The Top 5 Things to Know About Bone Conduction Headphones

On July 21, 2020October 29, 2021 By Megan IrelandIn Hi TechLeave a comment

They probably seem like they were pulled out of a science fiction movie, a gadget of the future. But not only are bone conduction headphones real, they’re accessible to the average person, no more expensive than a pair of regular old AirPods.

Resting on the cheekbones rather than going in or over the ear, bone conduction headphones transmit sound vibrations through the bones in your head instead of through the air to your eardrum. This method of hearing allows the vibrations to bypass the auditory canal and go straight to the cochlea, the fluid-filled chamber where the brain processes sound. However, there is considerable debate over whether the sound quality of these headphones is on par with that of regular earbuds. In fact, writer Ben Kuchera of Ars Technica and others claim that they have a tinny, distorted quality that may make them not worth the money.

I don’t pretend to be an expert on bone conduction headphones – to tell the truth, I’ve never even owned a pair. But being a bit of an audio junkie, I had to find out all I could secondhand about the science of bone conduction. And through my research, I’ve compiled a subjective list of the five most important things to know before you consider buying a pair of bone conduction headphones.

1) Bone conduction is not a new science.

Knowledge of bone conduction hearing has actually been around since the 1500s, and bone conduction headphones have been used for improved communication in the military for over a decade now. They don’t seem to be revolutionizing the way we listen to music either, although they may provide new opportunities for people with hearing damage. Because the sound vibrations detected via the bone conduction method don’t pass through the outer and middle ear, it provides a better listening experience for individuals with a damaged eardrum. Bone conduction technology is used in many hearing aid systems for this very reason.

2) If noise cancellation is important to you, don’t buy them!

Bone conduction headphones are designed to allow the listener to be more attune to their environment. They’re definitely not meant for quiet study sessions, but if you’re looking specifically for a pair of bluetooth headphones for running, biking, or another athletic activity, then they might just be a match. Athletes often need to be aware of their surroundings but don’t want to sacrifice good tunes, and bone conduction headphones can give them the best of both worlds. In addition, their unique shape and positioning on the skull help them to fit underneath most helmets, unlike regular earbuds. But despite the pros for athletes, bone conduction headphones don’t seem to be the best option for any other activity. Even with earplugs, they are about as far from noise-cancelling as you can get.

3) Their audio quality is definitely sub-par

Enough articles have been written bashing the sound quality of bone conduction headphones to convince me that they’re not going to sound like Bose. Daniel Varghese of GQ Magazine labels them as “horrendous for day to day use” and “totally unintelligible at anything other than extremely loud volumes” (para. 7). The bass tends to get lost in translation traveling through the bones, and mid-frequencies can be muddied as well. Still, many users – especially athletes – have said that the deficiencies in quality aren’t as bad as people make them out to be. In his YouTube video about bone conduction, Dr. Cliff Olsen remarks that the audio quality of a pair of these headphones is just as good as a pair of low-grade earbuds. But even if this is the case, cheap earbuds certainly doesn’t equal great sound.

4) They may be less likely to damage your hearing

Because bone conduction headphones don’t stimulate the eardrum, there is a possibility that they are less likely to damage your hearing. But the keyword there is possibility. Turning up the volume too loud on any pair of headphones can be harmful to the cochlea, and bone conduction headphones are no exception. Additionally, Dr. Cory Portnuff of the University of Colorado states that “bone-conducted sound is transduced by the cochlea similarly to air-conducted sound” (para. 4). Because bone conduction headphones are poorer noise isolators than regular earbuds, they could actually pose an even greater risk to users who don’t realize how high they are turning up the volume to combat ambient sound. So although in theory it seems like bone conduction headphones should be less likely to damage your hearing (given that they are used properly), further research remains to be done.

5) They might take a little bit (or a lot) of getting adjusted to!

Bone conduction headphones have to apply a little bit of pressure in order to vibrate the bones in the skull and work properly. For certain head shapes, this can make listening uncomfortable – and at the very least, it will take anyone a moment to get used to hearing music through their bones versus through their ear canal. Though some people may experience more discomfort than others, it seems to be worth trying on a pair before you buy.

So there you have it: my humble opinion on the topic of bone conduction headphones. This short list may make it seem like the cons of using them far outweigh the pros. But don’t be discouraged. If you know what you’re getting into and you have a purpose for buying them, bone conduction headphones definitely have the potential to be a worthwhile investment.

