My local newspaper allows people to comment on its website. It doesn’t require them to log in first or even be truthful in identifying themselves. This is why you often have God commenting on stories. What you end up with are lots of anonymous comments, which are often rather snide, rude and [...]
I’m spinning downward and it seems like I can’t keep up. The phone’s ringing, I’m on the cellphone, and the phone keeps ringing. I try and answer the questions faster, and the call waiting rings in another call on the cell. Then the desk phone rings again and it goes to voicemail. By the time [...]
My last substantive post was around May 9, 2007. On May 11, an event occurred that shocked a lot of people in the Las Vegas legal community. It was the sort of day that illustrates why government agencies must prepare for any communication crisis and demonstrates why disclosure is important, even [...]
Sun Tzu would have loved the Digg Debacle of 2007. I like to believe Tzu retired to become a sage PR practitioner leading a team somewhere and would have known just how to keep something like the Digg HD Key Revolt from happening.
Or, at least would have seen it coming and would have some [...]
I was watching a video the other day of a industry leader make an acceptance speech. The individual was gracious, friendly, funny and sincere. He promised to do things right, always listen, be the kind of person we all would be proud of. Overall, a very uplifting speech, full of promises and met with a [...]
Like many public affairs professionals I participate in regional disaster drills. In one of these exercises it became painfully aware to all of the public communications staff on duty that we were going to fail. The disaster was so intensive that it factored in power outages and the loss of communication tools. [...]
It’s turmoil. The organization is under attack. The CEO will soon be indicted. All hope is lost. It is your job to fix it. Do you have an emergency crew to turn to?
Why not? You don’t want to fail, so who do you turn to in a pitch?
Think about that for a second while [...]
I have four dogs, two cats, some fish and a rabbit. It’s not a zoo, but the kids are happy and I’m frequently rushing to buy more pet food. Yesterday I noticed even more empty shelves as additional pet foods were recalled. This crisis continues to impact people’s lives. It’s an [...]
A story in USA Today quotes a crisis management expert and a public relations consultant who both think that Mars Inc. should “develop some very positive program to show they are progressive and inclusive,” in response to gay organizations who complained about a Super Bowl Ad showing two car mechanics sharing a kiss over a [...]
I haven’t commented on Mel Gibson’s PR plight, nor do I wish to here. What I want to look at is the coming aftermarket for Mel-like disasters and the money being made exploiting his predictament. Businessweek reports:
In Touch acquired what the magazine calls “PR rights” to the photos, and the publication quickly began [...]