Promoting a documentary can be similar to promoting a political candidate, with opening day the equivalent of Election Day. PR pros, particularly those with public affairs experience, are treating them as such, hoping their efforts will lead to a successful premiere.

The search for talent is an ongoing objective in the PR industry. Firms across the board are using Web sites, social networking, employee referral programs, and other methods of outreach to attract qualified staff. The multicultural area, though, poses unique challenges.

Client service is always important. But as agencies brace themselves for the economic downturn, maintaining good relationships with current clients is critical.

Wary of rising fuel prices and imposed carbon footprints, PR firms are installing internal environmental programs that benefit staff and help address current economic and environmental issues. The programs also authenticate work on green client initiatives, taking the firms beyond recycling bins and filtered water.

Finding and hiring qualified talent is certainly one major HR hurdle, but an equally important one is retaining current talent. Agencies organize a variety of employee incentive programs to aid staff retention.

As clients demand more social media expertise, some PR pros are abandoning the traditional agency model to launch new media-focused firms.

"Integration" has long been a PR buzz word. Nowadays, for many consumer practice areas, working with other marketing disciplines - and other divisions within the firm - is making integration more of a necessity than an aberration.

In Douglas Adams' book The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a computer program running for seven-and-a-half million years finally determines the answer to "life, the universe, and everything" is 42. This not-helpful answer requires a whole new program to determine what the question was in the first place.

Those steeped in technology have always connected with techies who understand the cyber terms spoken by program designers and engineers. But as the average consumer becomes more tech-savvy, tech practices at agencies have had to become more consumer-savvy.

Over the past few years, corporate crises such as product recalls and data breaches have received increased media attention. Accordingly, companies now plan for damage control in crisis situations, which has led to greater specialized crisis planning.