Hello Everybody! My name is Chris Conway, and I am the newest member of the CHEN PR team. Now that all of the hazing rituals are over, it seems it’s time for me to write my first blog post. I’ve been at CHEN less than a month and though I feel capable, I know I’ve got a lot to learn. So instead of trying to pose as an omniscient guru of all things Public Relations, I have decided to focus on one of the more basic problems I’ve had as the resident greenhorn.
The first thing you have to do if you want to start really contributing on an account is learn the lingo. Obviously it’s difficult to be of any use if you can’t follow what everybody is talking about, and it became evident to me early on that computer technology companies love acronyms; very particular acronyms too. The likes of which never came up during my hours of AIM acronym training in junior high or my later graduate studies in cellular texting. The acronyms of the industry are so ingrained within its culture that people rarely say anything in long form—i.e. English—unless it’s absolutely necessary. But you can’t blame them. I mean imagine how long a ridiculous—and entirely fabricated—example like the one below would be if it wasn’t for acronyms?
“Company A’s CSO used RSA’s ECAT to find IOCs in order to locate APTs that could have disrupted B2B operations.”
However, for those of us not in the know, a sentence like that might as well be written in Sanskrit or wingdings. So I did what anyone in my position would do… I did a Google search. This led me to the discovery, and subsequent bookmarking, of what I’ve dubbed the omnibus of awesome. With some help from this invaluable resource I’ve begun creating a perpetually growing excel spreadsheet full of industry relevant acronyms. It saves me time, helps me learn, and resembles alphabet soup if you look at it with your eyes crossed.
It may not be the most earth shattering little organizational tactic ever conceived, but it could probably help just about anyone who is trying to learn the technical jargon of an industry they are unfamiliar with. Now instead of worrying I’ve got a case of adult onset dyslexia, I can refer to my spread sheet, restore my sanity, and bring order back into the world.