"Tradigital"

I learned a new word today: Tradigital.

Tradigital is a combination of traditional and digital media in public relations in today’s society. I was at a PR seminar given by Mickey Nall, the managing director at Ogilvy PR, where I learned about how to integrate traditional media with modern-day social media.

In all my classes about public relations, teachers, books and professionals have given me definitions about what PR is, but today I was really inspired by the definition Mr. Nall offered:

“Create masterful stories that raise awareness, shape and change opinions, influence all parties, build and connect communities.”

This statement created a positive definition about PR that I would like to implement in my career in the future, however, there are many other aspects that would define my career goals, but this one particularly offered a personal and emotional aspect for me.

Being successful as a PR practitioner in 2011 is about utilizing the tools and resources available in order to accomplish this idea of raising awareness, creating influence and building communities. As a student in 2011, I have been under the impression that newspapers and magazines are dead or dying, and this is a false notion. Although print media has had budget and staff cuts, the industry is simply undergoing evolution as a result of the emergence of “new” social media. It is our job as PR practitioners to find ways to work with this industry as it evolves.

Social media sites can help PR practitioners’ bridge gaps between clients and their publics. Social media can aid in answering questions, questions the client has about publics or questions publics have about a client. It is a cost effective and efficient to send messages, and all PR practitioners, old and new alike, should embrace the possibilities in social media. However, although I feel public relations practitioners should jump on the social media band wagon, I also feel it necessary to continue using traditional media as it is equally as important as social media; they come hand in hand.

After all is said and done I came away with three major aspects about PR:

1) Create awareness

2) Promote engagement

3) Induce action