Today White House Correspondent Helen Thomas celebrates her 89th birthday. After starting her journalism career in 1942 (when my grandmother was just 17), Thomas is still at it, now as a columnist for Hearst Newspapers.
When Thomas began as a reporter, most American households didn’t have a television. Network newscasts didn’t exist yet, let-alone the 24-hour cable variety. And the Internet? Still decades away. The first bloggers weren’t even glimmers in their parents’ eyes yet. A tweet was something birds did.
At the speed technology moves today, most of us have a hard time imagining what things will be like in six months, let alone 10, 20 or 60 years. It’s impossible to predict what the media landscape will look like when I’m 89, should I make it to that age.
It can be overwhelming for PR professionals trying to keep up with new tools and trying to figure out what’s useful and what’s a fad. Should I create a blog for our organization? Is Twitter the right platform to share company promotions? Should we invest the resources in creating video? Is SecondLife still worth it? How do I reach customers on their mobile devices?
But adapting, learning and innovating is what makes us professionals. It’s what helps us grow and lays the foundation for long and successful careers. We don’t know what’s coming next, but those of us who are smart and talented will have no problem taking exciting new technologies and running with them — integrating them into our communications strategies or coming up with altogether new ones.
Because in the end, the fundamentals of communicating and interacting with people won’t change, regardless of what crazy new technologies are cooked up by the time we’re all 89. People respond to genuine messages no matter the medium. They want personal, meaningful connections and interactions. They don’t want to be lectured. They don’t want to have to sort through jargon to get to facts. They want to feel like people care about them.
The channels in which Helen Thomas’ stories appear today are far different from what they were her first day on the job in 1942. The channels we use for communicating will likely be just as different for us when we look back on our long careers — or even when we look back in five years’ time. But as long as we continue to challenge ourselves and our organizations and remember those communication fundamentals, we won’t be witnessing the technology passing us by. We’ll be able to harness that technology to help us do what communicators have done for decades: reach people.
Happy Birthday, Ms. Thomas.
Nice Post, Amy! And a Happy Birthday to Ms. Thomas! I like how you mandated that what makes us professionals is the fact that we adapt, learn and innovate. Like nature, if we do not follow this creed, we die professionally – plain and simple.
Can you imagine what Twitter may be like when/if we reach 89…?…Will there be a ‘new’ Twitter that’s taking over the same way…?…Like email took over the fax machine, as true professionals, we’ve gotta make ourselves accountable to not only learning new things, but doing our best to master them…and ultimately, innovating with these new tools.
Some great reminders, Amy! And a nice way to bring back the essentials into focus!
Thanks Narciso – I like the nature reference you made. Our curiosity and willingness to earn and adapt is what will keep us alive as professionals.
Really nice perspective, Amy. It’s easy to forget that we are not the true trailblazers here, and nice to be reminded of that. We are neither rocket scientists nor brain surgeons, but our passion is what will keep us thriving and helping others thrive, hopefully for many years to come. Thanks for sharing this.
It’s so easy to get caught up in the glitz of social media, but it could all be gone in a few months in favor of something else shiny and new. If we all want to have long and thriving careers, then out passion to learn and adapt is what will get us there!
Amy – this is such a great post. I have a hard time keeping track of what I ate last week, much less the trends that will probably be rampant by the time I’m 89. I can’t even wrap my head around it!
I love your point about the fundamentals of communication never changing – because they don’t. They evolve, sure. But the basics will always bet here for us to rely on.
Lauren – I can’t wrap my head around it either! But thankfully if we keep the fundamentals in mind then it shouldn’t matter how the tools change and evolve.
The tools don’t make the professional. The value of communicating, sharing, and community have been around since the birth of man. Sometimes we forget that while tools and channels change, the core values remain the same. We must adapt how we implement our values and talents, but our values and talents remain the core.
Great post Amy. Great reminder.
Thanks for stopping by David. You are starting your career just as Helen Thomas is winding down hers — the tools that are so common to you now at this early stage are eventually going to be remembered as archane or quaint years and years from now. Like you said, it’s all about maintaining the values of community and sharing, no matter what tools come to fruition someday. Those of us who are able to adapt will be the ones able to have long-lasting careers like Helen Thomas.
I was on a job interview recently and was asked what social media tactics I would implement to help their company. I said “I could name a whole bunch of fads, but it would be difficult for me to tell you offhand what exactly would work well for you. What’s most important is that whatever I would develop for you would do one of two things: Create a valuable dialogue between this company and your consumer or make it easier for that consumer to share interesting information about your company to others that’s of value to their lives. If you don’t accomplish that, then you might as well not do it because you won’t be successful.”
This post reminds me of that.
This post came from the heart, didn’t it? :)
You make a great point, and one that I think many good professional communicators have been trying to drive home for as long as social media technologies have been around — the methods might change but the foundation of good communication will always stay the same.
I do believe there’s more to the equation than just the tools and the fundamentals for delivery, though. People as receivers are inundated with massive amounts of information, more than ever before, and there’s an immediacy to the delivery now. That has changed our tolerance levels for what we will and won’t listen to, and I think that raises the bar for communicators and reiterates the importance of that communication foundation.
Great topic. And happy birthday to Helen!