The glorious madness of the work of a communicator

As a moderator, my responsibility is (among other things) to ensure there are clear, smooth bridges between segments and speakers so that the audience finds a way to relate to all the content. As I sat down to reflect on Mynewsday 2022, I struggled to summarize. We had such a gloriously wide range of topics and addressed so many specific, in-depth, and sometimes existential questions. How on earth would I compose a coherent reflection on all that?

I mean, how would I write one text about:

• The logic behind Nike's .swoosh,
• The blockchain's promise of redistributed power and ownership
• Getting people to eat more wholegrain
• Getting no fewer than 29 partners to sign off on the contents of a press release
• Evaluating the likelihood of and consequences of a cookieless future
• Staying ahead of algorithms and how the platforms may change them
• Figuring out the smoothest way to get, analyze and act on data
• Managing internal politics when organizational boundaries change between marketing, communication, and sales
• Communication in times of war, polarization, and geopolitical instability

Oh, and some ethics too. How are we supposed to balance churning out content, campaigns, and fast results while simultaneously being the uncomfortable questioning voice of ethics and sustainability?

Then it dawned on me that the list above actually makes perfect sense. This is a day in the working life of many of us. This wide, maddening range of topics is, in fact, the nature of our profession. What used to require several departments and a range of competencies is now something many of us have to have at least an overall understanding of (and preferably an opinion on). Whether we were originally marketers or communicators, PR specialists or content managers, designers or web developers – we all deal with a seemingly impossible, ever-changing range of questions.

So if you are a little bit tired as Q4 draws to a close, look yourself in the mirror and tell yourself you're doing a good job. And if you sometimes feel it's all a little bit much, remind yourself there are few jobs where you get the opportunity to develop so many skills and learn so much on the job. And to be clear: it may be glorious, but it is also madness. And probably not sustainable. But as overwhelming as it sounds, more and more companies' and organizations' souls rest with us in communications and marketing. And that is as it should be.

So, regardless if this post led you to become curious about the content of Mynewsday, or if you attended our session and are going back to watching the recording, or enjoyed it and want to share it with a colleague, I can promise you this: regardless what your title and specialization is, you will find something useful and actionable in every segment. Because that's just the nature of our job.

Take care of each other as we close out another intense, eventful, and sometimes overwhelming year.

Curious to see the sessions from Mynewsday? Watch them here.