Here I am, doing something I was honored to do….giving the keynote address at the East Central District of the Public Relations Society of America.

It was a great time and I was proud to be asked. I discussed Resilient5 and how brands can prepare themselves for uncertain times without trying (and failing) to predict the future. (More on Resilient5 here, as well as blog posts here and here.)

It was fun. I managed to work Thomas Jefferson, Mastadons, Dragons, Donald Rumsfeld, Jim Collins, Steven Covey and Officer Big Mac into the show, so it was a full mind-dump of arcane (I prefer eclectic) references.

It was also well received for which I am grateful. Also grateful to Mark Luetke, Sarah Bednarski, Emily Barry-Zarecki and Kim Sidwell for watching my dress rehearsal and providing valuable guidance.

I found every part of the conference fascinating. We also learned about AI, websites, and measurement, as well as hearing from the CEO of PRSA.

More on the AI in my next post. I wanted to talk a little bit about what I said at the end of my presentation.

Look, the world is unpredictable and chaotic. Always has been and especially is now. And AI goes ON TOP of that.

We Need Resiliency. NEED.

The only answer to that unpredictability is to build resiliency into our organizations by design. We need strong relationships with all of our external and internal stakeholders to ensure that when hard times hit, we are aligned and understand our common purpose. You can’t build reputation—i.e. trust and affinity—in the midst of a crisis.

The Solutions Are In Our Toolbox

You ask most people what we do, and the pie chart looks like this.

Here, in contrast, is the official PRSA canonical definition of what we do.

As Communicators, This is Our Time

See what I did there? Our times, our challenging and uncertain times, are calling on our organizations to build relationships with our publics (internal and external stakeholders) that are mutually beneficial. Not exploitive relationships, but beneficial ones.

And communications is at the heart of answering that call. By understanding, teaching, listening, and telling stories, we can help create resilient organizations. From there, we are helping build more resilient families and communities, inside our organizations but also with our vendors and customers.

Linda Thomas Brooks, the CEO of PRSA, told us that “communicators would rule the world.” I wish I was that certain. But, there is no doubt in my mind…we are the ones who know the way.