Those Trekkies out there will have immediately recognised the opening words from the original Star Trek series. I have to come clean and admit that I am a fan – as a family we invested in Star Trek DVD collections at Christmas and have successfully converted my son. And with the new film out next month the dinner conversation is invariably Star Trek related, and phrases from the series now fall into our everyday vocabulary!
There is though a serious point to opening this piece by discussing Star Trek. It’s a TV phenomenon like no other and has captured imaginations since the late 1960’s when it was first launched. The ‘philosophy’ behind the Star Trek missions was to explore unchartered territory by “going boldly where no man has gone before”. That’s something I like to think that we at Edelman do as a business. It is particularly pertinent in the area of professional medical communications where my specialism lies – because this is a highly regulated area and, quite rightly, we have to consider the nature, impact and influence of our communications. Sometimes though, new ways of communicating need to be explored – communications technologies do not stand still and we have to work out how best to utilise these within the regulatory framework that is in place.
There is another “Trekism” that has parallels here. In the series, “Star Fleet” has developed an over-arching guidance for these explorers; it’s called the “Prime Directive” and provides a set of rules of engagement if you like for when the intrepid explorers encounter new worlds and civilisations and it is based on a policy of “non interference”.
So as a fully paid up Trekkie, I like to think that we as a business can boldly go into new territory, but that we set ourselves very high ethical and moral standards – our own “Prime Directive” – something that makes us consider seriously the impact of what we do and ensures that through rigorous ethical questioning, we never go too far but we do keep pace with today’s technologies and work with our clients and our audiences to provide the right information, in the right way and at the right time. If we do this well, I am sure that we will all “live long and prosper”!
{ 0 comments… add one now }