How Star Wars Inspired Some of the World’s Coolest Inventions

On May 5, 2020October 29, 2021 By Megan IrelandIn Hi TechLeave a comment

A scene from space with planets, meteors, lightsabers, and a droid

May the 4th be with you, too.

There are countless ways that the Star Wars saga has impacted global pop culture over the past 40+ years. Its characters, music, and iconic one-liners (Luke, I am your father) have pervasively touched the lives of billions of people, even some who haven’t seen the movies. More than a fad, the series has even changed the way we think about outer space. But back when A New Hope was released in 1977, very few could have predicted the ways that Star Wars would reach beyond fantasy to affect the real world of science and technology.

It is easy to see how technology altered the Star Wars universe, from the theme of intergalactic travel to the new film-making and audio technologies introduced in the first film. But is it possible that the franchise has conversely influenced the development of science and automation? Research definitely seems to point to yes, as some of the far-out gadgets from the movies are no longer far-out at all.

Thanks to ever-progressing digital technologies, here are a few inventions that blur the lines between a galaxy far far away and our modern-day world.

Droids

Humans have long been fascinated with creating robots that walk, talk, and process information like we do. But the extra influence of specific beloved characters like R2-D2 and C3PO is totally noticeable in some of the most advanced robots of the past decade. The Navy recently created a High-velocity Spherical Microbot with the ability to hop over obstacles using a multitude of sensors. Sounds like an oddly similar character to the heroic droid BB-8 (who fans were introduced to in 2015’s The Force Awakens), right?

NASA also built a humanesque robot back in 2012 to join astronauts on the International Space Station. This robot – dubbed Robonaut 2, or R2 for short – helps take over mechanical, repetitive, or dangerous tasks aboard the ISS much like R2-D2 did for Luke Skywalker and company in the Star Wars movies. Coincidence? I think not.

Prosthetic Body Parts

A robotic limb might not be the first thing you think of when I say “Star Wars,” but the recently developed LUKE bionic arm makes an obvious connection to the series. Engineered in 2019 at the University of Utah, it is the first bionic arm to send signals to the brain “in order to mimic the way a human hand can feel and sense information about an object” (para. 5), according to Ashley Strickland of CNN Health. The invention, which has already changed the lives of veterans and other amputees like Kevin Walgamott, is named for the futuristic, highly controllable prosthetic arm that Luke Skywalker receives after his hand is cut off by Darth Vader’s lightsaber.

It is also noteworthy that the world’s first bionic arm was not developed until 1993, almost 13 years after The Empire Strikes Back (the movie in which Luke receives his prosthetic) was released. Although its inventor, Robert Cambell Aird, may or may not have been a Star Wars fan, it certainly isn’t out of the question that the popular film saga gave him some inspiration for the design.

Laser Weapons

Keeping in line with science fiction clichés, the Star Wars stories tend to use futuristic weapons like laser guns and blasters. They might seem more unrealistic than the knives and guns of your typical action movie, but now in the year 2020, there is nothing futuristic about a laser weapon. Government entities like the U.S. Air Force and the Navy are actually in the process of developing and employing laser cannons for “next generation fighter jets” (para. 1). One such project, called the Self-protect High Energy Laser Demonstrator (SHiELD) program, is being designed to shoot anti-aircraft missiles out of the sky and is expected to be ready for testing by 2021.

Margi Murphy of The New York Post also claims that the U.S. Government set up a High Energy Laser Joint Technology Office in 2000 to provide funding to projects that seek to “create weapons more akin to science fiction novels” (para. 11). This certainly does seem to be the goal of ATHENA, a U.S. Army laser-powered weapon. It has already proven its deadly ability by destroying five drones in a test run – definitely Star Wars worthy.

In a World Full of Technology, Dare to be Human

On February 11, 2020October 29, 2021 By Megan IrelandIn Hi TechLeave a comment

Three people sitting on a bench, staring up at a collage of faces — Untitled by geralt from Pixabay

To be human is to be complex. We laugh. We cry. Sometimes we feel things we don’t fully understand.

