Silver Anniversary

Tomorrow, I will begin my 25th year of teaching public relations at the University of Washington. That makes me a "Millennial" of sorts. My teaching career has been influenced by the changes that have come to our society and lifestyle in the 1990's and 2000's. No more faxing in late assignments or having trouble with the IBM Selectric.

Now, I look at my phone more often  than my watch. I send announcements and updates from my phone or laptop.Staying on the cutting edge is a full time job and the students don't give you much leeway. Snapchat, Periscope, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook are not just words in my vocabulary.  I have accounts and I post  on them regularly.

There are six courses in the year-long Public Relations curriculum and I've taught them all, more than once, in my tenure at UW.  Thank goodness you do still need to be able to write in order to succeed in this business and there is always something to learn about writing.

Six program administrators have come and gone during my 25 years and they've ranged in temperament and approach from Mr. Chips to Principal Vernon in the Breakfast Club and even Cameron Diaz in Bad Teacher. Somehow the program has survived and been very successful.  We've turned out over 700 graduates during my time here and they have ended up in many far flung places in some very interesting jobs. The two key communications people from FEMA during the OSO Landslide, both were in the program. Some of the media types who have come over to have a look at this side of the communications business have stayed...while some have gone back (scared them, I'm sure).

I'm still teaching two of the courses, one in the fall and one in the winter. The fall course is about the news media and it gives me a chance to bring out the wonderful examples that "West Wing" showed us on the small screen. The trials, tribulations and successes of a public relations person have never been more clearly portrayed. Aaron Sorkin is a masterful writer and a hero of mine. He was at his best on WW. The program concluded its run in 2006 but the situations, examples and wisdom of building relationships with the media are even more true today than they were back then.

One of the actors from the show recently said he had just bingewatched (that's a word now, according to Webster) House of Cards. He made the comparison by saying that West Wing, which was based on the Clinton White House, made many young people want to go into government work.  House of Cards, rooted in the Bush years and today's congressional turmoil, is making the up-and-comers want to avoid government or political work at all costs.

Regardless, these classes are very practical.  We bring in people who are working in the jobs we're talking about. We use real world cases and we bring the business of effective communications to life. When I was asked to be on the advisory board to develop the curriculum, I had no thought of teaching. When the progsram was completed and UW said they would need someone to teach these courses, I decided to give it a try. Now 25 years later, when the first hint of fall hits the air, I get a rush thinking about going back to school. Teaching is a great outlet for me. Education is a gift that keeps on giving. It's exciting to think that I and the students can keep on learning together for years to come.

Joining the club...

The invitation to be a university commencement speaker is an honor. At first, it sounds like fun but then quickly it becomes a quite formidable task.  This spring, I was invited to address the hundreds of University of Washington continuing education graduates, along with hundreds more family members and friends who filled the field house to celebrate the completion of their programs.

I was especially pleased to speak this year because it gave me the opportunity to thank my teaching mentor over the past 25 years, retiring Vice Provost Dave Szatmary. He is a legend in academic circles across the country and his counsel has made my tenure as senior instructor and advisory board member a very fulfilling part of my life.

As I began to collect my thoughts, I realized that I was joining a pretty exclusive club. Even the President of the United States is a commencement speaker. How could I possibly compete with his thoughts and views? And then, there are the many other influentials out there, preaching to a new wave of world-changers and trying to dispense good advice...pretty daunting, indeed.

Google was my first piece of research and there at the top of the list was the New York Times annual poke at commencement speakers. 

“Mostly what you should know is that you’re part of America’s greatest generation, our fastest growing export, our newest achievement in the nation that gave birth to freedom, jazz and Upworthy. That’s right: Starting today, you’re proud members of the commencement speech industrial complex.

“What you say in the next eight minutes has the ability to move the world, to be spammed into inboxes around the globe, to define you in the eyes of millions. Don’t let anybody tell you this isn’t true, because you have the opportunity that your ancestors never dreamed of: to be more popular than cat videos,” it said

More popular than cat videos! Wow! Clearly, composing a commencement speech is a challenge. I quickly decided that now was not the time to “wing it”. Good solid advice seemed safe.  Keep it personal. Talk about what you know. Write it down and practice. My thoughts began to gel.

Jane talked me out of the attempt at humor where I would tell the students that they were lucky not having to pay $38 for a wrist band to stand in line and hear my speech like hundreds of people two blocks away who were doing just that while waiting to get a signed copy of Hillary’s new book. On second thought, I decided I was the lucky one because the students came to graduation instead of choosing to stand in Hillary’s line.

I also received a number of nay votes on my attempt at being current by referencing Snapchat, the latest online photo site. The blank stares told me that it may be working for some people (much younger than me, I’m sure) but clearly not my crowd.

Finally, it was obvious that I should stick to the basics, no jokes. Don't try to be Tony Robbins (There's only one). Find a few memorable quotes, offer some good advice, congratulate them on their success and then sit down. I had to smile when a cheer from my students rose out of the crowd as I was introduced. It gave me the quick moment of relief I needed before I began my talk.

