These days it helps to be a bit ‘geeky’ if you work in PR, marketing or advertising, which means you need to find your way around technology. You might even find yourself dabbling in a little coding (geek-speak for programming) as highlighted in the audio boo report (see further down) from BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
One of the interviewees makes the point nicely when he says “Power has tipped in favour of the Geeks” and these days PRs and marketers need to be able to speak their language.
PR people can easily find themselves working with SEOs, web designers and app builders and you can communicate much more confidently if you’re able to get in touch with your inner geek.
I started working in public relations agencies in the last century – well before digital PR and marketing were born. But I was lucky enough to stumble upon a job in technology PR (which I didn’t think was hugely sexy at the time). Now I’m glad, as it’s meant I’ve been forced to keep geekified.
My coding ability is limited to useful bits of HTML which can help when I’m trying to do something clever in a blog or to address an SEO issue, but it’s definitely helpful. Now I’m considering investing some time in developing this further. Anyone else?
Image credit: Flickr Creative Commons duda C