Caroline Heywood

In 1990, you could not have read this blog, nor even understood the word ‘blog’ because it didn’t exist. A mobile phone was the size of a brick and about as useful. You couldn’t call anyone because they didn’t have a mobile phone. And mainly, you called people to tell them you were calling from a mobile phone. How amazing, we all thought, for a few minutes.

In 1990, we sent out releases by post - hard copy pictures with captions attached. And rather sweaty, leather-clad motorcycle couriers trudged in and out of the office collecting packages that now move digitally, albeit with less entertainment.

When I look back, I can see how we got to here. I can see why we chose to adopt this technology or hire that person. I can see why we developed certain policies and procedures. I can clearly see the decisions we made and why Walsh Public Relations is the shape it is today – forged as it has been by those years of expertise.

I’m reminded of the story of a sculptor explaining how he created the sculpture of a horse. “I just cut away all the bits that didn’t look like a horse,” he says. And it’s true too for Walsh Public Relations; its shape is the result of years of refining – and cutting away all the bits that didn’t look like Walsh Public Relations.

But the whole idea is that the sculptor knew what the horse looked like before he started. We didn’t. And no one else did either. We could have ended up with a mule or a zebra. We could have ended up with an ass (We have once or twice!). Or we could have ended up with the classic horse designed by committee – a camel!

But after 20 years with Walsh Public Relations, I’m more inclined to reflect forwards than backwards. I’m more interested in the future and what it holds rather than nostalgically reeling in the years (except perhaps over a few pints with Jim and Martina who were there at the beginning!). But when I reflect forward, I can’t be as certain about the results.

In 1990 I knew nothing of the future. The digital age has totally changed the way and the speed the world operates. And today, I don’t have a crystal ball on how things will unfold in the medium to long term. Neither, by the way, does anyone else. The truth is that I can’t, in many cases, predict the future and the effect it will have on our clients or our company, except to know with certainty that things will change.

But with those refinements of time, I can understand now just why something or someone is better for us in the present and I have the experience of how similar situations have worked in the past. And not just the everyday things like technology, people, contracts and deadlines, but much more intangible things like ethos, professionalism and just being better at what we do.

I think of that line from T.S Eliot “You are the music while the music lasts”. And I think of all the connections over all those years who are part of that musical composition. The person who showed me this bit of software, the colleague who advised me on a crisis, the wise words of a client who helped me to understand a complex situation better – all these people who for two decades have been chipping away at my body and mind in Walsh Public Relations and making it ‘more like a horse’.

I’m grateful to all of them. They are the music that is the basis of my music and I hope to keep playing it – for as long as it lasts.