That was kind of a long time ago.
Many moons ago, a middle-aged PR guy got laid off from a job.
It was 2008, and the market was a little soft for that dude — after all, the financial crisis was wailing along, and the best two options were to crawl under a table and cry, or start a business. Guess which one I did?
Yes, Communication AMMO was born in April of 2008, and one Sean D. Williams launched into the world of small business. Nine years later, I joined True Digital Communications, and this past summer, realized a life ambition and became a full-time professor here at Bowling Green State University’s School of Media and Communication.
One of the things that has been percolating around again is the “what should we call ourselves” question. I tackled that some years ago in a past (now lost) blog, but I still remember the basic outline.
- Who cares? Our “clients” don’t.
- People who don’t like to say PR are narrowly focusing PR on media relations – the Spin Doctors in popular parlance still.
- Corporate Communications (plural) reduces us to activities rather than processes
- Strategic Communication is good, but the IT department often claims that term
- Other terms have mixed meanings too, so there isn’t a good answer.
Something like that.
I still don’t know, but as I’ve worked with the Institute for Public Relations Measurement Commission for a really long time now, I’m still partial to PR as the umbrella term. I know the marketing folks want to subordinate us under their realm; I’m a little bit internet famous for the phrase, “All marketing is communication, but not all communication is marketing.” I like Integrated Communication, but only without “marketing” in the middle of it.
So what?
It’s just a long preamble to explaining why my blog is coming back. I’m not only a prof, I’m also the coordinator for BGSU’s online MA in Media and Communication with an emphasis in Strategic Communication. So there’s still a marketing impulse behind my taking up the electronic pen/sword.
In the main though, I’ve just missed writing stuff for myself and sharing it around. So in 2020, expect to hear more from me. And if you have some thoughts about what you’d like me to cover, drop them in the comments and let me know.
Thanks for reading all the way to the bottom. As you can see, I still flirt with TLDR, and somewhat NOT apologetically!
Twitter: @commammo
