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Are relationships still valuable? Do they really make a difference? We are social beings and have the need to interact with others. The lack of social interaction in 2020 revealed just how important relationships are – both personally and professionally. Professionally, we are still working our way back to the level of social capital we enjoyed, and took for granted, before the COVID-19 pandemic. While the workplace has changed dramatically, the value of relationships has not – they are still critical for our success in our personal and professional lives.

Karen Smittle, APR, CPRC is a retired public relations professional. Her 40-year career included leading communications teams at engineering companies, editing and writing technical communications, and targeting those communications to the intended audience(s). Basically, making sure the target audience understood what the engineers wrote! From 2010 to 2021, she was a guest lecturer at the University of Florida’s Engineering Leadership program for graduate engineers. She delivered a succinct presentation on technical writing emphasizing how important it is to know your target audience and to communicate well to that audience.

From 1996 – 2000, Karen ran her own public relations company and was given the opportunity to broaden her skillset. She worked for the Air National Guard (ANG) as a community relations specialist interviewing community members at ANG bases across the country to develop and write a Community Relations Plan for the bases. She also wrote, edited, and designed two monthly magazines – one local and the other international.

Karen joined FPRA in 1996 and has served on the board and on various committees. She was the FPRA Gainesville Chapter president in 2003-2004, and served on the FPRA State Board of Directors as the VP of Membership and the VP of Annual Conference.