1. The Internet was, say, rudimentary at best. If you were lucky enough to have Internet access, you needed the patience of a Saint for times when webpages would stall when loading. Also, it was crazy heavy with text. There were minimal images and graphics – primarily because webpage templates were eight or ten years from commonality – but there was lots and lots of text to read.
2. Email was comically bad. It existed but was buggier than Lake Winnipesaukee. You would commonly read an email, and never see it again. And that was only the beginning. It was exceptionally unreliable and, without naming names, a number of my clients weren’t comfortable using it. It was really an “internal only” tool and, as a result, I managed a lot of telephone calls with clients and press.
3. Faxing happened with good regularity. I clearly recall “reserving” time on a row of fax machines at our office and faxing like wild when I had piece of client news. Amid fax number lists – like contacts lists, but for fax numbers – and fax machines were cover letters. Lots of cover letters. I’m certain the world is an improved place with less fax use. (Author’s note #1: I just heard from a colleague that faxing is still huge in Japan. I had no idea, and think that’s kind of odd. Author’s note #2: I once represented the full line of Sharp Electronics fax machines – a HUGE part of its home office line-up at the time.)
4. Voice mail was a way of life. In fact, Kodak, a major client of mine, had a voice mail system independent of dialing a particular office. You would leave a recorded message that was intended to be picked-up by another party. Mobile connectivity for business was a long way off.
5. Stuffing press kits was a BIG part of the gig. Especially around trade shows like Comdex (remember that one?), Toy Fair or significant client events. I clearly remember stuffing, unstuffing when an error was identified, and then stuffing again. Lots of press kit stuffing, with dividers between the releases, sleeves of slides, and thick spines on the press kit. I think the Kimberly-Clark press kit weighed four pounds – and it was all paper.
6. One-directional communication. While PR – in contrast to advertising or other disciplines within marketing – has always been about engaging with an audience rather than directly talking to it (e.g., media and analyst relations requires that you engage, not just spit out messages) the most dramatic change in communications over the length of my career has resulted in companies engaging with their end-audience, directly, through social media. Previously, a wall of third parties (media, analysts) interpreted and translated key messages before moving them forward. Now, however, the channel exists for more direct client-to-end-audience communication, and that makes our role in the process more valuable. The PR skills we’ve always had for engaging are now enormously beneficial
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