My random thoughts, observations and musings on all subjects of interest to communication professionals.

Crisis Communication Mistakes to Avoid

When I arrived with my business partner at the time, the CEO and his team were fuming. They had just been told about a newspaper article tha

My opinion: IKEA/Ketchum PR program lavished with praise wasn't a winner.

Don’t become so enamored of a clever concept that you fail to set measurable objectives that are tied to your business objectives. When you

April Fools? The Vatican Does Not Have "a PR problem."

To anyone who is following the Vatican’s blundered cover-up of systematic child rape within its clerical ranks (as Catholic author Andrew Su

Corporate Culture: Your Customers Shall Reap What You Sow.

My partner and I are at the grocery store and the gym just about every day now. There couldn’t be a wider gap between their corporate cultur

PR research is like buying low and selling high: almost nobody does it.

Dr. Walt Lindemann, with whom I worked at Ketchum PR, did a landmark study in 1988, which concluded that "most public relations researc

Happy Birthday to Me

October 11, my birthday, is always a special date to me. Around my birthday each year, I sit down and do the requisite soul-searching. I ask

From Emergence to Emergency, Don't Be Caught with Your Tweets Down

Using social media is key to effective issues management. I used the recent holiday weekend to labor over long put-off chores around the...

From emergence to emergency, don't be caught with your Tweets down.

As I say in every presentation to peers of my generation of college-educated communication professionals, we have to break the habit of &quo

Sue me. Sue me. Go on and sue me.

I recently had occasion to speak with the CEO of a startup company in Germany that is planning to open an American HQ. As I learned more abo

Rants, Not Raves: Expressions That Make My Blood Boil

Any phrase that includes the word "spin," as in "Spin the story this way," or "Oh, you're a spin doctor!"