awards night.
In between stories about Ivy Ledbetter Lee and the birth of the press release back in 1906, and singer Dave Carroll's battle with United Airlines that resulted in a YouTube video 'United Breaks Guitars' going viral and potentially costing the company $180M - the message was more or less focused on the exciting outlook for the PR industry.
To be more specific, the PR profession is "on the verge of a golden age" in terms of its role in the broader marketing communications mix.
Now was a wonderful time to be graduating from a PR and communications course, I told the audience.
Students coming into the workforce were in an enviable position in that they didn't have many old habits that required change.
Old Habits
And yet the world is undergoing tremendous upheaval.
Technology and the ever-evolving media landscape is changing forever the way in which we communicate with each other and connect with companies and organisations.
Needless to say, such change is having a profound effect on business, government, media and the nonprofit sector.
Era of Hyper-Connectivity
Of course this in turn presents the public relations industry with a tremendous opportunity to make sense of it all and help companies to better engage the public with their brand story.
Ditto for young practitioners: if you're willing to embrace this new era of hyper-connectivity and all that comes with it, you're going to be well-placed to help lead the profession into its golden age.
SEIZE THE DAY!
PICTURE: Swinburne PR students listen intently to the PR Warrior
