Auto driving data, such as that used by Tesla, is proving powerful in self defense.  After a crash in Houston that killed two occupants of a Model S, neither according to authorities in the driver’s seat, Elon Musk has tweeted that data logs for the vehicle showed the autopilot wasn’t turned on.  If so, Houston authorities have a puzzle to piece together of how a vehicle was driving at high speed with no one behind the wheel.  Tesla, on the other hand, has a strong position as long as the cellular connection to the vehicle was operating properly.  This is important to the company because it has staked itself deeply into self-driving technology, and each failure opens the door for regulators to investigate and impose sanctions.  Tesla’s data logs on each of its vehicles are strong facts for PR and government relations.  The company can legitimately help recreate the cause of an accident by knowing what a driver and car were doing up to a collision. The logs can save Tesla hundreds of millions in punitive damages.  

Tweet This Post

 The union that tried to organize an Amazon facility in Alabama is asking for a do-over of the failed vote.  It alleges that Amazon pressured workers to say no. Whether the National Labor Relations Board decides in the union’s favor will partially depend on Amazon’s reputation for managing employees.  If horror stories about the company are true or have a ring of validity, there is a good chance the NLRB will call for another election.  If not, the negative vote for the union, widely watched in the US, will go down as the major defeat it was.  In Amazon’s defense, it pays more than minimum wage and it provides medical benefits.  In return, it expects its labor force to work hard to keep up with package flow — perhaps, too hard.  It won’t be the last of labor organizing at the company, and Amazon will need to manage carefully to prevent employee uprisings.  The company has been warned.  

Tweet This Post

 NASA’s Mars helicopter has just completed its first flight on the planet.  It is a breakthrough moment for exploration and similar to the Wright brother’s first flight in their wood and canvas plane.  It is also a PR coup.  PR is what you do and are rather than what you say about yourself.  NASA and JPL have smashed one record after another in Mar’s exploration and the flight just adds to the lengthy list of firsts.  At this rate, there is no hurry to get man to the planet, especially since it will be so difficult to do.  Someday, earthlings will walk on Mars but perhaps not in my lifetime.  Meanwhile, robotic rovers and helicopters can return terabytes of information about the planet.  We will get to know Mars as well as we know the moon, and if all works right, we will have Martian soil on earth in a few years when another rover will pick up vials of dirt from the surface and return them to earth.  Kudos to NASA and JPL once again.  

Tweet This Post

The Republican party is split between pro-Trump and anti-Trump factions.  So far, the pro-Trump wing is winning the money race, but the split message can’t be good for the 2022 elections.  Parties win when they have a unified voice that appeals to the American public.  Fracturing their message puts them in electoral limbo.  The challenge for Republicans is that Trump is not going away anytime soon, unless he is convicted of fraud for tax evasion.  That means rank and file politicos do obeisance to him at Mar-a-Lago and wrap themselves in conspiracy messages, such as the election being stolen from Trump.  The question is whether the majority of citizen voters in the US buy those messages or whether time and the actions of the Biden administration have convinced them otherwise.  Whatever the outcome of the midterms, it will be interesting to see how Republicans fare.   

Tweet This Post

Big business is seeking a unified, market-based strategy on climate control. It is turning to government to get the job done.  CEOs realize some actions are beyond the scope of individual corporations.  When that happens, they plead for regulation.  It is a rebuke of capitalism that would see government out of markets altogether.  As much as corporate leaders bridle against the regulatory control, they recognize that markets are unfair.  It takes a guiding hand of bureaucrats to even the playing surface.  Communicators should remember that.

Tweet This Post

China is conducting psychological warfare against Taiwan.  It is sending fighters and ships into Taiwan’s security zone and calling their intrusions “combat drills.”   China has made it clear that Taiwan is Chinese and not an independent country.  Short of invading the island, China is doing everything it can to ratchet pressure on Taiwan’s government and citizens.  It is regrettable but there is nothing Taiwan’s allies can or will do.  China is simply too strong to fight against on an island close to its shores.  So, China acts with impunity and without regrets.  It cares not at all that it is becoming a pariah in the eyes of the world.  It justifies its actions and moves on.  There is no communication that can bridge the gap between China and the West.  The country has become a manufacturing empire and the US relies on it whether it likes it or not.  

Tweet This Post

White House communications strategists have hit upon an interesting media strategy.  Use the President sparsely.  He is trotted out now and again for media questions but for the most part, he is away from the press.  He is relying on cabinet members to meet and talk to journalists.  This is the exact opposite of President Trump’s all media all the time approach, which caused outrage regularly.  Why keep Biden in the Oval Office?  It shows the American public he is working, and silence is golden.  This is a risky approach admittedly.  Citizens want to hear from their leaders.  Biden’s media advisers are also protecting him from himself.  Biden is a noted gaffe-machine who misspeaks regularly.  It saves time in walking back his remarks by not letting him make them in the first place.  The nation doesn’t need another liar-in-chief.  The question remains whether the absence of the President will work.  Time will tell.  

Tweet This Post

 A partner of Elon Musk has tweeted that he could create modern dinosaurs if he wished in 10 or 15 years.  The fellow is a neuroscientist and not a biologist.  Maybe he could but it is far from clear that technology has progressed to that point.  Rather his communication strikes one as an idle boast and a bit of hubris.  “Science can do anything it wants.”  Working with living organisms still has unknowns, and some of those might be beyond the reach of a laboratory.  The challenge is that we don’t know without trying, and there are social and ethical limits to what a scientist should do.  We learned from building the atom bomb that some technologies are not a benefit to the world but once leashed cannot be put back in the bottle again.  The only prospect is containment and mutual agreement not unleash its power.  Constructing a dinosaur might not harm humanity but how would we know?  At best it would be a sideshow curiosity and there are other urgent problems to tackle in the world.  

Tweet This Post

The Augusta National Golf Club chairman has hit an issue straight down the fairway, bending neither right nor left.  This was the result of his comments on the new Georgia voting law.  He affirmed the right to vote but he did not comment on the law.  He also rejected calls for moving the Masters tournament out of Georgia.  Predictably, both liberals and conservatives are unhappy with him.  But, what could he do?  The Masters is linked inextricably with the Augusta golf course. There is no way to move it.  Stepping into the middle of the controversy with vocal opposition to the Georgia law could upset members of the club whose annual dues keep it going.  So, he chose a high-level position and expressed optimism that there are ways to work out difficulties.  One can read his words either way — in support of or against the new law.  It’s an example of Delphic communications, and probably the best he can do at this time.   

Tweet This Post

 As this amusing compilation of interviews demonstrates, tech startups aren’t free from clichés.  They are all doing the same things for employees but boasting about them as if they are unique.  They are aping one another and conforming to unwritten rules for launching companies.  Yet, they want to be one-of-a-kind and to succeed.  One wonders what would happen if a start-up didn’t supply collaborative workspace, open offices, beer on tap, a pingpong table, a game room.  Would the fledgling company have recruitment problems, or would it find talented engineers anyway?  The clichés are checkbox items and one wonders if they make a difference.  Perhaps these companies think it sets them apart as “with-it” enterprises.  Maybe it does, probably not.  Their marketing and communications need more creativity.  

Tweet This Post