Last week, I was awarded the Pine Belt Chapter of the Public Relations Association of Mississippi’s Practitioner of the Year Award, named in honor of my predecessor, Bud Kirkpatrick. Shameless self-promotion aside, the honor is special to me because of its namesake. As many of you know, Bud ably directed The University of Southern Mississippi’s public relations efforts for decades—to this point I have done so for two years. There are days, though, when I feel that changes in communication, both in significance and in number, have been greater in those two years than in any other similar span in modern history. Those changes make it extremely difficult for public relations professionals to perform their jobs at an expert level.
Here is what I know—learned primarily from watching and listening to the masters of the craft like Bud—as important as it is to stay ahead (or just keep up) with changes in communications, it is equally as important to remember that public relations remains about what the name of the profession suggests. Ultimately, it is about maintaining positive relationships, and Bud was and is the best at it. Whether the tool is Twitter, an email, or a phone call, if the recipient of your message trusts that you are honest, are well-intentioned, and have the best interests of others at heart, the message will likely be received well.
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