“Big Data” seems to be in every other headline. While the term might be relatively new for most of us, the concept and the capability are extensions of the digital evolution of the past decade. Increasingly referred to as “web 3.0,” in hindsight it’s easy to see where we’ve been heading with the preponderance of web sites and digital tools that have become integral to marketing, advertising and public relations in just the last few years.

Big Data holds tremendous promise across a multitude of areas like scientific and health research, weather pattern analysis, population trends, fraud detection and many more, but to date, no sector has employed it like the Marketing industry.

Continue reading " Big Data and Policy Options– Food for Marketers’ Thought "

This is the exact time of the academic year when it really hits me…the future of the public relations profession truly is in good hands.

No, it’s not “exam fatigue”…exams at Curry College don’t start until next week. Nor have I (as many students in my early-ish morning classes suspect is all-too-often the case) over-caffeinated.

What it is, actually, is the result of the high that I’m on because today I’m presenting the Communication Department’s “Public Relations” award, as I do every year, to a PR Concentration student who, in my own less-than-humble opinion, absolutely personifies the concept of “public relations professional” with an emphasis on “professional.”

Continue reading " The Future Starts Today "

Recent international media stories have focused on the resurgence of terror in North America – notably the Boston Marathon bombing and, in my country, the pre-emptive discovery of an Al-Qaeda plot to attack a train route between Canada and the United States.

Terror can be unifying in its midst, yet polarizing in its aftermath – particularly when security hawks clash with civil libertarians about where to strike the balance between public safety and public liberty. For public relations professionals, such times are often reason for anxiety, as we tend to value dialogue and the quest for mutual understanding – all of which becomes more difficult when senseless acts defy explanation and fear fills the void.

Continue reading " Terror, communication and a wiser world: After Boston, three reasons society’s response to terror has changed "

The horrific event that shattered the global gathering of Boston Marathon participants and spectators brought into clear focus for me the vital importance of the meaning “together.”

As I monitored both social media conversations and traditional media coverage, one fact became abundantly clear: no matter who you are, where you are from, or in whom you believe…“no man is an island.”

This became abundantly clear as I noted in particular the conversations on Facebook of students past and present with and about their friends. They reached out, reassured, and reflected on the day’s events. A palpable sense of “community” permeated the day.

Continue reading " Times of Tragedy Bring Times of Community "

My students at Curry College hear this all the time from me: “Never stop learning.”

Most of them, having willingly (or not!) suffered through at least two or three of my PR-related courses, have figured out the best response is a gentle sigh and understanding nod of the head. They know they’ll hear it a dozen or more times in the course of the semester, so they humor me.

So it was with a gigantic sigh of satisfaction last night that I heard the guest speaker for our PR student association say exactly the same thing as part of her “how I got where I am and how I’ll get ahead” presentation.

Continue reading " Public Relations: A Lifelong Learning Commitment "