Looking back, this stretch actually began July 17, when I had the opportunity to present at the 3CMA Regional Conference in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, just outside New Orleans.
What followed became a powerful reminder of the value of PIO professional development, peer learning and the relationships that strengthen our profession.
Ten days later, I began the first of three Advanced Public Information Officer (APIO) courses. I spent a week in Emmitsburg, Maryland, at FEMA’s National Disaster & Emergency Management University, working with PIOs from across the country.
The following week, I traveled to Raleigh, North Carolina, to help teach another APIO course with a fantastic group of communicators from throughout the state. From there, I returned to Emmitsburg for a third APIO delivery on the NDEMU campus.
While several of my APIO instructor colleagues continued to North Dakota for a fourth APIO delivery, I headed south to Monroe County, Florida. There, I spent three days teaching L0105 Public Information Basics to a truly dedicated group of PIOs serving the distinctive communities of the Florida Keys.
I concluded this stretch at the National Information Officers Association (NIOA) Annual Training Conference, once again surrounded by public information professionals from across the country.
Over the course of several weeks, I presented at one conference, helped teach four classes, and attended another national conference.
I came home tired. But I also came home encouraged.
There are some really good PIOs out there.
Different Communities, Shared Commitment
The people I met represented different agencies, disciplines, regions, and levels of experience. Some serve large organizations with established communication teams. Others may be the only person in their agency responsible for public information, media relations, social media, crisis communication, and everything else that falls under the increasingly broad PIO umbrella.
Their communities are also very different.
The communication challenges facing a state agency are not identical to those facing a local police department, fire department, emergency management agency, public health organization, or county government. What works in one part of the country may need to be adapted significantly somewhere else.
The Florida Keys offered a particularly good reminder that local context matters. The PIOs serving Monroe County operate in an environment and serve a population unlike almost anywhere else in the country.
I also received an informal lesson in “island time.”
I learned that a 60-minute lunch can easily stretch to 75 minutes and that a 9 a.m. start can occasionally drift toward 9:20. By the third day, even this New England instructor was beginning to adjust.
All joking aside, I was impressed by the commitment of the PIOs in the Keys. They understand their communities, the people they serve, and the distinctive challenges that come with communicating in such a unique place.
The setting may change, but the commitment to serving the public was consistent everywhere I went.
PIO Professional Development Is Driven From Within
One of my strongest takeaways from these experiences is that PIOs have an intrinsic interest in professional development.
Most are not attending training simply to collect a certificate or check a box. They genuinely want to improve.
They want to communicate more clearly. They want to make better decisions. They want to be prepared before the next incident. They want to learn how other agencies have handled difficult situations. They want to become better advisers to their leaders and better sources of information for their communities.
That motivation matters because public information is consequential work.
The decisions PIOs make can affect public safety, organizational credibility, community relationships, and public trust. During an emergency, the information we provide can influence what people know, how they respond, and whether they view their government as a credible source.
The people I encountered understood that responsibility.
The challenge is not always convincing PIOs that professional development is important. In many cases, the greater challenge is ensuring their organizations provide the time, funding, staffing and leadership support necessary for them to pursue it.
Learn From Your Peers
Another lesson was reinforced repeatedly: PIOs are among one another’s greatest professional resources.
An instructor can introduce concepts, provide structure, share experiences, and guide exercises. But some of the most valuable learning happens when participants begin talking with one another.
Someone shares a situation their agency faced. Another participant explains how their organization handled something similar. Someone asks a difficult question. Another person offers a perspective nobody else in the room had considered.
Those conversations are not distractions from the curriculum. They are an essential part of the learning.
Every PIO brings something valuable to the room. A veteran communicator may offer judgment developed through years of high-consequence incidents. A newer PIO may bring a fresh perspective, challenge an established practice, or introduce a creative approach others have not considered.
Job titles and years of experience do not determine who has something worth contributing.
