Firearms Friday: Backyard Family Fun!

 

These days I rarely have time to head out to the range and practice. This is not something I like to admit but it is simply the fact of the matter. However, there have been a few rare occasions when I have found myself looking down the sights at a small target. One of these instances, at the very beginning of last month, kind of surprised me. Not at first… it was a rather ugly beginning… but I was content with the results at the end of the day.

While my wife and I were visiting my sister’s family (only about 90 minutes away from us) my brother-in-law, who enjoys the same relaxing hobby, invited me to take an older single shot rifle in the back yard for some plinking. I was completely unfamiliar with this 22 rifle (it fires 22LR, 22 Long, and 22 Short) and so the initial results were less than pleasing. After about 20-30 rounds, I had walked in the shots and was fairly satisfied with the results. 22 short at 25 yard off hand hitting a quarter size target… not a bad way to spend part of the afternoon.

It really came down to a remembering the fundamentals. The sights were poor on this particular rifle with little adjustment possible. After all, it wasn’t my rifle and we were trading shots every ten rounds (between a right and left handed shooter). Also, I don’t shoot a lot of 22 short. All of these are minor things if you just step back and keep the basics in mind.

The first ten shots were really just fun rounds and the results (or lack thereof) showed that fact quite clearly. After that I went through my range routine a little more deliberately than usual. Getting a solid, locked, and quiet stance, lining up and stabilizing the sights, controlling my breathing, and slowly pulling the trigger straight back. After that, with little ability to actually zero the rifle, it was a matter of tracking the shot, watching for the impact, and adjusting the hold accordingly on the follow up.

It is with this extra focus and routine that I was back to relaxing at the makeshift firing line. After all, most of the time it really isn’t about what you are shooting but on the shooting itself. When you focus on that the results will follow. After all, that is what many of us look for when we seek relaxation at the range.

Don’t Be Albert Brooks!

All the extra hours at the office and at home this week came to a head today as many of my colleagues were out of the office at a client meeting in Judgement City. Actually, it was more than a meeting. We have spent the last couple of weeks preparing for our defense as our client (at the direction of someone else in the company) opened up the business to a variety of public relations firms. Thankfully, we not only have the knowledge and relationship to back us up but we have the results to demonstrate the work that we have put into this account over the past year.

Having previously met with this particular client and with everything that is swirling around in my life right now, we all agreed that I should stay at the office and make sure that someone was actively working on the account while we were also defending the business. It really was an odd feeling sitting at my desk and pitching another great story while my colleagues were making our case. However, no matter how unique the situation, I still had a job to do and so I put my head down and pushed like I have every other day of the year.

So during the middle of the meeting, I am sending emails to our client of the opportunities that have been secured and the interviews that have been requested. Nearly every person in the room was receiving the same email demonstrating another successful product launch as the challenges were fielded in a small conference room. We all had a job to do today and frankly I am glad that I was back in the office doing what I know how to do best… getting media coverage.  

While this is going on I could help but think of Albert Brooks in Defending Your Life. Actually, it is more along the lines of the Meryl Streep character in that movie when everyone knows that she lived a full life without fear but she still has to go through the process and stand trial anyway. While I certainly would have liked to have achieved more over the past year (this is the common disease that every successful person and firm in this industry shares), the work that we did get done could not have been matched by another firm.

The meeting is over and soon the week will be coming to an end. Now we wait for the decision while we continue pitching, scheduling, and producing the results that we have been since the relationship began. After all, this process is nothing new and we still have a job to do.

That Didn’t Last Long…

Moments after I posted my last blog the routine workday was cast aside for the scrambling that all too often occupies my work days. It is one of those frustrating cogs that may slow the progress but nothing that can’t be cleared with some hard work and, in this case, putting forth the effort to keep the opportunity alive. This, among other things, is what occupied my day… a day that was anything but routine but one that, in the end, balanced out. After all, the goal is to maintain balance.

In this instance, a customer decided to back out of a story with a large publication due to the potential exposure that comes with a high profile feature. On one hand I completely understand, on the other I am left with a ‘what the heck’ feeling as it is an opportunity that came about after considerable effort. Many would even say “I would definitely do it if given the opportunity” but that is not what I do. I can recommend from a strategic standpoint and highlight all of the benefits of such an opportunity but it is ultimately not my decision.

We work on behalf of our clients and, in this case, their customers. Our job is to balance the media opportunities with their goals, find the best matches, and pursue them until they happen. At the same time, there is a tremendous amount of trust that companies put in us to do what is in their best interest and that is what we do, not what we aim to do, this is what we do on a daily basis. Routine or chaos this is always the underlying current to the work that is done on any given day.

While many may see this as a somewhat restrictive position to find yourself in, it is anything but that and, in fact, there is great freedom in the work that I do. Both the strategy and creativity that we employ are limitless and has led to complete shifts in both perspective and approach of certain topic internally and, more importantly, in the media. How else are you going to keep it interesting when you speak to the same industry publications time and again about the same company?

You need to bring strategy, creativity, and energy to the process. All feed off of one another and being in an open work environment and with clients that understand, or attempt to understand, our role, support our process, and value our expertise. When you step back and look at the job, routine has nothing to do with schedules. Routine, in the best sense of the word, is bringing those three drivers with you to work, into meetings, and convey over the phone every day because those three things equate to passion. Passion is what you need to work in PR because passion is what gets results.