The importance of public relations is perhaps best illustrated in one simple fact. Not only do more colleges offer public relations courses than before, but they also use PR firms now more than ever. Maybe in teaching public relationships, schools, and other education bodies learned a thing or two about the value of PR. But whatever the reason, PR continues to grow as both an academic and professional field.

Most PR professionals describe the work as exciting and always changing. One common phrase most say is “no two days are the same.” For people remaining more open to change, this work environment provides a haven. But for workers who prefer consistency and stability, PR more likely frustrates them.

Fortunately, big challenges equal even bigger rewards. Business risks prone to the communications industry may exist, but so do effective solutions. Communications professionals are more equipped than anyone to address, mitigate and maneuver large threats. Like any business atmosphere, there are compliance standards, financial consequences, strategic obstacles and various levels of operations to be thoughtful of. Partnerships, valid, precise information and evolving solutions for overcoming big challenges is what keeps the communications industry alive, interesting and operating successfully.

As any true child of the 80s knows, Gargamel is far from a friendly face. Bent on capturing Smurfs to turn them into gold, eat them for lunch, or just destroy them, Gargamel is enough to terrify any Smurf… and likely the 80’s child that still lives within many of us.

It thus goes without saying that, as a marketer, you don’t want to scare your audience away like Gargamel. Papa Smurf is a preferable role model (if you’re set on an 80s cartoon star as your social media analogy, like we are here).

For the last several years, Nike has been toting its Nike Fit line of wearable tech equipment. These devices allowed runners and other individuals wearing the equipment to track their performance, the amount of calories they burned and the “Nike Fuel” they earned, which would help them determine how much they could eat or mark other progress through different Nike applications. However, just recently, Nike announced it is abandoning its wearable tech lineup, as more and more smart phones and other devices are now able to do exactly what the Nike Fit bands could, which limited the sales numbers of the device. Due to this, many are wondering what exactly Nike plans on doing with its tech department and if it plans on focusing on the software industry. Perfect example of Technology PR creating massive buzz for an established brand.

The first question that might come up is in regards to 3D printing. After all, 3D printing is starting to more and more of a shape in households throughout the country. While most individuals do not have a printer inside of their home that can handle 3D based tasks, the price is starting to regularly drop with the equipment, so it is only a matter of a few years before this becomes more of the norm throughout the country. However, there are a few issues with Nike getting into shoe printing features. First, 3D printers only really produce material in plastics. With so many different materials required for a shoe, such as rubber, cloth, plastics, metals, nylon and others, it really isn’t possible for Nike to fit into this specific category. Until home 3D printers become less expensive and are able to use many different materials in the printing process, this is an unrealistic aspect, at least for the moment. Perhaps in another decade, when 3D printing has evolved into further. So, for now, this isn’t a viable option.

Sometimes, when sending out public relations messages, it can be the basic things that trip you up. There you are, creating excellent public relations messages, following press protocols … then waiting and waiting and waiting. For nothing. But, it may not be the actual content of the message that is keeping your PR from being received and published.

Ronn Torossian reminds you to make sure you have taken care of these simple fixes before worrying that your messaging might be off.

When Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos appeared on 60 Minutes to unveil his vision of using drones to deliver small packages (less than 5 lbs) for the company, America let out a collective gasp. “How much will it cost?” or “How will the FAA react?” or “Does that mean I’ll have my earrings before the company Christmas party?” … among others. According to Bezos, the program would allow online shoppers to receive their package in thirty minutes or less from the moment of purchase. Really. The program, called “Prime Air,” is still just a vision – not yet available nor with any mention of a launch date from Bezos.

As a communications professional, my first reaction — along with many people who caught the episode — was to ask a lot of questions. How will this comply with FAA regulations? What will happen with incorrect mailing addresses? What’s the cost?