With the economy throwing everyone for a loop, public relations, marketing and media professionals need wise counsel  to help us make the best decisions for our readers/clients and ultimately  our careers.  To that end, I’m pleased to introduce  Mopwater Senior Counsel, a  column that will feature specific advice from senior-level PR and marketing professionals with at least 15 years experience in the field.

Paul Duning is the founder of the DC-area’s communications resource Capitol Communicator.  Duning founded CC after he lost a senior communications job during the economic downturn of 2001.  Instead of getting defeated, Duning got busy creating one of the most exciting platforms for communications networking in this region. Read more about Duning’s creative lemons-to-lemonade story of innovation and entrepreneurship.

Mopwater asks: What do you do when you get laid off from your media or PR job?

Answer: Take time to regroup, get creative, and get to work on a completely new endeavor.

Paul Duning, Founder of Capitol Communicator

Prior to starting Capitol Communicator, I   spent 30 months as the merger & acquisition lead for a company consolidating communications-related companies in three markets. During that period, I met with several hundred communications companies across a broad spectrum of disciplines and was instrumental in bringing together 17 companies.

Then came the bust of 2001 and 2002.

My role quickly changed from integrating to re-organizing, which resulted in multiple rounds of difficult layoffs including, in the end, my own.

So I took a bubble-imposed sabbatical and spent the summer traveling with my family. During that time, I was struck with this idea to create a resource for communications professionals.   [I wanted] to bring a community back together that had been terribly fragmented by 911 and the economic downturn that followed. Read the full story