Public Affairs is my favorite aspect of the communications business. But what is it exactly? Public Affairs is a term of art that describes the practice of managing an organization’s relationship with stakeholders and outside interests. These can include elected officials, regulatory, policy makers, customers, local community leaders, trade associations, business groups, non-profits, unions and the media.
As a practitioner, we engage stakeholders to advance policy issues that are important to an organization. We assist policy makers and elected officials with policymaking and provide input. We are the conduit between a company and those outside interests. Those interests can be important because they can influence the operating environment of an organization.
Public Affairs coordinates complex and challenging issues confronting organizations and businesses, usually from external forces. Oftentimes, issues that coexist between the private and public sectors are complex and can be threatening – and just as often there are opportunities to be realized.
Our approach at dovetail solutions is to bridge the gap between public and private and help get clients from Point A to Point B through development of a tactical plan with specific end goals. Public Affairs is the coordination of many moving parts, such as:
- Government relations
- Coalition building
- Influencers and third-party validators
- Media relations and social media
- Reputation management
- Branding
- Writing and research
- Messaging
What makes dovetail solutions unique and sets us apart form others is our special blend of relationships with government officials, business leaders and influencers, a deep knowledge of public policy across many areas including energy, water, transportation, real estate, natural resources and justice, and the skills and expertise to move issues forward and solve extremely challenging problems.
Just a sampling of Public Affairs for our clients: Managing public affairs for the world’s largest telecom company; Clearing the way for one of the largest hotel developments in the West, preventing the hostile takeover of an electric system by a city, stopping a hydropower project in Aspen, changing the city government of a small mountain town, managing the reputation of CEOs and celebrities, coordinating public involvement for government agencies, stopping harmful legislation to a client and changing juvenile justice laws.