On Unlecture Symposium 7.0: relating it to my professional goals to be a fictional character

My notes from the lecture didn’t make too much sense, I just had ‘BE KEVIN BACON’- not too trivial since the strains of ‘Footloose’ could wake me from a coma and his last name is my favourite food-but not super helpful either.

But then I tracked back to my thinking about how this statement related to my future goals in PR. As PR practitioners it is our duty to be like Kevin Bacon, to be hubs of information and communication liaising with a myriad of contacts, our links in the system. The stereotypical representation of PR people as social denizens who throw alot of parties isn’t actually that far off, as we are charged with the responsibility of central schmoozer/liaser within networked systems.

That’s right, it is my raison de’tre to be the modern day version of Spinal Tap’s Bobbi Fleckman- think Fran Drescher in an Easton Pearson Moo Moo, a chunky bangle and a passion to make sure everyone there has enough Champers. The nasal voiced mover and shaker whom everyone feels comfortable enough to circulate around professionally.

These are my professional goals, and I think it is my passion which makes them noble.

However, starting out in the PR game means that it will take me a long time to reach the dizzying heights of Bobbi in her leopard skin Loubitans as a centre or hub in the system. But in the lecture we were told that big hubs can deteriorate and be replaced by new hubs, ie. how different search engines have become more popular over the years. Could this in turn mean that I have some hope in reaching my hub like goals?

We were also told that it no longer takes a big leap to get to these big hubs with less intermediaries to go through on the ‘Long Tail’. The democratised nature of the decentralised distributed network means that new nodes like me playing intern office dress up may flourish!