IABC July 2010 Member Spotlight

(Reprinted from the original e-newsletter)

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

-excerpt from poem “IF” by Rudyard Kipling,1899

This poem written over 100 years ago is one of the most popular in history, particularly among British. Rudyard Kipling’s reflections of stoicism links ethics to logic to maintain positive and even keeled emotions. In communications, we are often challenged with ethical decisions as we have seen during the recent oil spill in the Gulf. Expert communication practitioners have to rely on clear and unbiased thinking to tackle complex issues of today. It is even more challenging to maintain a superior skill set when an industry has undergone radical transitions. Lucrative audiences moving from traditional venues to online has forever changed the way target groups are reached. Read how one IABC/Atlanta member has survived the changing landscape in his career over the years, adjusting his skills and attitude along the way. He went from rejecting industry awards to embracing them and evolving from the comforts of traditional media to employing new media and social media tools.

Name: Charles Hayslett
Title: CEO
Company: Hayslett Group

When did you join IABC/Atlanta: Active in 1980

“Why I Joined IABC”
My first recollection of being involved with IABC goes back to 1980. I had left the old Atlanta Journal to join Cohn & Wolfe, which was then the largest PR firm in Atlanta. One of my clients was Georgia-Pacific, which was moving its headquarters from Portland, Oregon, to Atlanta. My primary client contact at GP was a fellow named Bill Lovett. Bill was heavily involved in IABC and pulled me into it. Some years later I managed the employee communications organization at BellSouth, and members of my staff and I were involved with IABC during that period as well. When we hung out our firm’s shingle in 1994, a great deal of our early work was internal and organizational communications, and we were involved with IABC pretty much from day one.

I joined IABC for all the usual reasons, networking, an opportunity to get to know colleagues in the business, access to educational opportunities and resources. The truth is, I feel a little funny being interviewed for this because I’ve never been as visible a member as I could be. That said, I value the organization, and we’ve been happy to support it over the years. I can say without hesitation that we’ve gotten good value from our involvement. We’ve developed a number of long-term business relationships with other IABC members, and I know it’s guided the professional development of a number of our team members.

“My Volunteer Roles”
Probably the hardest thing IABC ever made me do was put on a tux and let them take my picture for a Golden Flames promotion. I also served as a guinea pig for one of the first podcasts IABC ever did. I have no idea if anybody heard it, but I did it! I’ve also made presentations to the UGA student chapter and on crisis communication for a monthly programming luncheon. Probably the most important thing I’ve done is encourage firm members to be active in IABC. Over the years we’ve had a good number of folks who have been very active with the Atlanta chapter in various ways, including serving as board members and even a couple of presidents – Johanna Blood and Thad Slaton. Overall, Hayslett Group has supported IABC/Atlanta for over a decade with sponsorships, services and members who want to make a difference.

“My IABC Experience”
I’ve already alluded to some of the benefits – networking opportunities, professional development, business relationships with other members. One benefit beyond that is I think our involvement in IABC has helped raise our firm’s profile within the communications industry in Atlanta. It has absolutely contributed positively to the development of our brand among our colleagues and peers in the business. That’s one important benefit. Another has to do with the awards process. To tell you the truth, I used to be one of those people who looked down their nose at industry awards. I wasn’t sure they were worth the investment of time and energy. But I’ve done a complete 180 on that. I can tell you from experience that prospective clients gain a certain confidence from knowing that you’ve been recognized by your peers for the top media relations program or Web site or speech or whatever in a given year. I’m very proud of the fact that in over 15 years in business we’ve won more than 100 awards, including about 50 from IABC. We display them proudly throughout our offices, and they’re among the first things clients and prospects see when they come through the doors.

And finally, what could be more beneficial than an organization that has helped groom, educate, engage and excite my staff members? IABC has provided them with opportunities to try and master new skills, practice management and leadership techniques, and work on projects they might not have had access to in our daily work at HG. IABC/Atlanta has helped make them stronger employees and confident individuals.

“The IABC & Industry Future Outlook”
I think it’s difficult to overstate the importance of the whole bubbling stewpot of new media and social media. I think people who know me will tell you that I’ve always been out on the bleeding edge when it comes to using evolving technology in our business. When we opened for business in 1994, we were determined to make top-end computing and communications technologies a strategic advantage for us, and we did. I think that commitment to understanding and using state-of-the-art technology, whether hardware or software or web-based, has been a part of our culture all along.

But I’ll have to confess that with the rise of Facebook and Twitter and other social media, I had a bit of an old guy moment. I wasn’t sure I got it. I had to make myself join Facebook so that I could learn my way into it and understand how it worked and why it was important. I’ve done that on Facebook and Twitter and with some other sites, but this whole field is evolving so rapidly that it’s very difficult to keep up and know what’s important and what’s not. As a firm, I think we’ve done a good job of institutionalizing that knowledge, particularly with our younger staff members, but it’s pretty clear that that whole field holds huge opportunities and challenges for our industry. I think IABC has played a great role over the past few years in separating the wheat from the chaff and helping its members understand and focus on the right tools within this emerging area of communications.