American dreams?

“Our success will be found in speaking directly to the American people about a rebirth of the American Dream for this generation and generations to come.” – Michael Steele, RNC chairman

Thank you Michael Steele for this week's inpsiration. Though he's referring specifically to the Republican party, I'd like to use his quote as a reflection upon the non-partisan American Dream regardless of party, political affiliation, race, religion etc. For those of you that know me, you probably also know my politics. But I don't want to use this blog as a forum to preach my own views; rather I'd like to use it to share my deep pride in being American and my belief that this country has acheived much for its people and the citizens of the world and will continue do so.

But America needs to wake up. She's in an identity crisis. Driven by homgenization and pop culture, government scandal and consumerism, Americans are in danger of losing sight of values we once held dear. We're wrapped up in "the man" and in the media; in regulations and in economic struggle. I fear that the American people face a bleak future if we -- you, me, and our peers -- don't take a serious internal look and reflect upon what values we hold dear and how we're going to keep them alive in today's America. Perhaps we don't all share the same values, but the bottom line is that we need some.

Read it again, and imagine you're the one saying it. Replace "the American people" with "our children." Pretty powerful, huh?

“Our success will be found in speaking directly to the American people about a rebirth of the American Dream for this generation and generations to come.”

I vote for creativity

Wednesday morning. Half-way through what is a slightly dull work week and all I want to do is drink my coffee and read my morning round of news. The Daily Beast looks interesting; WashingtonPost has lots of appealing headlines and my Twitter page is full of fun trivia.

Outlook opens. One e-mail in response to a memo I drafted for a client. It's a simple request: "tone down the subjective language." Hmm. AKA...translate the text into a dry, lifeless summary instead of trying to make the content lively and readable.

While I realize this is a business memo and does not require colorful language and vivid details, that simple request basically sums up the life that is PR for certain types of clients. I dare not call out those clients--they are the reason for my livelihood, afterall. But though I love handling their PR, if I could offer constructive criticism it would be this: you lack appreciation for vision and creativity. Public awareness campaigns could be significantly more successful, earned media could be plentiful and general outreach tactics could reach so many more lives if CREATIVITY was allowed. Instead it's stifled by political correctness, protocol, tedious approval processes and the absence of motivation. It causes these PR campaigns to fall short of inspiring, thus defeating their purpose altogether.

It also bores those of us expected to implement campaigns.

I know these campaigns are supposed to be cost-effective and conservative, but if that's what we're working with, don't ask for results that we can only acheive when you have a grand vision and you allow your consultants to "create."

I guess that's why my dream job is to be editor-in-chief of a travel or fashion magazine.