REMARKS TO THE HCPRA PR SPA

Good afternoon. It’s great to see such a good turnout this afternoon.

I fear we may have misled some of you, by calling today’s events the “PR Spa”. Perhaps you came here, expecting to sit in a whirlpool and listen to the panel or at the very least, to finish the session with a massage.

That’s not going to happen. It isn’t that we had any ulterior motives, or that we don’t respect the need for truth in advertising.

Nor is it that we don’t take our public relations responsibilities seriously, or value our colleagues’ skills. Personally, I am extremely proud of my “small but mighty team”, and of the caliber of our collective communications and public relations expertise.

Let’s just say that, when the HCPRA executive planned this event, we were all aware that as PR practitioners these days, no matter where in the country we might work, could use a little “R and R”, and a little “TLC”, too.

So, that is just what I’d like to deliver.

Let’s start with the R&R. That’s R as in role -- and R as in research. We all enter this field, wanting to play a valuable role within a worthwhile organization.

And really, we are all quite fortunate in that way -- we are valued, because there is a boundless need for the public relations and communications support and services we provide.

And where would you find a more worthwhile organization, or one that is closer to people’s hearts, than one that keeps their families healthy?

I’m not fond of the phrase “cradle to the grave”, but our organizations are important throughout people’s entire lives.

Our staff and physicians hear the first cries of people’s babies. They stitch up the split knees of their little boys and girls, fresh off the softball diamond.

They help their teenagers to avoid smoking, to be responsible about their sexuality, to manage their juvenile diabetes.

They may see a mother through breast cancer, or a father through cardiac surgery. They may provide home care to one senior, or offer a home-like atmosphere to another who requires residential care.

And they are there, at the end of the day, when the time comes for palliative care.

I am proud to be associated with people like that.

And while the services my department provides are not a matter of life and death -- at least, unless we miss a deadline -- they are certainly valued by our colleagues on the front lines of health care. And personally, I take a great deal of pride in that.

Next time you head off a media crew on their way towards an emergency room that is bursting at the seams, and manage the situation so that your hospital’s harried staff is not impeded in doing their vital work, take a bow.

Next time your proactive media relations result in someone accessing health care in a way that helps to keep them well, give yourself credit.

The stories are all around us. But our colleagues need our ability to tell those stories so the public knows about programs that can help them.

We are -- or we should strive to be-- real members of the health care team helping to put clinical matters into a meaningful context.

Our colleagues build bridges with others in the organization, far-flung though they may be, by reading our newsletters.

They see their successes portrayed in our annual reports, our slide shows, our videos.

They rely on our support for times when they want to tell a story through the media -- and for times when they definitely do NOT.I don’t think for a moment that they would want to get along without us.

R is for research -- and of course, as a public relations practitioner, you know that sound research is absolutely essential if you are to deliver effective messages to the right audience, using the right medium, at the right time, and if you are to measure whether that message reached its target audience, and made a difference.

Sometimes this research is purely anecdotal.

Jim mentioned our Acute Care Review, and the role my department played in keeping people informed throughout that process.

Recently, we hosted the Premier and the Health Minister as they made an announcement about increased cardiac care to be provided by the Royal Columbian Hospital, our Region’s tertiary care centre.

You could measure the success of that event by the number of media who turned out. But personally, my moment of greatest pride came after the event, while I was dismantling a backdrop behind the podium.

One of our transport workers was there, moving out chairs and tables to prepare the room for its next incarnation. He asked me, “What did the Premier announce?” and when I explained, he said “That’s good. I know we need more critical care especially at RCH with our population aging, and growing so fast.”

Those words represent an almost verbatim repetition of one of the key messages in my Acute Care Review communications pieces.

Someone had read them -- someone who didn’t even HAVE to, since he didn’t sit on any of the Review committees, or work in my department. He not only read them, he remembered and repeated them. That means there are more than 8 thousand potential communicators out there -- Perhaps my department is bigger than I thought!

At any rate, it gave me great satisfaction. And I suppose my real message to you is to seize those moments of satisfaction whenever they occur.

They will see you through those other moments, when you fear you may be launching key messages out into the void.

However, the kind of research I am recommending is a little different.

Especially if you are fairly new with your organization, and you are still working on establishing your value in their eyes, you need to give some thought to the kinds of research that can validate your worth, in the eyes of senior management, who are compelled to take a hard look at the bottom line.

Did you set up a two minute item on the health segment of a TV network, that pointed out a unique service your hospital offers? You can claim with some justification that this supports the work of your hospital foundation.

Or you can tie a fairly hard dollar figure to it, by figuring out what those two minutes would have cost, if purchased as advertising time.

Then, multiply that figure by 4, to account for the credibility factor of news over paid advertising.

Did one of your articles run in a local paper, and inspire a young girl to attend your hospital’s asthma clinic?

Assess the costs of the inpatient or emergency visits she will avoid over the next year, now that she has learned how to use her puffer to its best effect.

I promised you a little TLC, and I’d like to close by offering this prescription.

T is for training -- take all you can get, and offer the same benefit to your staff.

Lifelong learning is absolutely essential in our field. Not only do we need to learn the most effective and efficient way to use new technologies, but we need to keep our communications skills sharp, since every day, we are competing with messages and media backed up with million dollar budgets.

L is for laughter -- there is no situation so bleak that you can’t find an element of hilarity in there somewhere.

If you don’t believe me, hang around the staff room in your ER for a couple of hours, and watch the staff get through incredibly stressful days with deadly, black, and totally effective humour.

The funny bone is definitely bonded to the survival instinct, whether or not it shows up in any medical textbook. Your little PR shop should ring to the sound of a good giggle several times a day.

And if others consider it frivolity, look at it this way -- research indicates you may well outlive them!

And finally, C is for character. Strive for excellence every day. Return your phone calls. Treat reporters -- in fact, treat everyone -- as you’d like to be treated. Work towards making your organization renowned for its open, honest, forthright communications.

Make your mother proud. Stand up for the principles you believe in, whether they come from what Jim called “PR 101”, or whether they are the basic human values that make you a good friend, a trustworthy employee, a valued colleague.

I can almost guarantee that with a good dose of R&R and a little TLC, not only will you build and retain worth in the eyes of your organization, but at the end of a long day, when you finally turn off the pager and kick off your shoes, you’ll look back on a success or two.

Add all of those little successes together, and you’ll have a career of which you can be justly proud.

Thank you.