Claim your space

PRINZ conference this week had the theme ‘changing mindsets’ supported by an eclectic group of speakers from inside and outside public relations and communication management. Most memorable for me was Jackie Clark, founder of The Aunties, a charity supporting women affected by domestic violence that meets needs with love. She spoke about her work, her experience, what keeps her going and what we should be doing to change things. She commanded the room, made us think, made us laugh and challenged us all. An amazing woman, awarded the Queen’s Service Medal and voted Supreme Winner of the 2018 New Zealand Women of Influence awards. Minds were definitely changed.One of her instructions has stayed with me. ‘Claim your space’, she urged. An instruction that’s been rattling around in my mind ever since – because generally, as a profession, we really don’t claim our space at all. We apologise for being here – even though what we do has immense value. We laugh off the worst portrayals of who we are and what we do – even though they are frequently offensive, untrue and often misogynistic. We allow ourselves to be seen through the lens of others – an ancient black-and-white image from another time, edges frayed by misunderstanding and misconception. All of which is not without irony given what we do – and what we do I’ve explained in another post.How then do we claim our space? Recognising and championing what we do has to be the first step. Once again at a conference I found myself gnashing my teeth in frustration as some speakers (who hadn’t done their homework) pushed us into the media relations box and closed the lid. Digital divas, behavioural economists, media measurement gurus lined up to talk to their own imagined version of who we are and what we do. I know the reasons why this happens and it’s a conversation-for-conversion I’ve been having for most of my professional life – but the time really is now for us to claim our professional space. To do this successfully we need to be backed by our associations, like PRINZ, like CIPR and of course Global Alliance. We build the relationships necessary for organisations to keep their licence to operate. This involves effective communication, good behaviour and a developed understanding. Simple, easy to understand. Tough to do but we do it well. We could let the misapprehensions persist or we can help people understand that it’s more than order taking, word processing, content creation. Much more. Professional development will help. Being a lifelong learner will help. Most of all it takes courage to recognise who we are, stop apologising, reset the picture and claim our space – before it is occupied by someone else.