In an increasingly digital world, it’s becoming easier and easier for brands to lose touch with the emotional, real side of being human. People are bombarded with notifications, living their lives hyper-connected to social networks and the Internet. And oftentimes, they’re connected whether they’d like to be or not. Is it possible for companies in this tech-driven age to create an effective strategy that takes a step back from the digital world and revisits what it truly means to be human?

Many professionals seem to think the answer is yes. Jalila Levesque, Head of Group Communications and PR for FF Creative Agency, actually seems to think that this is exactly what the world needs. “PR strategy must be driven by emotion and have that human element in order to be more meaningful,” she affirms (para. 6). Amid the rise of online “junk” – the meaningless information that clutters our inboxes from day to day – the only way for PR and marketing messages to remain relevant is to connect with real people in a way that sparks emotion and meaning in each one as an individual.

Creating a campaign that is human-focused does not necessarily mean giving up on technology altogether. Modern technologies – social networks in particular – are wonderful tools that, when used effectively, can spread powerful messages and serve as catalysts for change. But there is a difference between wanting to garner social media impressions and wanting to genuinely touch people’s hearts and change their attitudes about an issue. The goal of raw, emotion-driven campaigns should be to build positive relationships, move people, and make the world a better place. And unfortunately, some businesses still have their eyes simply on the data.

The key is to observe and listen to what your audience has to say. What social issues really hit home for the stakeholders you are trying to connect with? What are their values, their interests? A human-driven campaign should, after all, have humans at its center.

P&G’s Always brand and its “Like a Girl” campaign provides a clear sign that some companies are getting it right. Although the 2014 campaign did promote the brand’s feminine hygiene products, at its core was the wish to connect with and empower adolescent girls who have low confidence and feel limited by societal expectations. The PR team working on the campaign started by listening to their audience’s issues and desires with a hunger to help. Once they identified a way they could connect with girls and inspire them to adopt a change in self-attitude, the rest followed. Not only did the campaign meet its ultimate human-driven goal of instilling confidence in girls worldwide, it resulted in increased sales for the brand.

Perhaps the lesson to be learned is that professionals must start to use social media and other communication technologies in a smarter way – one that involves more listening than merely pushing out information. Social listening is a great way to learn about the emotional hearts of consumers, but many marketers still see it mostly as a tactic to acquire new customers. As James Rubec of Cision Communications points out, “if you are looking for lead generation purely from social media interaction you are missing the breadth and depth of information available” (para. 10). The purpose behind using social media for brands must be shifted from talking to listening, giving to receiving.

People today, stuck in their digitally-driven, perpetually hectic lives, really do need to be reminded of what it means to be human sometimes. Many might be quick to dismiss the idea that a company can help them do such a thing. But brands truly do have great potential to disconnect people from technology and take them back to their human roots. Using emotional appeal and fighting for positive change, brands that dare to be human in a world full of technology are bound to come out on top.

Technology in Careers has Gone from Nice to Necessary

On October 26, 2019January 29, 2020 By Megan IrelandIn CAP 105, Hi TechLeave a comment

Black Laptop Beside Audio Mixer Set by Abet Llacer from Pexels

We live in 2019, and with today’s rapid advancements in artificial intelligence, social networks, and more, IT workers aren’t the only ones who need technology skills to succeed in their jobs.

Nowadays, technology has become an important part of almost any field you look at. As an aspiring manager of marketing, artistic planning, or a related area in the music industry, I did a search on indeed.com for some jobs similar to those I might be interested in applying for in the future. After coming up with a list of ten, I broke down the technology-related skills needed to apply for each position, to prove how relevant technology will be in my future career:

1) Sr. Project Manager – Curation Strategy

Company: Spotify

Link: https://www.spotifyjobs.com

Technology-related skills required:

Ability to design digital presentations and reference documents
Keeping up to date with developments in media platforms and applications
Deep understanding of digital music curation

How I can become a stronger candidate:

I currently lack in-depth knowledge of digital music curation. In order to gain more skills in curation strategy and become more qualified for this position, I will research and read at least 25 articles about digital music curation over the next few months. Then I will apply that knowledge first-hand by curating my own practice playlists on Spotify.

