Thursday May 9, 2024

Three Leadership Styles — All Effective

This story discusses three approaches of three leaders to handling Hurricane Sandy before, during and after its landfall in the New Jersey/ New York area.  Two governors and a mayor ably  handled the crisis and are continuing to show visible presence in affected communities.  The men are as different as chalk and cheese, yet all […]

Anti-PR But Successful

As this story demonstrates, bosses can be bastards and jerks of the first order yet still be successful.  While the story focuses on the tech world, it could have easily ventured into any other organization.   If one accepts Robert Caro’s research on Lyndon Johnson, Johnson was ruthless, manipulative, a suck-up to power, abusive and […]

Lies Last In Memory

Why is it important to correct errors right away?  Because lies last in memory.  Experiments show that false memories endure and further verify the danger of relying on memory for recording events.  Researchers have developed false memory implantation to a fine art and in the process they have destroyed the movement that maintains memories can […]

An Unending Battle

The issue of race remains so volatile in America that even good intentions can create tensions and PR faux pas.  That is what happened here.  The Virginia education board is proposing to change testing standards for Black and Latino children because they are not up to the level of Asians and whites.  This has enraged some Black legislators who […]

Life And Death PR

RIM announced that it would introduce its new Blackberry phones on Jan. 30 at an official launch event.  The event and the products had better be good.  RIM is facing a hanging in the marketplace that some say is already underway.  The company is engaged in life and death PR.  The reception it gets to […]

Still Not The Way To Do It

Transportation to and from Manhattan and New Jersey is coming back to life after Hurricane Sandy, but New Jersey Transit still hasn’t figured out how to communicate.  Take last night.  At 10 pm after many commuters had gone to bed, NJ Transit sent out an alert that it was restoring limited service on our train […]

Guy Kawasaki’s Latest on Apple, Google+ & Facebook

In a recent Google+ Hangout** Guy Kawasaki offered up some new perspectives on a number of topics. Here’s a quick recap. Disenchanted with Apple?It’s no surprise Apple was on Guy’s list of brands living the principles of enchantment — being likeable, trustworthy and with quality products. But he also noted Apple lived these principles “up […]

A Growing Reputational Issue

Getting hacked and staying silent about it is an embarrassment for corporate America.  Sooner or later, the news comes out.  While the SEC has emphasized that corporations must tell shareholders about material items, companies have not been disclosing loss of confidential data to online invaders.  They are in for trouble if they persist in avoidance. […]

Candle Light Ain’t Romantic

We’re entering our seventh day without power at home.  This in the state where Thomas Edison invented the light bulb.  There is progress.  We can see street lamps glowing about a quarter mile from the house.  Power company workers are picking their way up the hill and through the mess that Hurricane Sandy left.  For […]

The Impact of Color & Font on Messages

Living in a battleground state, I’ve been subject to a long and noisy 2012 election season that started in May. Attack ads saturating every media channel are seemingly in concert with an incessant rhythm of autobot phone calls and other campaign techniques. The din is bringing people to tears. But only two different yard signs, for a single […]