Our summer intern Andrew Waber discusses his summer experience at Livingston Communications… You can email Andrew at andrew [at] livingstonbuzz [dot] com.

Coming into this internship out of my sophomore year, I had never had a class that discussed public relations for more than 15 minutes. I was very interested in sales though, so I felt that this related field would be a nice place to get my proverbial feet wet in the business world, but I wasn’t totally sure of what I was getting into. PR seemed like this seedy underworld of business, where company image control was going to be the main focus.

After interning here for eight weeks I can say that while the object of PR is close to what I imagined it as, the methods of doing so in today?s environment have left me stunned. The “global village” that Marshall McLuhan discussed in the 1960s, is truer than ever, and companies can really act like a business within that village.

It is now quite easy to address customers and potential customers in an almost one-to-one format. “You have a problem? Talk to me.” I knew about this quality of the internet coming in, but the degree of its integration into business relations I did not truly grasp until spending some time at LComm.

The “hands off” approach to engaging customers was something that struck me as particularly unique. Just provide content and value and the goodwill created yields results. People inherently want new products or services, so pressure just isn’t necessary; something engaging and provocative will do just fine.

Speaking for my age group, a key demographic being 20 years old, nothing gets our blood boiling like private companies trying to be viral and underground. For example, Sony’s, PSP “graffiti” campaign, or Cartoon Network’s Aqua Teen Hunger Force “bomb” scare, are ideas that make you shake your head, and makes for bad PR incarnate. Be genuine, we won’t hold it against you.

I have learned that today’s PR environment, at least from my experience, has made traditional Press releases a rare sight, blogs and blog research a major responsibility, and MySpace, Facebook, and other social network knowledge part of the job description.

Through my experience and listening in on various interviews with some great PR minds, I have gathered that “PR 2.0″ is, for lack of a better phrase, exerting control by not being controlling. I have a newfound appreciation for the craft of PR. It is one aspect of business where laurels cannot be rested upon, innovation takes precedent over nearly everything, and if you don’t have a deep understanding of the public mentality, you will be punished for it.

For certain, my feet are wet, and this internship has made me consider jumping into the cool PR pool. I just hope if I do, Geoff isn’t writing another book. Literary projects do not make a happy Livingston.