I wonder Why?

Why do I do these things to myself? Why do I try and pretend that I care a lot about my career? Why do I try to pretend that PR is the place for me?

These are the kinds of questions that come up every time I try to do something for professional development. Today I tried to utilize my PRSA membership. My boss asked me on several occasions to join the local PRSA (public relations society of America) and to be involved. I joined in January. This is the first time I've attended an event.

Mostly I haven't attended because I can't figure out why I have to pay to be a member on the national level, local level and in a specific section (healthcare, non-profit, etc) and STILL have to pay $30 to attend any of the meetings. That's right. $30 per meeting. I wasn't sure it was worth it until today. Now I'm sure it's not worth it.

I went today to hear the president of the National PRSA talk about the state of PR. Despite not being completely sure if PR is for me, I still am a geek when it comes to media trends. Love to talk about the media and all the things that are happening within it. However, I really didn't learn much of anything. I was also pissed because the meeting was supposed to be an hour-long and ended up being an hour and 45 minutes long.

Another thing about PRSA meetings, is that you can't be an observer there. As soon as I walked through the door, I had so many hands extended my way that I thought I was in a bad sexual harassment training video. I sat next to a lady that acted like I was her best friend when we left and knowing that I will never probably see her again.

It's just so hard to be faced with a room full of people that are either really enthusiastic about their jobs or care enough to fake a level of enthusiasm that I save for Tivo.

So, from now on, my professional development will be limited to books and online courses. That way I can learn about how to successfully interact with people without having to actually interact with people.