My first director’s position as a public relations pro was as the Sports Information Director at Georgetown College, a small, NAIA-affliliated, liberal arts college in Kentucky. While my job was primarily to publicize the school’s athletics athletics teams, being a sports information director is so much more than PR. You are the official historian, web master, graphic designer, photographer, statistician, event manager and sometimes facilities supervisor on top of the media and public relations duties. While each institution has varying degrees of staffing, support and responsibilities relative to those areas, the smaller the school, the more responsibility the SID has.
Ever notice that there are always two camps: One that wants to split things down the center and be all things to all people, and the other that is radically on one side or the other sucking down the Kool-Aid with a giant straw?
As of late I have found myself trying to be closer to the center, saying such things as you need an integrated marketing approach. I think that is a mistake. I should be asking, “What marketing venue or platform are you going to stop doing, before you start doing social media marketing?: The best way is NOT an integrated marketing approach. Businesses simply cannot add more things. More marketing equates to spending more money. A more appropriate question would be, “What are we going to stop doing in order to allow room for worn out ways to pass and new ways to emerge?”