Matchmaker Matchmaker

One of the catchier and more durable tunes to come out of Broadway over the past 30-40 years is "Matchmaker Matchmaker" from "Fiddler on the Roof." Even today I think one would be hard pressed to find someone who has not at least heard of the song. In the show, it is performed by a young female who is hoping to find a true love who she can marry and live happily with forever. At its most effective, communication does much the same thing with one exception. It does not focus on romance, nor is its primary purpose to serve as a catalyst that brings people together for matrimony, hanky panky or just plain hanging out. (Although, in all fairness, none of those things can or would happen without communication.) On a more global level, communication is a primary tool for bringing together publics and, yes, even individuals to face common challenges, build on shared interests and even explore areas of mutual concern.

Town hall meetings are a case in point. These are forums in which people gather to communicate. Many have been held throughout the country over the past year regarding health care, for instance. In them, people travel to a particular location to discuss this topic, raise questions about it, voice their concerns, and make known their views on it. Sometimes the communication that goes on here is not pretty or is even off-putting. At other times, it is inspiring and informative. Either way, the communication that occurs reflects efforts to build a bridge or match people by helping them identify points around which they might rally.

Communicators are match makers. They devise strategies and message points to share as well as to elicit support and agreement. Matchmaking. People come together often on the basis of what is communicated and how something is communiated. Even if people or publics disagree about something and ultimately decide not to maintain a connection, the mere fact they have come together at all is often a good thing because more often than not greater understanding is the by-product.