by Sadie Hicks

As a public relations practitioner, one will come into contact with many individuals. This contact will often originate from some sort of work-inspired task. It is important to keep in mind when meeting people in the daily work routine that these individuals may become key to your success in the future. As the saying goes, “treat others as you wish to be treated” because you never know when you will run across them again, or might need their help.

After completing the Earth Day 365 campaign, it became evident that the relationships I made prior to and during the week of Earth Day 365 celebrations showed to be very beneficial. Several people that I worked with for the Earth Day 365 campaign or met because of the campaign, proved to be very useful to the success of Earth Day 365 events.

It is important to realize that a PR person cannot always just plan an event and expect it to be a success on its own. You should utilize relationships that have been made over time, because they can be beneficial to your client or organization.

Suzy Latare was a member of the Earth Day 365 committee. After the initial Earth Day meeting I did not expect to develop such a good working relationship with her. As the event was approaching, the campaign tactics needed inside perspective and professional polishing in regards to environmental content; Suzy proved to be an essential asset to the Innovative PR specialists and campaign success. She helped the Innovative PR team with any question that arose throughout the campaign. Without Suzy’s help tasks could’ve taken much longer and been much more difficult to complete, and might have lacked depth and sustainable expertise.

Another relationship that developed from the Earth Day 365 campaign was the one between Café Blackadder’s owner, Julie Kendall, and myself. I met her briefly at the beginning of the campaign to see if she would be interested in having her business participate with the Haute Trash Fashion Show in downtown Warrensburg. She declined and I went on to the next place not thinking much of it.

Later on the Innovative PR team decided to do more promotions for the Eco-Preneur Luncheon Panel by writing a feature release on Café Blackadder because Julie would be a speaker on the panel. I went into her café interview her for a feature release not knowing a whole lot about her or the café and left blown away by her efforts to be sustainable and run a sustainable business. I am now one of the Café’s biggest fans and recommend it to all of my friends. The newly developed relationship turned out to be beneficial for both Julie and I. I received really good content from her for my release and she received excellent publicity for her business. And now that Julie is aware of Earth Day 365 and its mission, she will continue to be an essential asset and contributor to its continued success

It is crucial to remember that relationships can be developed anytime and anywhere. It is always important to keep an open mind when meeting different people you come across, no matter how you meet them. Relationships often times become key to a PR person’s success with various tasks and often turn into opportunities to put your client in the spotlight. Managing and utilizing those relationships is all apart of a job in the public relations field. It is also why I love the PR profession so much!