Communications pros, this is your time.

Pop Quiz! Quick, tell me, what the following people have in common:

Steve Rubel, Richard Binhammer, Geoff Livingston, Kami Huyse, Shel Hotz, Phil Gomes. There's more, but linking becomes so tedious after a while, don't you think?

What they share in common is that in recent weeks, each of them has been the subject of media interviews. Each of them also speaks regularly from the dais of industry gatherings. Each of these is a respected member of his or her community and there are dozens of other folk I could name. They also are all social media stars and you can find them in many of the usual online spaces starting or joining useful conversations.

A few years ago, each of these held in the inauspicious position that so recently was considered the role of the communications person. They carried or sent press kits. They wrote words that other said from the dais-often badly. They called the press to get others to speak to the editors and reporters.

All of this still continues. But something has changed.

We have entered into the Conversational Era when real people who a short while ago were relegated to stand one step back from the official company representatives, perhaps sometimes assigned to get the coffee or hail a cab. Now their position is evolving. They are being trusted by corporate decision makers to have public conversations about the parts f the enterprise they know. This is the time for the freelancer in a home office to build a global reputation because the are interesting in valuable in what they have to say.

Good corporate communicators and PR people speak with passion and accuracy. They often know what the listeners wants to know about and are more prone to give it than many of their clients.

Now, I know what some of you thinking. You're thinking about some awful PR story. Your thinking, as I often do about someone, who pitched you on something entirely wrong for your editorial needs. And so on.

I'm talking about the upper 10 percent of the communications profession. The rest are proof of Sturgeon's Revelation: "90 percent of everything is crap."

To that 10 percent who are moving into stage center, Rock on. This is your time.

Comments

[nancy (aka citizensbanker)]

Rocking in the free world... and hoping to land in the 10% ;)

Thanks for such an encouraging post.

[Geoff Livingston]

I for one love social media. It makes even traditional media better. We have to focus on real issues that matter now instead of junk, and that is very welcome by me. Thanks for including me, Shel!

[Matt McGinnis]

Its always been about the conversation. Now we just have more tools to do it publicly. Good PR people will always find ways to have a meaningful dialog with the people that matter. Just like good journalists and bloggers will find something useful out of a good dialog. Keep it going.

[Tim Marklein]

Amen, Shel -- I might quibble with the 10% maxim, but the times are definitely better than ever for smart communicators. I've seen a big change over the last year with many clients shifting from an "experiment" to an "embrace" of social media -- and that's inexorably changing how they approach marketing, communications, customer service, innovation, etc. There's still a long road ahead, and we need to collectively step up to the plate, but it's very energizing.

[Kami Huyse]

Shel;

When I moved to Texas from DC in 2002, I left a Director of Communications job. I was climbing a corporate ladder and wasn't so sure it was leaning against the right wall. Starting My PR Pro and then getting involved in social media was a turning point in my professional happiness quotient. It has really allowed me to focus on the things I love and to say "forget it" to the rest. In other words, I only have to take on clients that I really believe in. That is the power of the distributed world that we now live in. I don't have to sit in NYC, DC, San Fran or any other high end city to thrive and be respected.

Kami

[RichardatDELL]

Rock on is right....and we have miles to go before we sleep :-)

[Jason Kintzler]

I think the PR industry has the opportunity to bring social media to corporations from the outside-in. Opening dialog and engaging consumers and media alike will be the most desired skills of tomorrow's PR pros. An inspiring post in some really inspiring times. Thanks, Shel.