That is also why the professional relationships formed during classes and conferences are so important. Many PIOs work alone or as part of very small teams. A network of trusted peers provides access to experience, advice, encouragement, and honest feedback long after the class has ended.
I Learn in Every Class I Teach
I learn something in every class I teach, and I believe that is exactly how it should be.
I do not enter a classroom believing expertise flows in only one direction. I bring my experiences, lessons, successes, and mistakes. The participants bring theirs.
I want to be challenged.
I want people to ask difficult questions, test assumptions, introduce different perspectives, and respectfully disagree. I want to help create an environment where people feel comfortable sharing what worked, what failed, and what they would do differently next time.
My role is not simply to stand at the front of a room and deliver content. It is to help facilitate discussions that produce learning for everyone, including me.
Being challenged is not evidence that instruction has failed. It is often evidence that meaningful learning is taking place.
The curriculum provides an important foundation, but it should also create space for participants to apply those principles to the situations they face in their own communities. A productive classroom is not always a quiet classroom. Sometimes the most valuable moments begin when someone says, “I’m not sure I agree.”
The Fundamentals Still Matter
Spending time with participants in both Public Information Basics and Advanced PIO courses reinforced that professional development is not a ladder we eventually finish climbing.
Even the most experienced PIOs return to the fundamentals.
Accuracy matters. Clarity matters. Empathy matters. Accessibility matters. Judgment matters. Credibility matters. Trust matters.
The tools continue to change. Social media platforms evolve. Artificial intelligence is changing how information is created, distributed, monitored, and manipulated. Public expectations continue to grow.
But our fundamental responsibility has not changed.
PIOs must verify information, understand its consequences, provide sound communication advice, and take responsibility for the messages their organizations release.
Technology can make us faster. It cannot replace judgment.
An Encouraging View of the Profession
After four classes, two conferences and countless conversations with public information professionals, I came away with an encouraging view of the PIO profession.
There are talented, thoughtful, and dedicated public information officers working throughout the country. They are curious. They want to improve. They care deeply about their work and the communities they serve.
They also have a great deal to teach one another.
No instructor, course, conference, or individual has all the answers. But when we create opportunities for PIOs to challenge assumptions, share experiences, build relationships, and learn from their peers, the entire profession becomes stronger.
If you are a PIO, continue seeking those opportunities and sharing what you have learned.
If you lead an organization, give your communicators the time, resources, and support to develop their skills before the next crisis arrives.
And if you teach PIOs, leave room for the people in the classroom to teach you, too.
Our communities receive better information when the people responsible for providing it never stop learning.
A Special Thank You
My thanks to Scott Lehtonen, executive director of 3CMA, for inviting me to attend and present at the Jefferson Parish Regional Conference, and to Chris Floore, 3CMA President, for the warm welcome and generous hospitality.
A special shoutout to the fellow instructors I had the privilege of working with during these past several weeks: Mark Brady, Bryan Beaty, Melissa Evans, Dr. Kalyca Bechtel, Brad Huffines, Pam Hoffman, and Liz Pratt.
Thank you also to the fabulous Nicole Shutts, the APIO and EPIO program manager at NDEMU, who helps make these courses possible.
Finally, many thanks to Kristen Livengood for inviting me to teach L0105 Public Information Basics in Monroe County, for the opportunity to spend three days learning alongside the dedicated PIOs of the Florida Keys, and for giving me a chance to explore the Keys.
Find Your Next Opportunity
That belief in continuous PIO professional development is one of the reasons I created The PIO Calendar.
The PIO Calendar brings together training, conferences, webinars, networking events, and other professional development opportunities for public information officers and communicators. It is free to use and designed to make it easier to find opportunities that match your interests, location, schedule, and stage of your career.
Professional development should not depend on whether you happen to hear about a course before it fills. Whether you are new to the profession or have decades of experience, there is always another opportunity to learn, connect, and grow.
Visit The PIO Calendar and find your next opportunity.