“Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
– Novelist George Santayana
This past week, we participated in a panel discussion to talk to high school students on the present and future of the communications industry, and how to get involved in it. We came away impressed with their overall knowledge, and recognized some larger points at hand.
Of the students there, None (that’s None with a capital “N”) read a newspaper on any consistent basis – no big surprise, right?
But, only a handful said they even read news online (with all deference to Miss Spears) – and of that small group, most of them said it was because it was an ongoing assignment in social studies class.
A few years ago, what set you apart in this industry was your ability to communicate through new media techniques. Now, that ability has become standard (almost mundane).
Personal choice and information avoidance go hand-in-hand.
The skill that will now set companies apart is a combination of old media standards and new media techniques to create, what we call “Versatile Communications.”
Right now, and in the foreseeable future, if an organization is looking for a communications solution, they must understand that the people in this industry that can help them the most are those that prepare for the future, understand the present, but most importantly, know how to properly evolve from the past. This means remembering how past predecessors became successful.
That is why being social has never been more important. The people that will make up your future audience has never known life without email, most will forget that they never had Facebook.
We are at the intersection of the next generation of communications , and need to learn from our recent past to win and grow with it.
