Monthly Archives: September 2007

The Hurricane Hunters of Communication Change

Posted on September 28, 2007 by admin

I was reading this blog entry titled The Communication Revolution, by Duncan Wardle on the Public Relations Society of American conference blog. As a speaker at this event coming up in October, I was interested in what other speakers might … Continue reading →

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School communication, social media sites and current thinking

Posted on September 27, 2007 by admin

Here is an excellent paper by Dr. Dennis McDonald about school communication. Virginia Tech continues to be a driving force in people’s thinking about communication and particularly mass notification. As I commented today to a reporter from PR Week, this … Continue reading →

Posted in Dennis McDonald, emergency management, Emergency Notification, school communication | Leave a comment

The Woes (and Whoas) of product recalls

Posted on September 26, 2007 by admin

Mattel’s big recall of millions of toys manufactured in China continues to be instructive and entertaining of the nature of large scale product recalls in this hyper-charged media/public watchdog environment. Consider this story from Forbes appropriately headlined: “Mattel to China: … Continue reading →

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The switch to direct communication is definitely on

Posted on September 20, 2007 by admin

For most of the past five years I have made numerous presentations to many different groups. My message can be boiled down to the need for speed, directness and transparency. At times it feels like little progress is being made–that … Continue reading →

Posted in Advertising Age, paid ad decline, post media world | Leave a comment

The SLUT trolley–fits in the what were they thinking category

Posted on September 18, 2007 by admin

How could otherwise smart people not realize that when you name a new light rail system the “South Lake Union Trolley” that it wouldn’t be forever known as the SLUT. Here’s the story from the Seattle PI. Too late to … Continue reading →

Posted in SLUT Trolley | 3 Comments

OJ proves rule about winning in the court of law

Posted on September 18, 2007 by admin

There was considerable discussion on tv about OJ Simpson’s new arrest and problems and why Americans were responding to this with some level of smug satisfaction. One pointed out that he has successfully evaded responsibility in most of his life. … Continue reading →

Posted in court of public opinion, OJ Simpson | 2 Comments

Kathy Griffin's Emmy comments about Jesus

Posted on September 13, 2007 by admin

I was there. I heard them myself because my son Chris was a nominee for best cinematography for Intervention, and I heard what Kathy said. For those who may not know about this brouhaha, go to the Catholic League article … Continue reading →

Posted in Emmy awards, Kathy Griffin | 1 Comment

The role of values–and ministry related crises

Posted on September 13, 2007 by admin

Sitting at SeaTac waiting for another flight–this was never going to be my life. This time to Nashville to speak at a conference of communicators who work for megachurches and large ministry organizations. It’s been interesting to contemplate the specific … Continue reading →

Posted in Crisis Advice, Crisis Communications, ministry communications | Leave a comment

Wal-Mart borrowing more credibility

Posted on September 12, 2007 by admin

While on my recent travels (Alaska, Indianapolis, Chicago and LA in the past two weeks) I got the chance to read the September issue of Fast Company. Adam Werbach, the one time wunderkind of the environmental activism industry (youngest president … Continue reading →

Posted in Adam Werbach, environmental activism, Wal-Mart | 1 Comment

Dispelling Rumors and Myths–why it is so tricky

Posted on September 5, 2007 by admin

Thanks to our good friend Eric Holdeman, I read this article about the persistence of myths by Shankar Vedantam of the Washington Post in the Sept 4 edition. If you are in communications, you NEED to read this article. It … Continue reading →

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