Come Closer. Grandpa Wants to Say Something

This week I had the pleasure of being in New York for PR Week Magazine's Annual "40 under 40" awards. The award recognizes the work of heavy hitters in the world of public relations. This year, the honoree list was quite amazing. Such diversity. You had teams from public sector, technology industries, healthcare, and agencies, all doing work that would blow your mind. Check out the achievements of this group here.

Someone once told me, if you think you're the smartest person in the room, then you're probably in the wrong room. If that saying holds true, then I was clearly in the right room. Whoa.

But, as I was listening to the descriptions of all the award recipients, including the description of my entry (thank you very much), I was amazed by how much the conversation in communications has turned towards integration. If you visited these awards ten years ago, most of the entries would talk about how an honoree was able to wow thousands of reporters and yield reams and reams of coverage. Yes, I said reams. When I started out, we created printed clip books. I can still hear the rainforest crying.

Today, almost all of the campaigns mentioned the power of working cross-functionally to achieve results beyond what would be possible if silos. This emphasis on integrated campaigns is I believe a precursor to more integrated marketing organizations. Generalist is going to be the new specialist. Breadth is going to matter as much as depth.

So, as I get closer to being a grandpa in this young industry, I feel like I can offer advice to the young folks looking at getting into communications. Come in close.

1. Build a broad set of marketing experiences. Your ability to understand how to run an event is going to matter as much as your ability to write a press release (if they still exist in 5 years).

2. Understand the language of business. You know all those managerial accounting classes you laughed at your roommate for going to while you read US Weekly in the park? It turns out they're actually pretty useful. There's no Rosetta Stone for the language of business. If you want to talk to CEOs, you'd better invest the time and hard work.

3. People skills. I've posted about things like listening and being direct. Turns out these are all parts of people skills. Learn them. Use them.

4. Creativity. You can learn to be creative. Creative isn't just being able to make screen printed tee shirts and to sell them on Etsy. It's about making connections to the world around you and then seeing how you, the brands you represent, or your company can make a difference.

So, march on next generation. And, while your at it, please bring over that bottle. Grandpa's ice is dry.