We at Rasky Partners are proud of our talented public relations and public affairs experts across the firm’s practice areas. In our ongoing Meet the Expert series, we sit down with a different agency leader on Mondays to get their thoughts on several important and timely questions and gain a greater sense of their industry expertise and experiences. This week we sit down with Rasky executive vice president in our Washington office, Kirk Monroe.

What interests you most about public relations?

I love the breadth and variety of issues and topics. No two clients or campaigns are alike.

With PR being such a constantly evolving field, where do you see it headed and what can professionals do to keep up?

As the use of social media and technological advances in our orbit increase, I would suggest initiating and fostering meaningful relationships; with reporters, with clients and with community leaders.

Prior to Rasky Partners, you served as the director of communications for the Business Roundtable and were the founder and principal of an award-winning, nationally ranked PR firm as well. How did these in-house and entrepreneurial roles prove helpful as an executive vice president here at the firm?

At the Business Roundtable, I was the client, where I managed an agency team of 18 and a multi-million dollar budget, all of which helped me understand how to maximize the agency-client relationship. The years running my very small firm taught me much about the business and financial side of an agency as well.

You also served on the Washington, D.C. staff for former U.S. Senator David Durenberger earlier in your career. In what ways did this experience on The Hill help shape your work today?

I learned firsthand how policy is formed and what public forces influence legislation, which to this day guides tactics and tools we deploy for clients.

There is no shortage of public affairs and PR firms in Washington. What sets Rasky Partners apart from the rest when it comes to its approach?

There is a genuine comradery amongst my colleagues, and our commitment to our clients is personal. Having worked in and hired mega firms, you don’t see much of that.

What client campaign are you most proud of in looking back at your time with Rasky? Why?

I would have to say our work with the Japanese Embassy over the past two years. As a team we were successful at generating ongoing positive coverage through a series of multi-state media tours.

If you could offer clients one piece of advice, what would it be?

As so many of our clients do, it is critical to include and engage us as early as possible. The sooner we come in, and the more open our channels of communication, the more effective we can be at executing strategy.

For more on Rasky’s industry expertise, please click here.