Last week, CooperKatz had the opportunity to participate in the Annual Job Fair co-organized by the Howard University Johnson School of Communications and The Council of Public Relations Firms.  While we’ve always found these types of networking events to be fertile ground for the exchange of resumes, business cards and conversations withcandidates ‘putting on their best,’ they’ve also provided us valuable, real-time insight on what’s actually happening out there relative to young people on the job market – both now and into the near future.

There’s no disputing that innovations in technology, and specifically those surrounding the Internet, have driven seismic shifts in the business of public relations. So who better to address the 2010 Member Dinner of the Council of Public Relations Firms than Vinton (Vint) Cerf, popularly known as one of the ‘fathers’ of the Internet? 

Cerf, who co-designed the TCP/IP protocols used to develop the underlying architecture of the Internet (distinct from Tim Berners-Lee, credited with inventing the World Wide Web), is currently known for his role at Google as VP and Chief Internet Evangelist. In a discussion moderated by former Los Angeles Times editor and trustee at the Newseum, Shelby Coffee III, Cerf covered a lot of ground, to say the least. PR agency executives in attendance heard a brief history lesson of how the ‘net as we know it came to be, why packets are metaphorically akin to postcards and even work Cerf is tackling to help NASA establish an interplanetary network to support real-time communications between far-flung equipment and space missions.

Heady stuff, this.  But a few points stood out to me as both a member of the public relations industry and a citizen of this specific moment in time (it’s Google’s world after all, we just live in it…). 

Last week I was invited to participate with a client in a week-long gathering of their PR practitioners from around the world. The company, Amway (for American Way), began in Ada, Michigan in 1959 as a model of entrepreneurialism and free enterprise. It now conducts 90 percent of its business outside of the U.S. Over those 51 years, it built itself into a diverse, multicultural company that operates local businesses in approximately 80 markets around the world. This is very different from a U.S. company that opens a few offices around the world headed by executives sent from HQ.

So how did my experience differ from a meeting of U.S. colleagues and what did I learn in the process?  Read on to see…

Is it weird to say that I had a great rejection call today? Well I did. Allow me to explain…

When it comes to new business, no batting average is perfect. You can have a stellar team, amazing ideas and great chemistry with a prospective client and still come out in second place. And in other cases…well, sometimes you just strike out big-time. 

I was speaking with a friend recently regarding the passing of author J.D. Salinger.  His initial comment – “How would anyone ever know?” – was both facetious and understandable. Notorious for guarding his privacy, Salinger is the opposite of many clients for whom we work – organizations eager to share their expertise and build their presence in their respective industries and among key constituencies.