Three Communications PRunks
I got tagged by Matthew Watson in one of those new-fangled internet MeMe things. Here's the original blurb about it...
"The idea’s simple. We’re asking you to list the three communicators living or dead who have most influenced your way of thinking professionally and perhaps personally too. Who do you think the real innovators are? Who’s been most responsible for kicking the industry forward? And just who are the communication PRunks?"
PR Punks - geddit? I had a long hard think about mine, along the personal route, and one name that kept coming back as someone who really started it all off for me, it turns out, isn't really involved in Communications at all. Sorry. So instead of 'big names that changed the world', here are three people who have affected my personal outlook in some way...
1) Rico Rodriquez
You've probably heard Rico's work even if you've not heard of him by name. At 14, I hadn't done either - I was making dodgy mixtapes of The Smashing Pumpkins, I thought I wanted to be an architect, and I considered the Bass Guitar to be my main instrument due to some questionable bookings I was getting with various steel-pan groups in Cardiff. Trombone was just, you know, a school thing. Rico's album 'That Man is Forward' changed all that. I still hadn't made the connection to The Specials, or Jools Holland, but I suddenly learned you could do amazing things with a trombone, and I discovered the world of Ska. I blindly joined a 'ska' band who turned out to be a 'ska-punk' (New York quote on ska: "that's funny. You mean like the nineties?") band, and pretty much everything that has happened to me since has resulted from that in some way. I still listen to his music fairly often and still get inspired by his horn lines.
I still to this day have not read one of his books from cover to cover, which is a situation that needs addressing urgently, but just his most famous quote; "The Medium is the Message" has stuck with me for the past few years while I've been working more in Communicative situations. He said that it is the "medium that shapes and controls the scale and form of human association and action."
'Our medium is our message - Union Communications should be as exciting and engaging as possible' was my campaign mantra for the 2005-6 Sabbatical Elections at USSU because of the simplicity of the idea that the intrinsic qualities of a medium defined the message within. McLuhan obviously went into great detail and expanded with examples and historical accounts, but for me, on a basic level, it was about considering your brief not just in terms of 'what slogan shall we use' but 'where shall we put it'. At the time, USSU were very good at just producing posters that got placed in the same spots every week, and flyers that never got given out. With my work at Sussex, and continuing as a Graphic Communications Student, I tried to always find the appropriate medium, be it festival-style laminates* for fresher's week, or cut-out and assemble perforated AGM flyers, or negotiating poster sites in better locations (just don't mention the publicity tower). In retrospect, I think it was probably the birth of my desire to go into Planning.
3) Russell Davies
His blog has been a guiding light to me over the past year or so, with just the right mix of industry-related insight and personal observations. Plus, it's always positive and always accessible. Interesting 2008 was a blast, and my 'always in beta' t-shirt has helped start some great conversations while I've been out here. His YouTube videos were good, but many of my favourites seem to have gone now (anyone remember 'draw a triangle'?). In retrospect, his discourse has probably led to the consolidation of my desire to go into Planning, along with a few other notable examples.
Phew. There we go. I wonder who the next three would have been, or who they'll be in, say, five years time when hopefully I'm on my way into a proper career and stuff. If I stick to the same motivation for choosing, I imagine they'll stay the same.
I can't think of anyone to tag, sorry. Hope I haven't broken anything.
*Ok so it wasn't all my idea, Paul Newton.
