The following blog post originally appeared on “PR, Pure & Simple,” on May 25, 2012:
One of the strongest brands we have in America is the flag. Red and white stripes. Fifty white stars against a blue field. Like so many in our country, I never get tired of seeing it.
Of course, it means different things to different people, but in many respects, it represents the same things to most people. … Read the rest
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum first opened in September 1995 in Downtown Cleveland, and it took me until just recently to make the two-and-a-half-hour drive to visit it. The visit was as much underwhelming as mesmerizing, which is why it may be worth looking at it from a public relations perspective.
While some major renovations are planned for later this year, I’m not sure they will be the medicine the Hall of Fame may need. … Read the rest
The next time you hear a guru tell the communications industry or public relations field to answer his wakeup call, hit the snooze button.
Let me explain. Consider this story from my relatively short Boy Scout career. In that time, I went on many campouts. Without fail, there was always that kid who woke up before everyone else. … Read the rest
In my media training work, I once worked with a colleague who liked to handle the portion of the workshop on key messaging. That segment included classroom lecture followed by an independent exercise.
She would “click” to the Powerpoint slide that featured this question:
Then she would ask the group to spend a few minutes writing their own individual and personal answers to the question.… Read the rest
It doesn’t matter whether it’s a multi-million-dollar communications campaign or a single tweet, a professional communicator should know the answers to these 8 questions before touching that keyboard, mouse or computer screen:
If you don’t know why you are communicating, there is a good chance you will miss the mark in any number of ways.… Read the rest
The following blog post originally ran on September 5, 2011, ten years after 9/11:It’s been ten years and a common question these days is, “Where were you on 9/11?”
My memory is probably less interesting than most, but for that matter, I remember being in a meeting with a colleague right next to the Pittsburgh airport.… Read the rest
So, you have one of the most talented people in your industry right under your roof. He’s a knowledgeable, insightful visionary who gives the organization a competitive edge. And he’s a manager, which means people skills is a part of the job. Problem is, that’s where he’s not a star.
Informally, and perhaps formally as part of the performance review process, you find that he’s building a reputation for himself as “difficult.”… Read the rest
Just a few years ago, the public relations industry threw its resources at an issue that has plagued PR for decades – how to measure public relations performance. The end result was a haughty name for a set of seven principles for PR measurement.
They’re known as “The Barcelona Principles” because in 2010, that’s where the measurement leaders from across the PR field got together to vote these seven principles into practice.… Read the rest
Over the years when we’ve handled workplace communications issues, we have done research. Sometimes it’s been qualitative. Think employee focus groups. Other times it’s been quantitative. Think employee surveys.
When we do employee research, the purpose for each project may change but one thing almost never does. There is usually a credibility and trust gap between hourly or line employees and their immediate supervisors or front-line managers.… Read the rest
I had a conversation with a recent graduate I know who is working on a project that involves no small amout of public relations, marketing and promotional work. As you might expect, he gained a lot of traction from the start using social media sites that included Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat.
It was amazing to see how creative he was at leveraging the power of the many apps he used, much of which was done on nothing more than his smart phone.… Read the rest