Summer.
Most people spend it on vacation or in front of the TV. Not me. I spent the whole summer in Washington, D.C. performing intern duties (filing, collating, sifting through data, etc.) for the National Education Association. For all the pain of walking 30 minutes to work in Mid-Atlantic summer heat, I got to work with some great people. Miguel Gonzalez definitely fits into that category.
On top of having earned his Master's in Public Policy from American University, Miguel has also been working in the PR field for 15 years. He has worked in areas ranging from non-profit to government, and now he excels as a spokesperson and Senior Press Officer, Public Relations for the National Education Association. He leads the Association’s national communications efforts on major advocacy and public engagement campaigns such as the re-authorization of the No Child Left Behind Act, the 2008 presidential campaign, and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
Miguel says he enjoys his job because it combines his three passions, "policy, politics, and public relations."
This kind of experience means that Miguel has a lot of knowledge to pass on to the next generation of PR professionals.
Some people want to deny the slow death that the print media is suffering through, but those people are probably going to be left behind. Miguel is not one of them. He realizes that it is time for PR professionals to embrace the new technology or perish.
"As the media landscape changes (more and more newspapers are shutting down, others are curtailing coverage beats, etc.,) public relations professionals in the 21st century have to be flexible and adaptable and look for creative ways to contribute to the mission of the organization and to the bottom line," he says.
"A public relations professional in the 21st century needs to have a solid mastery of basic skills like writing, proofing, editing; coupled with the strategic vision to look around the corner and assess emerging issues; and understand how to utilize social media tools like Facebook, Twitter, and others to do your job well."
As for career advice, Miguel reminds us all that we should never settle.
"Diversify—work in politics, campaigns, Capitol Hill, private sector, understand how other disciplines work. This will enhance your experience and bring value-added to the organization."
True words of wisdom.
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