That said, I’d be lying if I didn’t share the same sort of frustration about the market. There seems to be a lack of global thinking here – but that’s a Phoenix phenoemon, not necessarily a PR one. This is primarily a small business town; the PR community reflects this.

As far as I’m concerned though, any perceived lack of talent here is just a HUGE opportunity for those at the top of the PR practice — or any category for that matter — to come in and dominate. For example, if I’m the PR guy who strategizes to get his local clients in the New York Times or CNN as well as the Republic and Channel 12 News and I have the contacts to make it happen consistently — I’ll attract more and better work and others will automatically provide less value or competition. I bring global SEO tactics to the table or an expertise in social media or depth of knowledge about a given industry – same thing. The cream rises to the top.

In the meantime, thanks for the inspiration – it’s something I was already thinking about and you may see a post from me on this.

But then just when you think you’re making some progress, those people working on that social media tool, use terms like flack that make you realize just how outdated we still are.

If you think Phoenix is so behind the times, a more constructive comment would be to ask why this city can’t sustain and support talent like Laura who come in from the big cities.