With a name like O’Brien and having spent decades in the PR business, it was a no-brainer to take on handling public relations for the Pittsburgh St. Patrick’s Day Parade when that opportunity came along. When I say “opportunity,” to be clear, it was a pro bono opportunity, or what others in the communications business may call a passion project.… Read the rest
Category Archives: PR & Media Relations
Crisis Communications: How to Spot a Crisis Before It Happens
You can’t predict the future, and with that in mind, you can’t predict every crisis before it may happen. But one of the things I’ve built into crisis planning over the years is an early-warning process for anticipating and identifying potential crises.
There’s no magic to it. Mostly, it’s a matter of constant vigilance and discipline in monitoring your own intelligence channels.… Read the rest
We’re Launching a Police Recruitment Marketing System to Help Police Departments Meet the Staffing Crisis
It’s hardly a secret that police departments at all levels are having trouble recruiting and retaining qualified and talented individuals.
Stellar police officers are opting to retire or just quit, frustrated over lack of resources or support they need to carry out their high-risk duties. Increasingly, good officers don’t want to chance doing what they’ve been trained to do, as they’ve been trained to do it, only to find themselves in the line of fire, literally and figuratively.… Read the rest
Communications Audits: Don’t Hire a PR Consultant to Tell You Only What You Want to Hear
A while back, a client hired me to conduct a PR and brand audit of the organization. The process involved establishing a set of questions to be used in interviews with a cross-section of key stakeholders. This sort of research always serves to tell an organization how it’s perceived among those most important to it, how they process information, where they get it and more.… Read the rest
What I Learned About Communication from My Blue-collar Family
I didn’t have to wait until I started going to school to learn how to communicate effectively. That started from the day I was born, trying to make myself heard in a big Irish Catholic, blue-collar family in Pittsburgh. If you had something to say, no one was politely waiting for you to say it. You just had to say it, quick, sometimes loud, simply and clearly.… Read the rest
Why PR Agencies Do the Bait-and-Switch
Anyone who’s ever hired a PR firm of any size is familiar with the common practice of “bait and switch.” This is where you meet with the senior agency staff numerous times during the courtship phase of the relationship. You’re impressed by the PR agency’s commitment to your business by having its best and most experienced people invest so much time in getting to know you and all of the communications challenges you face.… Read the rest
Media Relations: How Not to Screw Up a Podcast Interview
Over the past four years, I’ve conducted over 225 interviews for my podcast called Shaping Opinion, and prior that, I’ve spent decades handling media relations, conducting media coaching and training and working with clients on the full range of public relations activities. After all of that, I can honestly say, the public relations profession is dropping the ball on podcast interviewing.… Read the rest
Media Relations: Nothing is Off the Record
I can’t say I’m surprised PR people still think some things can be off the record when talking to reporters. Still, the whole issue of “off the record” is a mine field. Any PR person who continues to think there is such a thing as an off-the-record comment to reporter is simply lucky enough to have not stepped on that landmine … yet.… Read the rest
Gen X: Challenging the PR Field’s Sacred Cows
The term, “sacred cow” is a common metaphor to mean something that is “often unreasonably immune from criticism or opposition.” Its origins in everyday English usage can be traced back to the early 20th Century, when linguists observed how the Hindus venerated the cow.
The PR field has its share of sacred cows, which are theories, practices and concepts that until now have been unchallengeable.… Read the rest
Top Five Podcasts for PR People When They’re Off the Clock
If you’re in PR and you love podcasts, there’s a good chance you listen to The Daily from the New York Times or This American Life from NPR. With this in mind, I’m not going to include them on this list of the Top Five Podcasts for PR People When They’re Off the Clock.
I’m going to recommend some that I think are worth your while but which are not business-related.… Read the rest