2) Manager, Marketing and Promotions

Company: NPR

Link: https://recruiting.ultipro.com

Technology-related skills required:

5+ years of consumer marketing and promotions
Experience in digital marketing required
Experience in podcast development and promotion desired
Strong analytical skills and familiarity with online testing and optimization
Fluency in reporting tools, Excel, and KPIs

How I can become a stronger candidate:

I do not yet have any experience in digital marketing or podcast development and promotion. However, Google offers a free online marketing course that I plan to take this winter to broaden my knowledge of digital marketing and advertising. In addition, I will sign up with and begin to use Anchor, a free program for podcast-making, in the winter.

3) Music Writer

Company: Apple

Link: https://jobs.apple.com

Technology-related skills required:

Ability to explain analytical outcomes and technical roadblocks in business terms
Knowledge of current and developing trends in popular music and the cultural forces behind them
Deep familiarity with the Apple ecosystem of services and hardware (including Mac OS X, iOS, Apple Music, iTunes, App Store, iBooks, Podcasts, iTunes U, Trailers, & Apple TV)

How I can become a stronger candidate:

I already have a good grasp on current trends in music, as well as how to use some Apple services, namely iOS, iTunes, and the App Store. I will need to develop a familiarity with the Apple services I have not used before (as well as a deeper familiarity with those I have) to become more qualified for this position. To do so, I will learn to use iBooks, Apple Music, Podcasts, iTunes U, and Trailers – all applications I have access to through the iPhone – over the next few months.

4) Vice President of Artistic Planning

Company: Seattle Symphony Orchestra

Link: https://www.seattlesymphony.org

Technology-related skills required:

Progressive artistic planning experience
Ability to negotiate advantageous performance fees and contracts
Knowledge of where to search for and identify artists, conductors, composers, and other ideas to keep programming fresh
Knowledge of expense management programs

How I can become a stronger candidate:

In order to gain more knowledge about artistic planning strategies and artist contract legalities, I will take an online course in long-term artistic planning provided by Coursera next summer. After working as an intern at a local symphony orchestra for a year, I already have some knowledge about concert programming. However, I will also need to learn more about expense management programs over the summer, and will do so by watching tutorial videos on how to use software like Expensify and Abacus.

5) Operations Manager

Company: The Walt Disney Company

Link: https://jobs.disneycareers.com

Technology-related skills required:

Significant experience working with and in compliance systems, such as third party due diligence and risk monitoring systems, legal research systems, systems used to monitor and track compliance with export and sanctions regulations, and learning management systems
Well-versed in reporting and analytics tools to facilitate management-level reports or the development of dashboards and other monitoring toolkits
Must be proficient in statistical analysis using tools such as Excel, Tableau, etc.
IT-savvy with significant experience in formulating business requirements, reviewing functionalities and providing user acceptance feedback on IT projects that are compliance relevant

How I can become a stronger candidate:

To make myself a better candidate for this job, I will need to take training courses on different compliance systems, which I can do over the summer through uscompliancesystems.com at a relatively low cost. In addition, I will need to watch some tutorial videos on YouTube to familiarize myself with Tableau’s data visualization software.

6) Manager, Music Operations & Administration, Facebook Music Initiative

Company: Facebook

Link: https://www.facebook.com/careers

Technology-related skills required:

4+ years administrative management experience
Computer experience, including MS Outlook, Airtable, Word, Excel, Quip, and Dropbox
Experience with Quickbase or Cortex preferred

How I can become a stronger candidate:

I have had experience with many Microsoft products, including Outlook, Word, and Excel, but have not used Airtable or Quip. I can change this by signing up for free demos of both products and exploring them this winter. I can do the same with Quickbase, a business app development platform.

7) Head of Social Media

Company: The Madison Square Garden Company

Link: https://careers-msg.icims.com

Technology-related skills required:

10 years of social media publishing, writing, and content creation
Ability to develop standards, systems, and best practices for digital content creation, distribution, and measurement across all social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter
Deep understanding of the social ecosystem and how brands should participate in an authentic way
Proficiency in social media analytics and publishing tools

How I can become a stronger candidate:

To become a better candidate for this job, I will need to expand upon my basic knowledge of social media management tools like Hootsuite and HubSpot. To do this, I will take additional certification courses through the platforms on advanced uses and functions over the course of the next semester. In addition, it would be helpful for me to start practicing good social media content creation for my own personal accounts using resources like Canva, beginning right now.

