Government Communications is interesting, dammit!
Originally posted on Canuckflack.com on October 12, 2006
Following up on my previous post - Government communications doesn’t suck, I mean it - I’d like to discuss the wide range of subjects and topics that could draw your attention as a government communicator. After all, government work doesn’t mean professional or personal stagnation.
Implied in the debate between employment at an agency (seizing the brass ring) or a corporate (seizing the brass retirement watch) office is the promise of greater opportunities for creative expression on a much larger variety of files.
Agency� acolytes will swear up and down that their day is a virtuous cycle of inspiration, creation and implementation - with some client meetings thrown in. Corporate types will argue that continuous exposure to one portfolio of products, services or brands is an opportunity to learn the corporate experience in and out, from product inception to integrated marketing planning to yearly bonus payouts.
Unfortunately, there are no yearly bonuses for the average public relations, marketing or communications type working in government.
Argument 2: Intellectual stimulation doesn’t require a cool office space.
Money aside, opportunity abounds in the government to work on files that interest you, files that will challenge your skills as a communicator while stimulating your mind. The key is to remember that the government is not a monolithic organization, it’s more like General Electric: plenty of little subsidiaries that do weird experiments and have offices in strange places - but are still market dominant. Here are some examples:
Risk communications: transportation departments, accident investigation boards, food inspection agencies, nuclear regulatory agencies, defense organizations.
Social marketing: health departments, social services agencies, public health organizations, overseas development departments.
Public opinion research: statistical agencies, every communications and marketing shop in the government, what we call “central agencies” (PCO, White House, OMB, Whitehall).
Rural outreach: agricultural departments, commodity marketing boards, fisheries departments.
International marketing: industry or commerce departments, departments of external or foreign affairs, export financing organizations
Science communications: research organizations, space agencies, departments responsible for natural resources (Department of the Interior), forestry agencies, fisheries departments.
Crisis communications: accident investigation boards, public safety departments, defense organizations, defense organizations, airport authorities.
Investor relations/financial communications: budget offices, departments of finance, management boards, banking regulators, national banks, financial monitoring agencies.
Notice how I didn’t cover any of the communications or marketing jobs that could be expected of politically-appointed staff? That’s a whole other world to be considered!
Next argument to be covered: government communications can be a multi-stage career, not a life sentence.
Shoutout to InsidePr for discussing government communications this week.
