While catching up today with a recent issue of the IABC’s CW (Communication World), I came across an interview with the group’s incoming chair Mark Schumann, in which he challenged communications professionals to think where they want to be in 10 years.

He said:

“Throughout our profession, each of us needs to imagine where we will be in 10 years, when the calendar turns to the year 2020. We each need “20/20 vision” of what we must be as professionals, as the focus of our work continues to shift from media and message to conversation, relationships and sustainability.”

I know that most weeks it’s all we can do to keep up with our projects and deadlines, but I welcome Mark’s challenge to envision our field — and our place in it — 10 years from now.

If the past decade is any guide, it’s going to be a time of tremendous change, yet the major trend, as Mark describes it, is already quite evident: a continuing shift from media and message to conversation, relationship and sustainability.

That’s the compass heading. How we get there is up to us.