8) Administrative Assistant for Music and Art Departments

Company: Muskingum University

Link: https://www.indeed.com/jobs

Technology-related skills required:

5 years administrative experience required
Proficiency with Microsoft Office skills including Excel, Outlook, and Powerpoint
Excellent written, verbal, and computer skills

How I can become a stronger candidate:

I already have a decent amount of experience with Excel, Outlook, and Powerpoint – however, I have not used them very much in an administrative setting. Therefore, I will take PA 270, an introductory course to public and nonprofit administration that GVSU offers, to better prepare myself for this job. Since the course is offered every semester, I could take it next semester, winter 2020.

9) Public Relations Manager

Company: Yamaha

Link: https://recruiting2.ultipro.com

Technology-related skills required:

5+ years of experience in public relations with 1-3 years of supervisory experience
Solid experience with social media including influencers, blogs, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc.
Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite products: Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint

How I can become a stronger candidate:

I have experience with social media for personal use, but hardly any for business use. To gain more experience, I will take free courses in social media for business over the next year, including the Introduction to Social Media Strategy course on skillshare.com. Also, I will familiarize myself with SharePoint (which I have never used before) by watching YouTube tutorial videos on how to use it.

10) Live Events Coordinator

Company: Townsquare Media

Link: https://www.indeed.com/jobs

Technology-related skills required:

2-5 years of experience in live event production
Deep familiarity with MS Office suite products (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc.)
Some production oversight experience (staging, sound & lights, pipe & drape, etc.)

How I can become a stronger candidate:

I am familiar with how to use most of the Microsoft Office products, but have close to no experience with live event production and staging. Most likely, the best way for me to gain this experience would be through an internship. Therefore, to become better qualified for this position, I should apply for internships with live event production companies like Live Nation after graduation.

PR Professionals: So What Do They Even Do, Exactly?

On September 7, 2019October 29, 2021 By Megan IrelandIn CAP 220, PR Trends1 Comment

Movies and TV shows often depict the work of public relations practitioners as glamorous or even effortless, but upon closer examination, their jobs are no walk in the park.

Chances are you’ve been exposed to at least one pop culture stereotype of a public relations career, whether that be the party lifestyle of Samantha Jones in the series “Sex and the City,” the vengeful publicity methods of Jessie Bowers on “Arrested Development,” or somewhere in between. According to PR professors Jami A. Fullerton and Lori Melton McKinnon, “public relations may struggle with its professional image more than other industries,” (pg. 1) no doubt due in part to media portrayals like these. Professional organizations like PRSA (Public Relations Society of America) are putting in a lot of effort to debunk negative myths about public relations as a career. But while they try to help the general public answer the question of what PR is not, how do we address the question of what it is?

Growing up, I used to think that PR only consisted of persuasion and feedback gathering. I had this preconceived notion that people in PR did a lot of standing out on the street, trying to get strangers to take surveys and share their feedback on a product or service they probably didn’t even care about. Really, don’t ask me where that idea came from. It’s just what eleven-year-old me thought.

As I’ve grown older and learned more and more about PR as a career field, I’ve come to realize that it actually focuses a lot more on communication and on building relationships – the stuff that matters most when a company or organization is building a reputation with the public. The Arthur W. Page Society, a professional association of PR and communications executives, defines public relations as “the art of developing, understanding, and communicating character, both corporate and individual” (para. 2). And I couldn’t agree more.

I like to think of PR in terms of a walkie talkie system. The senior executives of a company are on one walkie talkie, having a conversation with the general public on the other end. The PR practitioners act like the radio waves bouncing between the two devices, handling the communication and serving as a sort of “middle man” helping to build the relationship. I think it’s important to recognize that, like walkie talkies, PR is a system of two-way, back-and-forth communication. Both the company and the publics they attempt to reach have influence over the relationship for better or for worse. And it’s this real, human relationship-building that to me makes PR such an important career field.

I’ve also come to learn that PR is an incredibly multifaceted, ever-changing profession. Practitioners often must play many diverse management roles, contrary to the myth that a PR career requires little effort. Their duties can even bleed into other related fields, including marketing, advertising, journalism, or finance. And with all of this in mind, it’s hard to imagine being a PR professional tasked with helping a company to build a good reputation among the public. Where would you even start?

Luckily, PR practitioners are allowed (and in fact encouraged) to get pretty creative with the tactics they use when carrying out a campaign. The rise of social media over the past ten to twenty years has also completely transformed the profession (and for the better too, I think). Companies can now collaborate with other companies halfway across the world on campaigns, or have instant access to interact with the public at any given time of any given day via Facebook comments, Instagram likes, or retweets.

