Tomorrow is my birthday. I tell you because, well, I love my birthday! I love celebrating and, quite frankly, I like being the center of attention every once in a while. I also like to use this annually joyous occasion to look back on the year and to think about what’s to come. Because tomorrow marks a new decade, I’ve found I’ve been doing this internal reflecting even more than I usually do come mid-August. Have I accomplished what I wanted to over the last 10 years? Where will I be and what will I be doing 10 years from now? Interestingly (to me), this milestone birthday also marks my 10 year anniversary in PR and marketing. It’s true, 10 years ago I started out as an intern at a small PR agency – nervous and broke and scared and, then, completely in love with the business! In 1999 things were different in the PR world – we used printed databases to look up contacts, now we’re Tweeting with editors. As an intern, I scarcely used email to communicate with my friends and coworkers, now I send and receive hundreds of emails every single day. Through the wonders of social media tools like Facebook I know minute details of the lives of mere acquaintances (today I learned that the son of someone I had one class with at UNH accidently ate a rock on the playground).
So, what will change in the next 10 years in the PR industry? What will be the same? While I’m confident that advances in technology will have things in the PR world looking differently, I’m also sure the core will remain the same – building relationships. Which is why earlier today I commented on the rock-eating-child status because, who knows, this acquaintance could be a future mommy blogger.
What do you think will change over the next 10 years? Talk amongst yourselves – I have to get my birthday groove on…