Member Spotlight: Derek Zarn
1.Tell me a little about yourself.
I’m the Director of Marketing and Communications for the City of Urbandale, where I lead communications strategy, public information, storytelling, media relations, digital content, and community engagement. At the heart of my work, I’m trying to make local government feel more useful and more human. Cities do a lot of important work that can easily get buried in process and technical language… I see my role as helping residents understand what is happening, why it matters to them, and how it connects to their daily lives. And, because every profile needs one fun fact: I have a twin brother. We look the same; the charisma did not split evenly.
2. What drew you to public relations in the first place?
One experience that shaped me early was a high school job in a nursing home. I saw how quickly people can become invisible, and how powerful it is to be present, listen, and treat people with dignity. That experience is a big part of why I’m drawn to public service. In local government communications, the work is not just about getting information out. It’s about helping people feel seen, respected, and informed. When communication is done well, it reduces confusion, builds participation, and helps people understand the real value behind public services.
3. What has your career path looked like? What is your current role?
After college, I thought I was headed toward the military. My mom, who worked for the Department of Defense, encouraged me to apply to one other thing first. I applied for a local government role almost as a formality, and then I got hired. I didn’t realize it at the time, but that one decision redirected my life. Since then, my career has grown around public service, community storytelling, and the challenge of making civic information easier to understand. Today, as Director of Marketing & Communications for the City of Urbandale, I lead the City’s communications work across newsletters, websites, social media, media relations, public information, branding, events, community campaigns, and digital strategy. The role is pretty broad, involving crisis communication, design, accessibility, storytelling, emerging technology, internal alignment, and a lot of translating complicated issues into plain language. I like that mix.
4. How did you get involved with PRSA Iowa?
I got involved with PRSA Iowa because I wanted to stay connected to other communicators who take the work seriously and are navigating many of the same challenges from different sectors. Communications can be a very public-facing profession, but it can also feel siloed. PRSA Iowa creates space to compare notes, learn from peers, and stay sharp as the field keeps changing.
5. What is the best piece of advice you’ve received?
The best advice I’ve received is that “clarity is kindness.” That sounds simple, but it has become one of the main ways I think about communication. When something is unclear, it creates ambiguity. And when there is ambiguity, people naturally fill in the blanks — sometimes with assumptions, sometimes with frustration, and sometimes with information that simply is not true.
Residents are busy. They are trying to understand projects, decisions, services, and changes that may affect their daily lives. Our job is not to make them work harder to find the point. Our job is to make the point clear, useful, and honest right from the start. It is about doing the work on our end so people can understand what is happening, why it matters, and what comes next.
6. What do you like to do in your free time?
In my free time, I practice yoga, travel (most recently to Medellín, Colombia and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico), read, and find ways to stay creative. I also try to protect time to experiment with emerging tools, especially AI and automation, because the communications field is changing quickly and I’d rather be learning ahead of the curve than reacting from behind.