A group of researchers from Texas Tech and San Diego State University found that entry level PR practitioners in 2015 “spent more time on social media than they did on traditional tasks” (Lee, Sha, Dozier, & Sargent, pg. 412). Indeed, it’s an incredibly important job of PR teams to keep up with today’s growing online world. And it’s an exciting new way to build those relationships that are so crucial for companies in maintaining a good reputation.

Even with little experience in the field, I’ve learned enough so far to know that public relations is no career for the faint-hearted. While the job may involve the occasional Samantha Jones-esque dinner party, it also requires a lot of writing skills, planning skills, strategic thinking, and a readiness to adapt to change. Yet, the dynamic, changeable nature of PR is exactly what makes it such an exciting and appealing profession to me. It isn’t by any means the career of smooth-talking and glamour that the media portrays it to be – however, it is a fun, challenging, people-oriented profession that many find to be very rewarding.

References:

Lee, N., Sha, B., Dozier, D., & Sargent, P. (2015, September). The 
       role of new public relations practitioners as social media    
       experts. Public Relations Review, 41(3), 411-413. 
       doi:10.1016/j.pubrev.2015.05.002

How Technology Helped Me to See Ad & PR for What it Really is

On September 7, 2019October 29, 2021 By Megan IrelandIn CAP 105, Hi TechLeave a comment

When I first stumbled upon advertising and public relations as a possible career path, my immediate reaction was “No way, not for me.” I was never very good at persuasion. I hated the idea of making sales pitches. I didn’t feel like I was creative enough to come up with solutions to problems that would actually make a difference in the corporate world. But I was wrong.

One of the most amazing things about ad and PR is that it is always, always changing. And the crazy advancements in technology the world has seen just in the past ten years have been a huge contributor, both in changing the profession and in changing my personal attitude towards it.

Of course, the obvious big advancement of the early 2000s was social media. Before Mark Zuckerburg and the creation of Facebook in 2004, how did companies even stay attuned to what the public thought of their products and services? (Yes, I know there were other social media sites launched before 2004, let’s say Six Degrees or LinkedIn – you can view the full list on History Cooperative – but let’s put that aside for now.) PR practitioners sometimes actually had to take to the streets to gauge their client’s reputation among the general population, stopping strangers to complete a survey, conducting a phone-calling campaign, or using that ancient communication method called the U.S. Post Office (gasp!).

For youngsters in today’s day and age, that’s probably mind-blowing to think about. And while I am a college student and wouldn’t consider myself an old-timer by any means, I do remember a world without Facebook, a world before social media became a big deal. It was in that world that I built my initial perceptions about what it meant to work in advertising and public relations. Calling strangers on the phone? Stopping people on the street to ask questions that most of them have no interest in answering? Elementary school me thought no thank you.

It was only when I got to college that I realized that ad and PR is so much more. While collecting feedback to improve upon your products and services is important, there’s a whole other more human side to the profession that involves making real relationships with real people. And social media – in addition to smartphones, video chatting, and all sorts of other advances in communication tools – have opened up the capabilities to do this a hundred fold.

I’m not saying that PR professionals weren’t able to help businesses connect and form relationships with their publics before the age of the Internet and social media – I mean, people have been successful in the PR career field for hundreds of years. I’m also not demoting the value of face-to-face interactions. But isn’t it cool that today, right now, in 2019, a business leader could speak directly with other business leaders halfway across the world on Skype and collaborate on a project or campaign? That a PR specialist for a company could take 2 minutes to log on to Twitter, respond to, and resolve a comment from a customer who had a negative experience with one of their products? That an ad made by an average person for a Doritos contest could go viral and get millions of YouTube hits across the world? Yeah. I’d say it’s pretty cool.

The simple ability to connect with anybody, anywhere, in an instant makes all the difference between the PR of ten years ago and the PR of today. And once I made that realization, it hit me just how exciting a career in ad and PR could be. While I didn’t want to make sales pitches and conduct surveys on the phone, I did want to help foster quality, mutually beneficial relationships between companies or organizations and the people they serve. And in a world of rapidly advancing communications technology, the means of doing so were – well, are – endless.