Every
once in a while (although it seems like more frequently these days) I get a
message that either (a) sends cold chills up my spine or (b) baffles me. Or
both.
Why?
Because
the sender obviously spent less than
a micro-second actually thinking
about what he or she was asking.
My
students at Curry College, where I ride herd over the undergraduate Public Relations Concentration and teach most of the PR courses, and at Regis College,
where I teach part-time in the graduate Organizational and Professional Communication area, get this lecture a lot…and I’ll keep on
hammering away.
Back
to the “tipping point” (hats off to Malcolm Gladwell for this!): This morning, I
received a tweet from someone claiming
to be part of a PR firm.
At
least that’s what he/she said.
No
information available on this person’s Twitter page to give me a clue who this person is or
where he/she is located.
Checked
the website: “Under construction.”
Nonexistent
on Facebook or LinkedIn so far as I can tell.
But… (Insert dramatic background music (<=or click here!) …in your head!)
I
also got a message asking for my
email address so he/she could send me something.
Blue
flashing lights and blaring alarms went off.
“What’s the big
deal?”
you ask.
I
answer, “Google ‘Kirk Hazlett.’”
What’s
the first thing that pops up?
It’s
called “research,” my friends, and we do it…A LOT…in public relations.
Before
we send off a pitch letter…or a news release…or an events calendar listing…we
check to see, if possible, to whom that bit of information should go.
Before
we meet with a potential…new...or current client, we check to see what we can
learn about that client or what has been going on recently with the client.
I’m
not saying you always can find what you’re looking for right off the bat.
Sometimes it takes a little digging. But, especially in today’s Internet-based
world, it’s very do-able…and very, very informative.
(Full
disclosure: I Googled my name several years ago and discovered, unbeknownst to
me or anyone who knows me, “Kirk Hazlett,
age 35” had escaped from prison. I was, at the time, in my late 50s, so I
figured it wasn’t me and went on
about my day. But I have always thought…what if I had been looking for a job,
and a prospective employer had checked me out online?!? Yowza!!)
“Homework” doesn’t stop when you graduate from high school or
college. In fact, I would argue, after more than 40 years’ experience either as
a PR pro or as a PR prof, that it just
begins when you graduate!
Oftentimes, though…in my
world, at least…the answers aren’t conveniently located at the back of the
book.
You have to assemble a pile of facts, moosh (a “Kirk-word”) them
together a bit, and come up with the answer on your own based on your
knowledge, your understanding of the situation you’re dealing with, and the
input of others.
Then, and only then, do you make a
recommendation or take a course of action.
It’s called “doing your homework.”
BTW…haven’t heard “boo” from the individual I was talking about in
the beginning!
“Knowledge
is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information
upon it.”
– Samuel Johnson, from Boswell’s “Life of Johnson” [April 18, 1775]
