Outstanding Small Consultancy
CIPR PRide Midlands Awards 2009
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PR-fect Planning
04th February 2011. Posted by Sam Dowling. Trackback
After eighteen months of desperately saving for a house deposit, when January arrived I was ready to start looking for the perfect property. This, coupled with my Christmas engagement, meant I was all set to begin the next exciting chapter of my life.
It turns out however, that was the easy part. Despite generations doing it before us, those of us in our 20s have to face larger obstacles in our quest to grow up, buy a house and get married. Recent figures suggest that in fact only 20% of 20-24 year olds are home owners and the average age of an unassisted first-time buyer has shot up to a whopping 37!
After visiting several houses which would need, I quote, ‘a little touch up’ but in fact actually needed completely gutting, I began to ponder the age old question; to buy or to rent? With mortgage lenders now requiring deposits of up to 20 per cent, many people are instead choosing the latter. I must admit, the idea of renting an apartment in the heart of the city is certainly appealing, and I’d definitely know who to go to for that fabulous property, ahem, FleetMilne! Nevertheless, whilst it may be the choice du jour for many young professionals, my desire for a house and a garden means I’ll keep booking viewings in my quest to find the ‘perfect’ property.
Everyone always says that buying your first house and planning your wedding are the two most stressful things that you will do, well never one to shy away from a challenge I decided to do them both at the same time!
While all very interesting, what does this have to do with PR I hear you ask? Well, quite a lot in fact! The skills that we, as PR professionals, develop and utilise everyday actually come in rather handy when attempting to negotiate house prices or sell yourself to your chosen bank or wedding venue. Working in an agency environment means we are used to handling several large accounts at once. Swapping from a consumer lifestyle sell-in to a straight B2B conversation comes naturally, and certainly comes in handy whilst attempting to juggle house and wedding appointments simultaneously.
Organised by nature, I’m approaching my wedding as I would any other large scale work event, with the added advantage of being able to make my own final decisions. Unlike many brides-to-be, I’m lucky enough to enter the world of wedding planning with a network of good contacts and event experience. In our industry, building and maintaining good relationships is an important skill and one which I’ve worked hard on developing and intend on using!
There are obvious similarities between the worlds of event planning and wedding planning but the main difference I can see is the acceptance that prices can automatically shoot up just because it’s your wedding! Frustrating yes, unavoidable no. Whilst it may take the gift of the gab, negotiations can be made, and luckily most good PRs possess this particular gift!
Interestingly, I’ve also found that since becoming engaged I’ve developed some sort of cosmic pull that draws anything slightly marriage related my way. Testament to this is the fact that we’ve recently received a number of wedding related pr enquiries! Wonderfully, this now means that I can legitimately talk weddings in the office, which isn’t difficult as the Rewired office is currently buzzing with wedding talk, with the lovely Ruth becoming Mrs. Pipkin in December and both Bec and I planning 2012 weddings!
Ultimately however, whilst working in PR may have helped prepare me for tackling two of life’s biggest projects, as with life it’s all about the ride and I intend to enjoy every second of it!