They all said it would get better once I had my first client. I confess, the first month or so here was a little nerve-wracking, between the culture shock and the lack of billable work. Every day, I was waiting for someone to come by and send me home with a stern talking-to: "where are your clients, young lady??"

All of that changed December 20th. That was the day we signed off on my first contract. Not a big one, but a client of my very own, nevertheless. And now that work is well under way for that client - and for a number of others - it's a whole new experience for me as an H&Ker. This year, in fact, promises to be a very busy one, and I can't wait to get started.

For those of you for whom agency work is "old hat", I can see your indulgent smiles from here. You all knew I just had to be patient, that it would come soon enough. Well, all I can say is that, now that the waiting is over, it's time to get on with the work - and that, after all, was why I came here in the first place.

I love technology. I really do. My dad was a computer scientist at the National Research Council, and we had some of the very first PCs in our house in the early '80s - and I've been an avid consumer of ICT ever since.

But it's a love-hate thing. I love being able to send a message instantly to all of my 45+ students with just one click. I can't wait for the next "big thing" - an iPod, the latest Blackberry, the newest mp3 phone, I'm all over it. But at the same time, when I get locked out of my blog and can't retrieve my password, when the network goes down (or worse yet, starts to operate at dial-up speed), or when Windows does its usual weekly freeze, I am ready to jump off the bandwagon. Why can't I tape two things and watch a third on my PVR? and why can't I get Voice Over IP out in my suburb yet?

Ah, yes, I love technology - when it works - and when it doesn't, I thank heavens that I still know how to talk. Although sometimes what I have to say might not be for public consumption - especially when the network connection drops right in the middle of a posting.....

I am in the final stages of the year-long accreditation process with the Canadian Public Relations Society. It was something I had been intending to do for many years, but this year I finally bit the bullet. It begs the question "why?"

For me, the decision to pursue my APR back in January of this year was all about differentiating myself from the pack of "Information Services" or IS staff in the federal government. A quick scan of CPRS's list of accredited practitioners across Ottawa revealed that not many had taken the plunge before me.

What I learned throughout the process, however, surprised me. For those of you unfamiliar with the APR process, it begins with the submission of a work sample -- essentially, a case study drawn from your recent experience, describing your work on a PR campaign, right from the research stage through to the final evaluation. In my case, I chose to describe a project I did with Public Works and Government Services Canada to support a CRM initiative. Writing the case study consumed a series of seven full weekends, and many evenings, to get it clear and concise. In fact, it was probably the hardest piece of writing I've done in many, many years! Writing for clients is easy compared with the challenge this intense introspection presented.

The second and third steps involved a three-and-a-half hour (open-book) written exam, followed by a 45-minute oral exam in front of a board of three accredited examiners. These were, in and of themselves, highly revealing experiences. One can't "study" for such an exam -- you either know your four-step PR process or you don't! The written exam was largely a time-management challenge. The oral exam, if you've been through a job interview lately, is the "easiest" of the three steps -- it's a chance to demonstrate that you know your stuff.

At the end of the day, this was an invaluable experience for me -- a chance to reflect on my career, to stop and take stock of what I've learned over the last few decades, and to reconfirm my commitment to excellence as a PR practitioner.

I would highly recommend accreditation to anyone at that important mid-point in their career -- apart from the opportunity to differentiate yourself from many of your "competitors", it is a tremendous journey of self-discovery.

Now, the hardest part is just waiting for the results.

Throughout my career, I have been blessed to have a number of significant mentors who have helped influence my core professional values, and taught me much more than I could ever find in a text book.

They have taught me about media relations (thanks for forcing me to make those scary first few media calls, Andrea), public relations (Claudine, you are still the queen!), and how to operate in a government environment (Yves, thanks for the road map!).

At 46, with almost 30 years in the business, you would think I have "passed" my mentors now. Far from it. These few influential people continue to act as beacons to me when I am trying to figure out how to approach a difficult client situation, a sticky messaging problem, or a challenging communications requirement.

More to the point, they will be my role models, now that I have moved to a position of mentoring others. Here is what I have learned:

• there are no stupid questions. As a mentor, however, there can be stupid answers - feedback should always be constructive and positive.
• it's STILL ok to say "I don't know"! Even in a position of leadership, admitting what you don't know demonstrates that you, too, are human - and ready to learn something new each and every day. As a teacher, I know that I learn almost as much from my students as they do from me (thank goodness!).
• collaborate, collaborate, collaborate: we never work alone in PR. This is, as Martha would say, a GOOD thing - there is power in teamwork, and some of the wackiest ideas can spawn the best campaigns.
• and finally, as Yves said to me on my way out the door to come to my new position here at Hill and Knowlton: "never forget to listen".