We’re delighted to announce the addition of Jessica Laiti to Forward’s roster of principal contributors. Jessica will very soon be a graduate of the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, and will be interning with Ketchum South. A little more from her bio:

While at the University of Georgia, Jessica co-founded the UGA chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) and served on the executive board of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) as Vice President of Events and Committees and Professional Liaison. She also held several leadership positions in her sorority, including Public Relations Chair, Membership Chair, Vice President of Finance, and Relay for Life Coordinator. Jessica earned the 2006 Chapter Service Award for servant leadership in her sorority and was a finalist for Greek Woman of the Year 2006.

Prior to interning at Ketchum, Jessica has volunteered her public relations skills for a number of non-profit organizations (AthFest, A Taste of Athens, CHOICES for Kids, 21st Century Leaders) focusing on everything from promotions to events to media relations. Most recently, she was a corporate communications intern at Cox Enterprises, Inc. in Atlanta, Ga.

We’re glad to have you on board, Jessica!

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For the most part, this post is directed at our younger readers and those new to the blogosphere. I’m conscious of those fresh, impressionable minds and in a recent conversation with Luke Armour, was struck with a thought worth mentioning here.

As young people, we are often quick to latch on to the thoughts and opinions of those older and more experienced. Of course we do — we were raised to respect those above us! But as Richard Bailey points out here,

By all means show respect to people who are older and supposedly wiser (such as lecturers and bosses) but never assume that they have all the answers. You’re capable of grasping the answers …

With that, Richard was responding to something I’d said encouraging new PR professionals (and students, for that matter) to take the initiative to be curious and really go in search of knowledge. In the context of this post, however, I’d like to take that in a slightly different direction.

Take everything you read with a grain of salt.

Read the rest of this entry »

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