I know I've been a bit of a slacker on the blog side recently. The truth is I've been doing a lot of thinking recently about the future and the direction of PR and how it fits in the social and digital universe. I've got some posts "written" in my brain and I will share them with you in the near future. I've also been thinking about the past since THP is celebrating its tenth anniversary this week. It's been a fun, wild ride so…
Read MoreI have a confession to make. I picked Wichita State to beat VCU in the first round on my brackets. I didn't want to tell anyone before the tournament here in roundball-crazy #RVA for fear they would equate me with Jay Bilas and Dick Vitale. Richmond and to a greater extent the VCU fan base has reached a critical stage in its current run of basketball success. You see you can't make the Final Four every year or the Sweet Sixteen either. The long-term question…
Read MoreOne of the most underrated ways to take advantage of all Twitter has to offer is through one of its many regular chat sessions. These are regularly scheduled sessions related to specific topics that are facilitated by using one of Twitter's famous hashtags. One of my favorite chats is the regular #PR20CHAT which has PR pros around the country responding to specific questions or trends that are posed by facilitators. So it got me thinking why not try this on a local #RVA level. We…
Read MoreJust backing up the announcement made by the #SMCRVA folks, tomorrow's event with Amber Naslund has been canceled and will hopefully be rescheduled in the near future. Amber tweeted me early this morning that her doctors think she has a pneumonia and would not allow her to travel. She really wanted to be here but was literally on her way to the hospital to get checked out. I'll let you guys know how she is and I'm sure the #SMCRVA folks will work on getting…
Read MoreWARNING: This is one of a recurring series of posts on the topic of change. If this topic bothers you and/or makes you unconfortable, please stay right where you are. Literally. Lots of change in my life recently. Turned fifty, check. Moved into new office space, check. Started a new company that's doing well, check. We've been spending a great deal with friends and clients talking about change as well. Our bud, John Sarvay is doing some great things at his business, Floricane, and we…
Read More"When it ends, you fall off a cliff." Those were the words uttered by the losing coach in the "other" NCAA Men's Basketball semi-final after his team lost last night. But will John Calipari's words foreshadow what will happen in Richmond, now that the NCAA magic carpet ride came to its inevitable end in Houston? Long after Dickie V ate his crow and the memories of long lines at the VCU bookstore fade, we are left with the same public perception issues that we were…
Read MoreWe will forever blame George Mason. It's their fault. You see GMU is Steve Cummings alma mater and GMU basketball is the only organized sport he follows. It was clear to us that as his employers of a business named after a sports icon we were left with one choice. Send him to Indianapolis. So we did and it was an experience that he will never forget. Imagine our dilemma this year with three UR grads and four VCU alums. Not that we were rooting…
Read MoreSo you thought last week was wild, well Richmond, you ain't seen nothing yet. Final Four, baby! And another week for the team, the school and the city to bask in the glow of national attention. First and foremost, let's stay classy and celebrate safely. Many cities have had their reputations destroyed forever during sports celebrations. It's also time for forget about Bilas and Vitale, this is way past the debate of getting in or not. It is about the celebration of success achieved and…
Read MoreSo of course I picked the worst two days in recent memory to be out of town on business (although the business partner and I did have plenty of bonding time listening to classic rock. My rendition of "Carry On, My Wayward Son" was especially poignant). Congrats go out to the folks at Venture Richmond including Jack Berry, Lisa Simms and Lucy Meade for seizing the day and quickly organizing the Turning Basin rally last night. This is exactly what we needed and was the point…
Read MoreSo there I was about half way through the second half last night, with most of this blog post already written in my head and my wife's uncle, a huge college basketball fan, sent me this email. "Jon, can Richmond handle two teams in the Sweet 16??? A lot of hype and PR for a small city? Well, can we? Given our lack of success in the professional sports arena, there will perhaps be no other time in modern history that the mainstream sports…
Read MoreOne of the most viewed posts in this blog's two-plus year history was one I wrote on Richmond and the concept of creativity. Posted early last March, I made the case that Richmond's "brand" should not rely on its history but on its future and that future should highlight the strong creative community that exists here. The reaction and comments I received from that post were stunning to me with most in favor of the idea and making suggestions as to how we could harness…
Read MoreOkay, a quick diversion in this post to focus on a long, lost passion. Growing up in the New York area there were a couple of foods that required almost religious-like journeys to satisfy your desire for them. Pizza was one of them, as early in life you discovered which of the crispy-thin-crust, off the boat from Italy establishments would do the trick. In Jersey (not trying to stereotype here), you could find one of those places on almost every street corner so things were…
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