Boathouse President Peter Prodromou beforehand spent over 15 years serving to to construct and lead Racepoint. Holding a number of roles from head of worldwide accounts to CEO, he has labored with manufacturers like AT&T, Dassault Programs, and Samsung, startups defining the following era of innovation, in addition to authorities leaders.
In August 2022, Prodromou assumed the position of president on the Massachusetts-based unbiased, full-service built-in advertising and communications company. With a eager curiosity within the energy of AI, Prodromou is smitten by leveraging its potential to realize a deeper understanding of viewers engagement patterns and preferences.
We caught up with Prodromou to get his tackle the way forward for the communications trade.
What e book, podcast or different media do you suggest to different comms professionals?
Prodromou: This has nothing to do instantly with public relations and communications, however presently, I’m listening to American Historical past Tellers, a terrific podcast masking a spread of subjects in American historical past – from the tried rebel by Aaron Burr, to the appearance of the temperance motion and the passage of the nineteenth modification. It has all the time been my perception that crucial software a practitioner can have is mental curiosity and the capability to interact with shoppers in a significant manner outdoors of a selected project. It’s the standard I most frequently search in potential staff. And this explicit podcast, along with offering hours of leisure, fills that hole for me.
What’s your favourite software you utilize commonly for work?
My cellphone – as a result of I can actually do something on it, from speaking with shoppers, to analysis, to writing and enhancing. I used to run a world firm with workplaces in a dozen cities on 4 continents, and I managed the majority of my work on my cellphone, to the purpose the place on lengthy journeys, I might attempt to go away my laptop at residence to journey lighter. We now have come a good distance from inserting the dumb cellphone – an pointless equipment, on the time – in everybody’s arms, to good units that give us the facility to run a world enterprise from our pocket, at the moment.
What excites you most about the way forward for communications?
The prospect of utilizing AI to grasp higher how and the place key audiences are partaking. Whereas generative AI is fascinating, what actually fascinates me is the flexibility to see developments in huge knowledge units and leverage that visualization to raised perceive attitudes, behaviors and the psychology of the individuals we are attempting to succeed in. There’s a complete class of much less mentioned AI centered on this.
What communications problem retains you up at evening?
Entry to nice expertise, vital thinkers and expert practitioners. It could be a cliche, however this one not often modifications as a result of, on the finish of the day, the flexibility to service an engagement stays rooted within the availability and accessibility of nice individuals.
What’s the most important problem you’ve overcome in your profession?
Leaping from AC to VP. It was simpler leaping to CEO and working a world firm. It took a very long time for me to acknowledge that my ability set was extra centered on concepts and technique than on the main points of the numerous title courses between entry-level and government management. Which, for a very long time, created frustration and an absence of satisfaction. As soon as I obtained to the concept part, I had renewed power and sustained satisfaction, as a result of I used to be lastly doing one thing I used to be good at.
What’s the finest recommendation you’ve ever gotten?
The one who owns the consumer engagement has the facility. This stored me centered on the target of guaranteeing robust consumer satisfaction and nice efficiency.
Isis Simpson-Mersha is a convention producer/ reporter for Ragan. Comply with her on LinkedIn.
