Promoting Thriving Desert Economies
Katie Vargo
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Networking and Communications Officer, Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre, Alice Springs, Northern Territory |
Katie has been living and working in Australia for over two years. Her travels have taken her to a variety of places including Peru, China and Greece. But she has a special fondness for the desert regions of central Australia and the unique communications issues that she has encountered there.
I first became intrigued with communications when I was growing up in the desert regions of Albuquerque, New Mexico USA.
Hearing no more than the sound of hundreds of toasted Weet-Bix being crushed under small feet, my mother bounded around the corner of our kitchen and asked the inevitable question…. “Who has been dancing on all this cereal??” Getting three blank stares and no one willing to succumb to the pressure of tattling on their sibling, she gave a final shrug. I remember thinking, how on earth had she known what we were doing?? And at the age of 6, that was the moment I became interested in the area of communications.
I went on to study marketing and business at New Mexico State University and obtained a Business degree with a minor in Computer Science. In most fields that I have studied or have been involved in, communications has played a vital role. I have worked for a variety of firms including a human resource company called Ceridian with 10,000 employees, Dell and NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre.
A key issue these organisations have in common is the challenge of getting the right messages out to the audience. When NASA’s space shuttle exploded on live television in 1986, I learned that the event created a dilemma in terms of communications strategies. On one hand, most scientists and engineers were aware that at each launch this type of accident can happen. However, to the public these incredibly complex and dangerous missions were commonplace. A key component of communications and marketing is looking at the message from several points of view.
My current role as Networking and Communications Officer with the Desert Knowledge CRC involves a wide range of activities. Since our organisation is just over a year old (established in September 2003) we are working on creating an awareness of who we are and sharing our vision of promoting thriving economies in desert Australia.
Rebuilding our website is a vital component in our communication strategy. With the help of consultants and my back ground in computers, the new web site will help us target our messages and address various communication issues.
I am hoping some time my mother will log into the site and be proud that I have moved on from dancing on Weet-Bix.
