The November long weekend was the last hurrah for many. At least in North America, the lower temperatures cause many citizens to reflect and do a little introspection. November is also a time when mid-sized cities, such as Edmonton, are doing major infrastructure updates before their citizens are in the clutch of the winter solstice (December 21).
One has only to promenade down Harbin Road/102nd Avenue in Edmonton’s core to see dramatic changes. This month, workers carefully dismantled the city’s architecturally stunning Harbin Gate, which was removed from its foundations to be moved to an Edmonton storage facility. The edifice has stood there since its completion in 1987.
So what does the dismantling of the Harbin Gate have to do with public relations?
Quite a lot, in fact. Both structures stand as gateways to understanding. The Harbin Gate and its surrounding Chinatown symbolize one of the largest populations of Asian immigrants in Canada.
In like manner, the field of public relations represents many individual practitioners working in government, government-funded agencies, as well as a legion of private companies. Just as the Harbin Gate is being taken apart to be reassembled later, so too is Public Relations being analysed by thousands of public relations practitioners worldwide. Every new day brings to opportunity to focus and adjust one’s role in an organization.
Yet with so many types of public relations going on, from consumer affairs and non-profit work to public affairs, there is no one job title business communicators agree on.
Perhaps the best answer on how to identify oneself is to recall the words of a MacEwan University professor who was addressing about a hundred Introduction to Sustainable Business students in the first year of my program.
“Go towards your strengths,” she advised. Public Relations is a diverse and exciting field. The best advice PR grads can take is to emphasize what they love. Is it social media monitoring or preparing media advisories or news releases? Public relations advisors need to think of themselves much like the venerable Harbin Gate: be intricate in detail, while remaining open-minded and flexible enough to have your writing dismantled, and even rearranged.
Many companies have their own Harbin Gate, whether it’s one person or a whole team of people. This professional body acts as a protective cloak for all manner of companies, defending the corporation against potential liabilities to the firm’s public reputation. Even though the future of Edmonton’s Harbin Gate is unknown, there is no question about the bright future of public relations.
Photo by LARRY WONG / POSTMEDIA
Blog submitted by Nick Puhjera, Dip. P.R. Nick is a recent graduate of the public relations program at MacEwan University. He worked as reporter/photographer for the Wetaskiwin Times Advertiser after studying journalism arts at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, and English literature at the University of Alberta.