Happy New Year!
The new year is always cause for celebration. Most of us hit the re-start button, ready to begin anew with a new year in the making. This year, now that its 2020, the moniker itself brings cause for clear vision and renewed focus. And each year, it all starts with the Tournament of Rose Parade. With 44 floats, 20 bands and many equestrian groups, the world begins anew. This is quickly followed by the Rose Bowl, this year a tough battle between the Oregon Ducks and the Wisconsin Badgers.
From a PR perspective, the most telling float this year was the UPS float. Leading the way with “Stories Change Our World,” the moniker sets the stage for reinforcing the importance of shaping the story. While it was designed to support the Toys for Tots Literary Program – which captured the Sweepstakes Award – it also highlights the need to use narratives to communicate, and as a public relations + social professional, this falls at the heart of what we do, so of course, it hit home. Of course, this particular float ran into a mechanical issue and had to be pulled down the route via truck, itself an indication of how to solve a challenge yet still achieve the best results.
But for us, as a Los Angeles area based public relations + social firm, it hits close to home. As a University of Southern California graduate, I fondly remember attending the Rose Parade and the bowl game for several years as a student. Today, we count the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate as one of our clients. Our vice president, Kent Barrett, once served as a spokesperson for the University of Wisconsin-Madison, so this year held a special meaning for him. Several others on our staff have ties to these universities as well.
All of this reinforced our tentacles which reach across the country. No doubt, as 2020 takes hold, there will be many stories to tell. We’ll be here to help craft each one. Thanks, UPS, for reinforcing the value of storytelling. Our world wouldn’t exist without it.
