Yes, charge the returning soldiers for their bags in which they carry equipment to defend your honor. And wait till they make a YouTube video about it to reverse your baggage policy. Link to story Try defending that. UPDATED: Seems like Delta might be getting a bit of a raw deal on this. Link to Consumerist story Delta quickly reverses the policy but does it act quickly enough to defend its own honor? Thoughts?
Read MoreAfter about 20 years in the public relations agency business, I now realize the thing I must constantly work on, the thing that is my ultimate failing. It is not a great epiphany but at the end of the day it is the ultimate truth. By the very nature of the business, you're only as good as what you've done lately. You can have deep relationships with clients, they can become your friends and confidants, you can go to "war" with them and have success…
Read MoreOkay, crisis communications 101, or really even media relations 101, the first rules we teach students or clients is….create your key messages and whatever you do stay on message. Unless of course, the act of staying on message makes you look like a schmuck. Case in point, New York congressman Rep. Anthony Weiner, who for two days now has taken the art of staying on message and is riding it into his own political grave. The background story is someone tweeted a picture of a…
Read MoreFor many years at two agencies we had the honor of representing The Heinz Awards. They are annual awards given out by Teresa Heinz-Kerry, whose first husband Senator John Heinz was killed in the 90's as he was serving in the senate. In most years those awards were given in five categories including Arts and Humanities, one of the late senator's passions. In its 13th year, the Heinz Award for Arts and Humanities was given to Dave Eggers, the critically acclaimed novelist and publisher who…
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 MoreIt's been awhile since the last post but things have been busy at work and with spring break (Hogwarts was very fun). I welcome you all back with news of two fun events on the horizon. The first is an honor to be a part of, as we're sponsoring the event. She may not know this but there are few people who have influenced me and in turn the direction of our business, than Amber Naslund (@ambernaslund). Almost three years ago when I dove into the…
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 MoreFirst of all, thanks so much for all the 50th birthday wishes. I'm pretty overwhelmed. For those who don't know, yesterday was my 50th birthday and to celebrate I asked folks to send me their birthday wishes on Facebook and Twitter and for each wish Kyra and I would donate a dollar to be split between the Eric LeGrand Believe Fund and another charity. To select the second cause, I asked folks to include their favorite cause in the wish and we'd pick one. This…
Read MoreSo the big birthday in “The Year of Me” is coming up this Sunday. I’ve taken my share of crap over “The Year of Me” thing but if you remember (this link will serve as a reminder back to my original post), The Year of Me is meant to be more than a year about me. One of the key points of that I stated then is I wanted to be more philanthropic with my money and my time. On the time side, I’m spending…
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 MoreEditor's note: Here's a guest post from THP's Cameron McPherson who is leaving tomorrow to cheer on his alma mater VCU in it's quest to bring home the NCAA basketball championship to Richmond. I’ve been tempted to email Oprah’s producers all week and say, “nana-nana boo boo” because I just one-upped O’s latest Australia audience trip. How’s that? I’m going to the Final Four! That’s right! The Final Four. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t mind an Australia visit, but I think we’re all…
Read MoreIf you're a Facebooker like I am, you're likely noticing more things that look like "polls" in your stream. It's the rollout of Facebook Questions, a very easy way for you or your organization to ask a question, give choices for answers and have that question answered. Facebook Questions is a very simple and less clunky attempt at simple viral polling than some of the tradition Facebook polling apps. It also spreads the question virally as those who answer the question have the question appear…
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