The Next 50 Years

Welcome to the next 50 years of public relations — not that I expect most of us will be in PR for another half century.

On the other hand, it's not impossible. The guy in the office next to mine, Al Golin, this year celebrates his 50th anniversary with the company that bears his name. That is truly a remarkable achievement.

At GolinHarris, we are proud to be part of an organization that has been continuously successful for half a century. I believe our success is testament to the principles that Al built this business on — honesty, integrity and trust.

It also represents our ability not only to change with the times, but to anticipate those changes and shift course before other people do. I guess that qualifies as "fixing it before it breaks" as Al often advises.

Al has reminded me many times that he actually once worked in a world without color TV, cable, cell phones, email, text messaging and the internet. Where he actually typed press releases then walked them over to the newsrooms and had face-to-face conversations with reporters. Imagine that!

It doesn't take a news alert to figure out that right now we're living through a time of enormous change. Charting a course through those changes is a challenge for every PR professional.

In 1950, the science editor of the New York Times attempted to predict the world a half century into the future. What he saw in the year 2000 were helicopter pads on every roof, cars fueled by alcohol, food made from sawdust, home interiors formed entirely from rubber, and a single use for computers — predicting the weather.

What that article demonstrated is the inherent futility of trying to predict the future, especially at the current breakneck pace of change.

This inability to see what's around us isn't just confined to "the good old days." In the early 1990's, a major Wall Street conference invited leading technology and entertainment executives to paint a picture of their collective future. Speaker after speaker raved about the era of the television set-top box.

None of them — not one — mentioned the internet.

Against this track record, I have no illusions about our talents to look into a crystal ball. But at GH, we have made educated extrapolations about where our business is headed. And we have developed a suite of new products to prepare ourselves and our clients for the future.


Fred Cook
President & CEO