Personally connecting with each of my students as they received their certificates was heartwarming. And the unfurling of the 12^th Man banner with my name on it that they had prepared and signed was definitely a highlight of the evening. Because of my long association with the University of Washington on so many levels, I have grown a great affinity for the school and, thanks to UW, I’m now a proud member of the commencement speakers club. In the end though, it’s about the students. Having even a small effect on shaping their lives is the greatest reward of all.

Here are a few edited portions of my address. (I made it in under 10 minutes…even the President couldn’t do that!) I was honored to be part of the ceremony and, frankly, I think it went pretty well...but I'll leave that judgement up to those who heard it.

Lifelong Learning is the essence of Professional and Continuing Education programs. Most of you are here today because you wanted to learn more.  That's true for me as an instructor, as well. Through teaching and mentoring over the past 25 years, I have also continued to learn. Learn about people. Learn about new trends. Learn about a whole new generation entering the marketplace and changing it. That’s a very special gift to be given.

I was not initially trained to be a teacher. I was trained to write.  Being an English major prepares you for anything or nothing at all, depending on what you choose to do with it. I’ve spent most of my life learning to do new things. It’s sometimes a challenge and sometimes rewarding, but it’s always exciting and never dull.

In one of the classes I teach, we talk about the power of three.  Research has proven that people can remember three pieces of information very well. I want to be certain to leave you with three thoughts to take home from today’s ceremony.

For alliteration’s sake, I’ve got 3 P’s for you:

Preparation is the first. A famous basketball coach named John Wooden had a sign on the wall by his desk that read “Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.” You are preparing now by completing a certificate program.  That’s a great first step.

Perseverance comes next. The Chinese philosopher Confucius is reported to have said, “It does not matter how slow you go, as long as you never stop.” I know things have always seemed most satisfying for me when the end of a journey is in sight. Keep on  keeping on, until then.

Finally, it’s passion that has brought us all here. We didn’t do this because we had to.  We did it because we wanted to.  Because it makes possible something that we care about. Author Irving Stone wrote in the Agony and the Ecstasy, “Talent is cheap. Dedication is expensive. It will cost you your life.” Try as hard as you can to do something you love. To live and work with passion will make the trip a much smoother ride.

I applaud you for being here tonight to receive your certificates. I am as proud of each of you as I am of my own students, for wanting to learn more.

In wrapping up, I’m reminded that I had the good fortune to meet the famous poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou, who passed away just a few weeks ago. While she was speaking to a group of young school children, she unknowingly gave me an important life lesson.  We were talking about writing when she said, “I don’t use big words. They just confuse us all. If a third-grader understands what we write, then our point is much better made.” I wrote that in my notebook, and have been guided by it throughout my entire career where writing is at the core.

So I leave you today with a simple three-word phrase that is a cornerstone of every great institution and every great life. Third-graders know this, and all of us should take it to heart. “Keep on learning”.

Thank you and congratulations.

It's Magic...

As usual, the State of Washington was in dire financial straits.  And so they were taking it out on the education system.  In fact, the School of Communications at the University of Washington was on the chopping block.  UW came to the professional community and asked a group of us to help put together a year-long certificate program to fill the need…and pay for itself.

We were just entering the 1990’s and the tech revolution was nothing more than a gleam in the eyes of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates.  A program was fashioned to fill the gap after undergrad and to help those wanting to make a career of communications be on the cutting edge of the business.

It was then that I was first invited to teach.  My previous experience did not really apply since I had taught recruits in the army how to fire a 105 mm howitzer cannon without losing a body part and I hadn’t thought about teaching in college until the opportunity presented itself.  I liked the idea that we could take a practical view in our classes.  A teacher friend said “Just talk about what you’re doing every day and how you do it.”  So I did.

That’s where we get to point of this essay.  It’s been twenty years since we started that program and the front page of today’s newspaper immediately brought back those memories.  I had followed Earvin “Magic” Johnson’s career since he played in the Big Ten for Michigan State.  The day that he announced he had the HIV virus was a tremendous shock to the sporting world.

I came to class that evening prepared to stick to the syllabus but the students just wouldn’t stop talking about it.  Magic’s news conference took a lot of courage.  We knew relatively little about this disease that was only beginning to ravage the world.  It seemed to be a death sentence at the time.  We just knew that we would have to watch him wither away.

Thank goodness that didn’t happen.  Magic is healthy and very much alive twenty years later.  But on that day, the students wanted to know how he could make such a public announcement of his condition.  What would this do to his career?  Would other players even want to be on the court with him?  Would it change the game of basketball?

The practical nature of our classes was embodied in that discussion.  Communicating with the public through the traditional media was still our primary focus.  CNN was a decade old.  Entertainment Tonight and Inside Edition were still in their infancy.  But cable television was leading the charge.  Think how the social media would have responded to that announcement, if made today.  In a much more jaded way, I’m sure.

I think Magic did the right thing…for the right reasons.  I said that back then and the students came to the same conclusion.  We used Magic as a case study in communicating for the next two weeks.  It came down to telling the truth and telling it immediately.  In the last couple of years, the number of public figures who have NOT followed that approach is astounding.  You’d think we would learn.  Here’s to a long life for Magic Johnson.  He’s been a role model for all of us.