Learning How to Relate Publically

Ok, so tonight is the third and final night of Public Relations School at the Leadership Institute in Arlington (Clarendon to be more specific). Hillary and I have been making the trek down there every afternoon, and it's been great (we've also been enjoying a little shopping and starbucks in the town center before the classes start)!

Each evening there are 2 or 3 lecturers (all but 1 of whom have been really interesting) who have a lot of experience in the field. While we've learned a lot of new information about communications and public relations, it's been great to be reassured that we've been doing a lot of things right.

I don't want to speak for Hillary (and for those of you who may not know, she's a friend of mine from church who happens to live right down the street, and she is the Communications Director for the Whisler Campaign I'm working for) but I feel like we both kind of jumped into this whole campaign/political world without any real training or experience. It's kinda like we jumped into the ocean and are learning to swim at the same time.

But hearing the speakers, we're realizing that we've been doing a lot of things right... which is SO encouraging! I mean, we're no Michael Phelps (yet) but we're certainly doing more than just treading water.

In the classes, we've talked a lot about current events (like Toyota, Tiger Woods, John Edwards and AT&T versus Verizon) which really helps make the principles of media relations and crisis management come to life. We've also talked about the different kinds of media (print, radio & tv) and how to approach each of them for your benefit. And call me a nerd, but I really miss school, so any chance for me to be in a classroom, learning something new is really exciting to me.

If you're interested, the Leadership Institute provides all kinds of training for conservative people in media/public relations fields, politics, journalism, etc. It's worth looking into, especially if you can get your boss to pay for it! (if you're familiar with the area, you'll notice that the Institute is on top of Clarendon Grill)