A couple of weeks ago, I was at a dinner in New York and realized I left my laptop at the office. It was 10 p.m., but I needed to go back and get it. We had just recently moved into our stunning offices at One World Trade Center, formerly known as the Freedom Tower. As I walked into our space on the 69th floor, I stopped dead in my tracks and looked out the window at the dazzling Manhattan skyline. It’s difficult to capture 20 years of memories into one moment, but that quintessential view did it.
Like anyone old enough to remember 2001, PR pros can recall 9/11 as if it was yesterday, including where they were and what they were doing when the worst terrorist attack in American history happened.
While the attacks on New York and Washington, DC, happened 20 years ago, some of the lessons from that horrible time are instructive today amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now that the Paralympic Games have reached their conclusion, here’s how the best brands have been going for gold – and what we can all learn from them.
It’s hard to believe it’s been 20 years since we opened our doors at Allison+Partners. I remember it like it was yesterday – the excitement, the nervousness and thrill of starting something new. Scott Allison and Andy Hardie-Brown had the notion of acquiring the West Coast offices of our previous agency, and Jonathan Heit, Matt Lorenz and I all jumped on board. 20 years later, we are all still here. What was a 20-person agency is now a global firm with more than 500 people from around the globe.
The impact of talent on a company’s ability to achieve its strategy can’t be overstated. Research from McKinsey & Company in 2017 suggested high performers can outproduce average performers by 50% to 800%, depending on the complexity of the work. Yet the same study noted some 82% of Fortune 500 executives don’t believe their firms recruit highly talented people.
We've all heard that the PR agency world is fast-paced, competitive and often lands on the most stressful jobs lists – along with doctors, surgeons, dentists, firefighters and police officers.
No, public relations is not life and death – it’s PR, not ER. It’s exciting, rewarding and fun. PR people are storytellers, and most importantly, industry professionals who want to help their clients tell their stories to their numerous stakeholder audiences.
