Meet Our Members
60 SECONDS…with Bill Nicholson
What’s your name, job, Twitter handle, etc.?
I’m Bill Nicholson and I have the privilege of leading the Atlanta office of PRM, a consultancy with broad and deep experience in human resources and internal communication. I avoid social media like the plague but am considering updating my LinkedIn profile during 2017.
How long have you been an IABC Atlanta member?
Since 1993, and before that I was involved in IABC chapters in Dallas and Denver.
Why did you join and what has kept you with the association?
I joined to network but great programming provides the ‘stickiness’ that keeps me renewing.
What do you love most about communications?
We never experience the same day twice.
What do you see on the horizon for your line of work?
Change. The topics we communicate – especially healthcare benefits – are constantly changing and of course the channels we use are very dynamic as well.
What is the strangest communication request you have ever received?
When I worked in the Dallas bureau of CBS News, people would call asking for directions to J.R. Ewing’s ranch (a setting in the fictional but very dramatic Dallas television series on CBS).
Tell us something your IABC colleagues might be surprised to learn about you?
This might be a record: I’ve won Gold Quills more than 30 years apart. In 2016, we had a great team on a medical plan enrollment that earned a Gold Quill, and my first one was in something like 1982. I think that was shortly after Guttenberg invented movable type. Communication has come a long way and it’s remarkable how IABC has been there to support and advance our profession at every turn.
Books on your nightstand?
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi. It’s about coming to terms with what really matters. Dear Mrs. LaRue: Letters from Obedience School by Mark Teague. It’s a children’s book. Or is it?
Favorite Atlanta spot?
Hartsfield-Jackson before a morning flight – just like Grand Central Station at rush hour is my favorite spot in New York City – because the vitality is palpable.