It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. Dickens may have written those lines more than 150 years ago. But, the same could be said about the present and future fortunes of the public relations industry. The most recent economic downturn may adversely impacted our profession, but, we’ve bounced back rather nicely.

That said, there are more challenges, obstacles and hurdles facing our profession than ever before. So, what’s a senior corporate counselor or agency executive to do? That’s the question my business partner, Ed, and I posed to three top corporate communications executives:

• Monica Teague, Senior Manager, PR, Brand Business Teams, Whirlpool
• Tom Topinka, Public Relations Leader, Genworth
• Amber Harris, Manager of Digital Communications for Discovery Communications.

We recorded 30 minutes on two separate podcasts. The first contains their views on the present. Next week, we’ll post the second part containing their predictions for what lies ahead. Enjoy. And, please let us know if you agree, disagree or simply aren’t a fan of Charles Dickens to begin with.