A Toast to PRSA’s Diamond Anniversary
Posted on Oct. 25, 2022 / Subscribe 0
By Kevin Petschow
With the 75th Anniversary of the Public Relations Society of America well underway this year and culminating with “PRSA Day” on Jan. 17, 2023, the following is a retrospective of sorts on my career in public relations and the role PRSA played in shaping me.
This marks my 36th year as a member of PRSA with our chapters in Chicago and Tampa. Like many in the profession, I started out as a journalist. That changed in the mid-1980s when I accepted my first job in public relations with GTE, a national telecommunications service provider. Since then, I have enjoyed working in public relations and supporting many other known and unknown global and national brands in the business-to-consumer and business-to-business markets for information technology, software, and mobile/wireless communications companies.
It wasn't until I joined PRSA that I gained a better understanding of modern, strategic and ethical public relations practices, services, and standards, and how to apply this knowledge to my work. After all, I was a journalist who accepted a corporate communications job with GTE Airfone, a Chicago-based company offering air-to-ground telephone service on commercial and private airplanes, because of a lack of full-time sports writing jobs available to me in my hometown of Chicago.
Membership in PRSA initially brought me in contact with other Chicago-based professionals through chapter meetings, social events and educational offerings, and then broadened to national PR pros via PRSA conferences, committees, and workgroups. Those experiences as a volunteer greatly expanded my comprehension and understanding of public relations and its role in modern society. In addition, I met and worked with smart PR professionals from various disciplines in markets from coast to coast; many remain close mentors and colleagues to this day.
As the public relations profession evolves, driven mainly through unfettered expansion of digital forms of communication, I’m confident PRSA will continue to thrive and provide members with the tools and resources to keep pace and succeed.
The past few years have proven the rise and strategic value our profession provides due to a global health pandemic, racial unrest, political campaigns, and economic upheavals. Public relations continue to play an important role in helping organizations and companies communicate, build and maintain trust with their stakeholders, and improve their cultures.
I am a better PR pro thanks to what PRSA has given me and thousands of other communicators over the past three quarters of a century. I invite you to join me and raise a toast to PRSA as we celebrate our diamond anniversary and wish us well in the next 75 years of existence.
Let’s celebrate on November 8
Finally, I welcome you to join me and other Tampa Bay chapter members on Nov. 8, 2022, at our 8th annual Prestige Awards Ceremony where we recognize the outstanding work done by those in the public relations profession.
Kevin Petschow serves as treasurer and board of director for the PRSA Tampa Bay chapter. When not volunteering his time to support PRSA and other causes, Kevin serves as president and chief storytelling officer for KRP Marketing Communications, an independent public relations consultancy serving global brands in the information technology, software and services, and mobile communications industries.
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