Bob searches for a song to summarise his 40-plus years in public relations
Deadlines… in an ever-changing public relations landscape, these have been the one constant. Getting copy to clients on time, press releases to journalists ahead of press days, feature submissions, award entries. Whatever the written content, there’s usually a time requirement attached.
In the last three years at Nielsen McAllister, there’s been one more deadline to adhere to – our choice for the Nielsen McAllister Songs of the Week playlist. And as our Songs of the Week Czar – and list statistician and regular supplier of interesting (and not-so-interesting) facts about our choices – my colleague Simon Kinnear is the one who regularly chivvies the slowcoaches to make their selection as the end of Friday approaches.
The final song choice
I’m proud to say this is one deadline that I have constantly met without much prompting. However, in this last week the pressure has really been on as I wrestle with what will be my final choice. Because after two years part-time, full retirement beckons and it is time to bid farewell to the world of public relations.
This could not therefore be any random choice – but what to pick to reflect 40-plus years of PR agency and in-house work, 34 years running my own agency in Derby, the highs, the lows, the fun, the satisfaction, the sleepless nights, the successes, the seat-of-the-pants moments – and all those deadlines.
There is of course no single song that could sum up all that – maybe I’ll try to write one with all the free time I will soon have (although I am reliably informed that I will quickly wonder how I ever found time to come to work!)
Goodbye – or hello again?!
One of the rules of PR writing is to keep the message clear and simple – so maybe Time to Say Goodbye is an obvious choice, or being more brutal, You’re Moving Out Today. Or I could put the fear of God into my colleagues with Someday I’m Coming Back!
How about a more wistful approach? The Way We Were, perhaps – but I’ve written quite enough blogs about what public relations was like in the ‘old days’. Maybe Memory – ok, it’s melancholic remembrance by an aging and worn-out female cat of her glamorous past but you get the gist.
My Way is a possibility, but that’s a bit funerial. Besides, I hope that my management style over the years at Nielsen McAllister was a bit more inclusive than ‘My Way or the Highway’.
Luck or judgement
Although the bulk of my PR working life has been in Derby, that was certainly not my intention when I embarked on my career in London in early 1980s. To be honest, having grown up in Derby (when it was still just a town), I couldn’t wait to leave the place! It was a twist of fate that brought me back after nearly ten years and a further one that saw me setting up my PR agency here, but I’ve never regretted it. Accidents Will Happen could be an appropriate choice (except it’s a song I selected a long time back – I saw Elvis Costello at the recently-opened Assembly Rooms in 1979).
In a similar vein, another song already on the playlist, The Long Way Home, has a lyric that ideally sums up my career path – “Accidents and inspiration lead you to your destination.” And as I look back on my years in PR, there’s another line that has particular poignancy – “Funny now how it all went by so fast/One day you’re looking over your shoulder at the past.”
I’m Lucky is an option. For one thing, I challenge any business owner not to acknowledge that luck plays a role in a business’s success and growth. Equally, I have been very lucky to work with many talented and committed colleagues over the years, all of whom have helped to make Nielsen McAllister the PR agency it is today, working with national and international, as well as Derby-based, companies; and I’ve been just as lucky to work with many fantastic clients.
What’s it going to be?
The truth is that while all these songs have appropriate titles, or some of their lyrics ring true, their subject matters are – no surprise – a world away from a life in public relations. So, in the end, I decided to pick the song with the title that best sums up my feelings looking back over the past 40 years: The Party’s Over. I was going to go for the Nat King Cole version but then found another song with the same title by Willie Nelson. And while both are more about the end of a love affair, the opening refrain of the Willie Nelson song goes some way to capturing my mood:
Turn out the lights
The party’s over
They say that all
Good things must end
Yes, indeed, it’s a been one of hell of a party. Thank you to everyone who came to it!
You can listen to The Party’s Over and all the NM team’s song choices on Spotify. But for Nielsen McAllister, the party is very much continuing! So, if you want to learn how we can help your business in the same way we’ve been helping other businesses for the past 36 years, why not drop us a line or give us a call.