Boomerang

When I was young, I dreamed of hitchhiking to Hollywood and working my way up from the mailroom to the executive office. The mix of drama, good screenwriting, camerawork and surround sound was like a siren call, but one that I ultimately ignored for the glamorous life of public relations. Who knew that my dream of working in the film industry would be possible as a communications pro?

The most powerful PR programs are ones that reflect popular culture, speak to human needs and emotions, and harness new technologies in creative ways. As people increasingly turn to the Web for entertainment, news, information and social networking, it’s a brave new PR 2.0 world. Like the media outlets that we pitch story angles to every day, the landscape is quickly morphing around us. Video is emerging at the forefront of it all: to engage, provoke, demonstrate and influence.

We’re proud to represent some of the most interesting Web-meets-video pioneers. For instance, U.K.-based Friction.tv has quickly become a hotbed for public debate on important issues. The video-sharing site is a Web TV platform promoting freedom of speech, no matter how controversial. As an early innovator that’s focused on social media for social change, it’s achieved a lot of traction in a short time, according to The London Times.

Another client, MixerCast, lets people blend their own user-generated content (UGC) with legal studio content from partners like ABC News, Getty Images and popular record labels to create their own custom Web TV channels. Better yet, MixerCast lets users embed branding and engaging advertising spots, hypersyndicate them on the Web, and track traffic to the money-making mashups. Robert Scoble recently interviewed MixerCast CEO Jen Cooper, formerly with Yahoo!, and the resulting video was posted to PodTech.net as an Editor’s Choice pick of the week.

Beyond new platforms that merge video impact with social media, many larger, global brands that we represent, like Panasonic Toughbooks, are using entertaining viral videos to effectively communicate core messages with key audiences through social networks and popular sites like YouTube. In fact, fans of the popular rugged notebooks have frequently posted many buzz-building videos about Toughbooks on their own.

As PR pros, we’re being called on more and more for our broadcast production talents like scripting, shooting, interviewing and editing. And I’m happy to say: “There’s no business like show business, it’s like no business I know.” A career in PR is becoming a lot like a career in broadcasting and film these days.