Off now to London for a week of campaign meetings, training, management planning and good old fashioned socializing. It’s hard to take a week out of the calendar to do this, but it’s far harder if you don’t. Here’s why:

– an international team which has never met will never perform cohesively – personal relationships are better than email, phone and IM ones – until you’ve discussed first hand how the media operates in each country you can’t truly empathize or incorporate it in your planning – getting out of the office gives you a fresh perspective. Getting out of the country has twice the impact – it’s amzaing how similar PR people are in different countries. Until you meet them it’s easy only to see the differences – social interaction breaks down geographic, cultural, and functional barriers – it creates stories. Stories are the foundation of culture. Culture is the thing which defines a PR firm – you discover that others are facing the same challenges as you in their markets. Whatever your level, it’s good to know you are not alone or the first – you realize that while logically it’s easy to ratioanlize why you shouldn’t spend the money or the time, your heart must rule sometimes – it’s fun and if it ain’t fun, you’re not doing it right