Your PR Architect

News item: Sports Authority, once a thriving sporting goods superstore, announced yesterday  it's closing all 450 stores . Drowning in $1 billion in debt, the chain -- and its 14,000-plus employees -- are history. And so is its inventory of snake shot. More on this in a moment. By BrokenSphere (Own work) [GFDL  CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons More nimble sports merchandisers figured out how to do what Sports Authority couldn't. Dick's Sporting Goods created a somewhat upmarket experience (read: firearms and golf stores-inside-the-store) that Sports Authority couldn't match. And, if you're a die-hard fan of a particular team, there's no limit to the number of online sellers of numbered jerseys. No one wants to see less competition in the marketplace. Competition means pricing strategies that can benefit consumers (who may already be saving for their next pair of $200 LeBrons). But a quick visit ...

Scenario: You build a $50 million transit center where commuters can change buses in the warmth of a modern, heated terminal. And you have an $11 million contract with the city school district to transport students on your transit authority buses, often via the transit center. RTS Transit Center, Rochester, NY. Photo by David Kassnoff. Something disturbing takes place. There's a fight between students. And another. Then, an assault. And a stabbing. Some of these injure taxpaying commuters who indirectly helped build your $50 million wrestling/transit center. Perception: your transit center is a dangerous place. Even the mayor says so. Publicly. Your response? If you're the transit company, you blame the offending high school students. If you're the school superintendent, you keep repeating: "We can't fix it alone. Parents need to be involved." My response? You both were absent when the class on "Leadership" took place. Ther...