Why Reg Griffin is Awesome

You may have seen his famous one-liner commentaries on Twitter via his handle @Reg_Griffin but may not know about his real talent: public relations. Spending over 17 years in public relations and corporate communications with Comcast, Reg has seen our industry make several dramatic shifts throughout his career. However, he didn’t start out as a PR pro as his career initially launched through radio “My original career path was radio broadcasting.  I started working at small stations in Covington and Conyers at age 13 and was hired by WSB-AM 750 in 1987.  But a friend in PR at Georgia Power, who was a former news director at WSB, suggested corporate communications as something that was more stable, lucrative and allowed me to continue working with media folks.  Took his advice in 1989, first working in PR with a chamber of commerce and county government before joining the cable industry in 1994 and remaining there for 17 years.”

As stated, Reg has seen some dramatic shifts in the PR industry with the biggest one – in his eyes – being rooted in social media. He said initially, people didn’t take it seriously but how that attitude quickly changed as it became an important tool for customer service, media and public relations.

So what drives Reg in his passion for PR?

“Because I was a reporter for several years, I find greatest enjoyment in working with the media and helping them in both reactive and proactive settings.  We sort of rely on each other.  They have space and time to fill with interesting stories, and corporate communications can help bring the content.”

Knowing how content has become a valuable form of currency in our industry, Reg has the experience to know what is valuable to the general public. He also saw value in not only external communications but also employee communication and branding as well. In his own words:

“Ideally, our employees should be our finest ambassadors, but they must be equipped with the information.  We spend most of our time at work, and in our personal time people will ask questions about the business.  Employees want to be identified with their business when its a respectable brand and they feel most comfortable having the latest information and feeling equipped to talk about it publicly.”

Outside of his career life, Reg enjoys spending time with his family (a wife and two daughters) going out to eat and attending plays and musicals around the area. In addition, Reg is currently leading a group of young professionals in study at the Church of the Apostles here in Atlanta (where he and I initially met IRL).

Being in the PR industry as long as he has, Reg always has a few words of wisdom to spare:

“The old adage about careers says to find something you enjoy doing and you'll never work a day in your life.  I totally believe that.  As a corporate spokesperson, I actually enjoy the 24/7 demands of the job, and have spent many nights, weekends and vacations occasionally talking with reporters to help them meet their demands. The Bible talks about being ready to talk about your faith “in season and out of season." I find the same is true in public relations.”

The best part about Reg Griffin? In addition to being a part-time anchor for WSB Radio, he is currently looking for a new opportunity in specifically public relations. If you know of anyone looking to add to their talent roster, feel free to connect with him on LinkedIn here or even shoot me a note through my contact page for more questions. I definitely recommend him. Reg would be a valuable asset to any team.

Who else do you know that’s awesome?