Acknowledgements

This text is primarily a collection of other people’s ideas. Credit for those ideas is provided through endnotes, but a number of folks were cited several times throughout the text, and so it seems appropriate to thank them here.

In alphabetical order: William Ammerman, William Benoit, Jonah Berger, Edward Bernays, Robyn Blakeman, Nils S. Borchers, Alisa Bowman, Brigitta R. Brunner, Kenneth Burke, Glen T. Cameron, Robert B. Cialdini, Scott M. Cutlip, Jesper Nadja Enke, Jesper Falkheimer, Susan Fournier, Karen Freberg, Guy Golan, James E. Grunig, David Guth, Chip Heath, Dan Heath, Mats Heide, Corey A. Hickerson, Ray E. Hiebert, J. Michael Hogan, Jerome F. Juska, Tom Kelleher, Michael L. Kent, Gohar F. Khan, Margot Opdycke Lamme, Will Leach, Chaoyuan Li, Regina Luttrell, Charles Marsh, Bill McGowan, Jeremy C. Miller, Marty Neumeier, Joseph Ogden, Janice Teruggi Page, Lawrence J. Parnell, Keith A. Quesenberry, Brian H. Reber, Karen Miller Russell, Bonnie Poovey Short, Brian G. Smith, Ronald D. Smith, Marshall Sponder, Burton St. John III, Alina Wheeler, Dennis L. Wilcox, Christopher Wilson, Laurie Wilson, Arch G. Woodside, and Ed Zitron.

Each chapter features an interview with an expert. Some are early in their careers and landed a sweet gig immediately after graduation, while others have practiced PR and Strategic Communication for decades and have the trophy case to prove it. Each person helped shape the contours of this text. So, to Alyssa Giaimo, Karen Miller Russell, Charles Marsh, Len Zanni, Eric Morgenstern, Ian Anderson, Frank Vamos, Dana El-Shoubaki, Dan Heath, Mayren Rancifer, Tegan Griffith, David Guth, Mary Knight, Chris Thomas, Ren-Whei Harn, and Karine Delage—I appreciate your time. Connecting or reconnecting with each of you was a highlight of this project.

This work was made possible through an Open Educational Resources Grant from Weber State University, funded by the Sally Langdon Barefoot Foundation. My appreciation extends to the Chair of the Communication Department, Anne Bialowas, as well as the Dean of the Telitha E. Lindquist College of Arts & Humanities, Deborah Uman, and Provost Ravi Krovi for considering and approving my Sabbatical for the 2023-2024 academic year. Thanks also to Andrew Stapley and Misty Allen and their support through Stewart Library for making the text a reality.

Because this isn’t disseminated through a traditional publisher, a team of all-stars was enlisted to vet facts, tweak phrasing, and design the layout. Amy Sweet was copy editor, and transformed a collection of marginally coherent half-thoughts into understandable prose. Thomas Salek was content editor, and contributed on a range of subjects from the conceptual level to the sentence level. My colleagues at Weber State, Deann Carver, Nicola Corbin, and Leslie Howerton, lent their expertise for each chapter, and also covered classes in my absence—so my sincere thanks go to them. Finally, Alexis Kiedaisch handled the online design, and is the only reason this online text doesn’t look like a Word doc. Working with this team reminds me of a quote from Stan Getz: “You can read all the textbooks, and you can listen to all the records, but you have to play with musicians who are better than you.” Thank you for the generosity of your time, and lending your expertise to improve the final product.

A final thanks goes to my family for moral support and generally putting up with me—y’all are the best.

One last note: This text is a perpetual work in progress. If you have questions or feedback, drop me a line at nathanrodriguez@weber.edu. Instructors: Let me know if you’d like supplemental teaching materials.