In a few days, we’ll be halfway through 2016. Yes, wow! Think about that for a minute. As such, I wanted to revisit this December Tactics column penned by fellow Counselors Academy member, Deborah Weinstein of Tornoto PR firm Strategic Objectives, called The Changes in Store for 2016: Trendspotting for the New Year.

Deb predicted that our profession of public relations, with its power to make news, spark conversation and engage in real time, will continue to take a prominent role at the business strategy table. She included predictions from other Counselors Academy members that support that thought such as the following:

“Search and content merge together to create the fabric of how we generate awareness and influence action. It’s an opportunity for PR professionals to broaden our skill sets into data collection and analysis, audience segmentation and automated technologies to provide targeted and relevant communications that move audiences through the sales funnel. In the process, we become invaluable to the organizations we serve.” — Lisa Gerber, founder, Big Leap Creative

“I’m going to pay even more attention to what Google calls micro-moments: all those times during the day when we reflexively turn to our smartphones to satisfy those incessant ‘I want to know/go/do/buy’ impulses. For me, that’s a rallying cry for public relations on two fronts. First, we must understand what motivates our audiences and the type of content they’re searching for in the moment. Second, we need to get untethered from our desktops, put on our walking shoes, and then create and distribute short, visual, meaningful stories that stand out and help people when they’re on the go.” — Martin Waxman, president, Martin Waxman Communications

“The erosion of traditional news sources by social and digital media will continue to provide opportunities for the PR and communications profession. Content generation and thought leadership will remain key components for success in our profession.” — Tom Garrity, president, The Garrity Group Public Relations

Do you think these predictions are on the mark for where we are halfway through 2016? What predictions are you willing to make for the next six months and 2017? You can read Deb’s full column here.

As a member of PRSA‘s Counselors Academy executive committee, I’ve been collaborating with Tactics editor John Elsasser for several months as a liaison of sorts to secure contributors for the publication’s monthly column called “Changing Times.” It was started by Michael Herman, APR, Fellow PRSA, friend and mentor to many. There was no one better than Mike to write about changes in the public relations industry, and his only published column appeared in January 2015, the same month he unexpectedly left this world. Since then, members of PRSA’s Counselors Academy have been contributing their thoughts on the evolution of our profession.

Want to know more about Counselors Academy and its members? Read our previous posts here.