Bryan Haviland
Executive Vice President
With more than 25 years of corporate and agency experience in executive, marketing and employee communications, and media relations, Bryan heads client services and serves as a management supervisor. He oversees several large agency accounts, leading the agency's Professional and Financial Services industry group. Before joining Fahlgren Mortine, Bryan held senior communications management positions at Nationwide Insurance and was an environmental communications manager at Dow Chemical. Bryan has led several Silver Anvil Award programs and is a member of the PRSA Counselors Academy.

By Bryan Haviland, Executive Vice President

Holding steady.

Signs of the drawn-out recession have hit my inbox all year long.  A wide range of resumes and cover notes abound, some from professionals I’d love to recommend as hires, but most from those not so polished or qualified.  Among the more interesting: an impressive resume from a Criminology major (did she really think we needed her skill set?), and my creative favorite - a right shoe in a box with a note that said “Just wanted to get my foot in the door. Interview me and I’ll send you the left one.”

A recent article in The Wall Street Journal entitled “Only The Employed Need Apply” makes some interesting points about the buyer’s market mentality of employers.  The article points out that many employers look at the employed who have survived the recession as “first string” - the most valuable candidates for any openings they may have.  So, instead of plowing through dozens of resumes from would-be applicants, they are conducting “guerrilla recruiting” tactics and finding those strong performers who are working for competitors or similar organizations.

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By Bryan Haviland, Executive Vice President

At a recent IPREX meeting, I heard a presentation from Tom Fiedler, the new Dean of the Boston University School of Communication, who addressed the group and its questions about how to best connect with people in the age of instant Internet communication. My takeaways from the presentation included:

1. The Internet as the Florence of our time.

   Just as the worlds of art, politics and news were altered dramatically in places like Florence during that period we call the Renaissance, Fiedler observes no one knew at the time they were experiencing the Renaissance. Such could very well be the case with the Internet. In less than two decades, the World Wide Web medium has changed the way we express ourselves, do business, and engage one another.

2. A “cocooning effect” has surrounded consumers with their own self-selected content sources.

   Fiedler used the cocooning term to describe how people surround themselves only with those information sources in which they find interest or trust. And there are so many news sources to choose from. One observation he made was that his students get more of their political affairs knowledge from Stephen Colbert or The Daily Show than from traditional news media such as NPR or the mainstream networks. My conclusion is that the burden of finding “truth” has shifted from the traditional media (can you say Walter Cronkite?) to consumers themselves. Consumers can now review content from a variety of perspectives (if they choose) before drawing their own conclusions about an issue or topic. And with access to today’s technology, it’s certainly easier for them to do that now than ever before.

3. It’s only taken a few years for the word “texting” to become a verb.

   The prolific rise of social networking has an immense potential for shaping how we think. Since people receive information instantly and in a variety of forms over the web and through networking sites, Fiedler pointed out Boston University no longer isolates its communications majors within the old disciplinary silos of Journalism, Radio/TV, or Public Relations. Instead, BU students are schooled in all so that new media skills can be applied to their chosen discipline.

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By Bryan Haviland, Executive Vice President

I’ve been in the public relations field for 27 years. By most of society’s standards for success, that’s a good start on a lifetime career. I like to joke to colleagues in the profession that I’m living proof you can raise three kids through early childhood on a one-income PR salary (and major sacrifices from your spouse).

I’ve worked for major corporations and highly regarded PR agencies. I’ve counseled important business executives and government leaders. Engaging, thought-provoking work. A perk or two on occasion. Always ethical. Adds up to a respectable living, right?

So, why is it, after all these years, that I still feel a little defensive - and clearly in wheel re-invention mode - when I get the question from neighbors, my mother, or even my own children:

“Just what is it that you do? What is public relations?

Each of us in the profession get this question and know there isn’t enough time to explain (or real interest from the questioner in hearing) what we really do for a living. So, we mentally cobble together a personal elevator story. We each have to rely on our own definitions because we all know the textbook definitions of PR just don’t work for those outside the marketing or communications professions.

I know this is a topic that has gotten PRSA’s attention in the past and, like old luggage, just won’t go away. Recently, during a conversation I had with Leslie Backus, national PRSA Board member, I mentioned that I needed to write a book someday about the very unique nature of the public relations profession, and what it takes to make a rewarding career from it.

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