PRSourceCode recently wrapped its 2009 Top Tech Communicators Study, in which more than 300 IT and business journalists told them which companies’ public relations departments they felt did the best job getting them the info they wanted to know. Hopefully some of those ‘judges’ are out there reading this post. We are thrilled (we really are – it’s not just PR talk) that AMD’s Global Communications team was named to that list.

Before you think this is just another example of PR on PR, let me assure you this is not about patting ourselves on the back for being good communications professionals. I am going to share some of the reasons we may get it right – but these reasons may surprise you.

AMD DNA

Ask any current or even former employee of AMD to name a few things that stick in their mind about the company, and they’ll invariably say something about how AMD manages to get into your blood, almost becoming another gene on one of those DNA double helix diagrams. It manifests itself most often as a fighting spirit. No matter how you describe it, once you’ve got it, you’ve got it. The people who work in PR are no exception. We possess that spirit. We believe in the company. We believe in the products. We believe in our leadership. And we believe in what we do. We’ve got good stories at AMD, and our company sits at the center of a critical industry that enables great things for people the world over. So at the end of the day, you can believe in us because we believe in ourselves.    

VALUE OF PR

We’re fortunate in AMD Global Communications to have a management team that across the board, understands the value that our team brings to the equation. They ‘get’ our contributions, even if it they sometimes difficult to quantify in terms of bottom line dollars.  AMD has a management team that empowers us to take risks, while at the same time demand that truth, transparency and integrity remain supreme. So we might diminish the focus on AMD’s own individual product brands in favor of a mainstream consumer brand like VISION to help make purchasing decisions easier for consumers. Or we might create a heated discussion on industry issues such as battery life reporting, even if it the arguments don’t always fall in our favor.  When you’ve got truth, transparency and integrity on your side, communication is rewarding.

WE LIKE IT

Let’s face it. Working in communications is not the same as schlepping away as a telemarketer making cold calls. No, in our jobs, we get to talk with you. And here again, we’re fortunate. The media we deal with on a regular basis are extremely well-informed and receptive to the news we provide. We can also have a productive dialogue with our journalists, because we’ve developed mutual respect and trust. In other words, if we do a good job at being communicators, it’s because our customers help make our job easy.

(We also get work with some great people who also help make our jobs easier, both inside of AMD and notably the extended AMD PR team at Bite Communications.)

So a big thanks to all of the media out there who helped bestow this award on us. Raise a glass and toast yourselves. Cheers.

Catherine Greenlaw is a public relations manager at AMD. Her postings are her own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites are provided for convenience and unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such linked sites and no endorsement is implied.