Guest post by Andrea Weckerle On January 20, 2009, I was one of the millions of viewers of U.S. President Barack Obama's inaugural address. His address was serious yet hopeful, emphasizing all citizens' responsibility to meet the challenges facing the nation and the global community: "What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so read more...
You’d better have a hose if you want to put out the fire
Guest post by Beth Harte I’ve always wanted to use that title for a post! It’s the title of one of my favorite books on crisis communications by Rene Henry. Rene was a member of the Philadelphia PRSA when I first met him and bought his book. Even though it’s 8-9 years old, “You’d better have a hose…” is chock full of case studies and examples of crisis situations that read more...
How can we get the message?
Guest post by Kellye Crane Anyone who follows social media is likely familiar with the classic proclamation that “there’s no market for messages,” popularized by the Cluetrain Manifesto nearly a decade ago. As a result, in many circles the term “key message” has a dirty ring to it. While this anti-message stance is not new , it continues as a common refrain because, let’s face it, read more...
PR, Sweat the Small Stuff
Guest post by Shonali Burke, ABC “Don’t sweat the small stuff.” It’s a mantra we’ve heard for ages. Not just self-help gurus, but women’s magazines (yes, I do read my Good Housekeeping), life coaches, work coaches … everyone will tell you to not worry about the minutiae of life as a way to deal with our increasingly complex world. And it is certainly a way to get past the moment and focus on what really matters. But it seems to me that good PR practitioners do sweat the small stuff. Today, the term “PR” invariably conjures up visions of flashy promotions, “ink” and one of my favorite words-to-dread, “buzz.” Let’s remember, though, that read more...
Stinging bees leave scars
Guest post by Lauren Vargas Kami has some incredibly talented ladies lined up to guest post for the next couple of weeks. So talented, I must admit, that writing the first guest post is a a bit intimidating. I asked my significant other (also a fan of Kami's blog) what topic I should address. His response was, "my favorite posts by Kami are those where she comes up with something 'simple' and gives importance to it." Right on. "Whoever is out of patience is out of possession of his soul. Men must not turn into read more...
