Your PR Architect

To you, it may be mid-summer. To a PR person, it's now the Christmas season. By Sigismund von Dobschütz (Own work)  [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons Public relations people can't use regular calendars. Especially if they're working on product publicity. Most need to gear their PR strategies to reach consumers in the November-December retail window. Which is why I loathe "Christmas in July" media events. The people at Cision have created a 2014 Holiday Gift Guide pitching kit. You can download it here. It may be useful if you have clients who sell packaged goods, pricey hams, electronic products, or sports items, and who count on PR to help drive their year-end sales. Such a "kit" can help you spend the next few weeks convincing print, broadcast, and online media to include those products in their roundups. You may get a 1

Last week's crisis communications misfires were plentiful, but let's focus on a Geneva, NY college (two, actually) and a media onslaught. Hobart & William Smith Colleges and The New York Times went toe-to-toe over the Times' account of an alleged rape and its aftermath.   It's a tragic story, no matter who spins the tale. A freshman student is subjected to an alleged rape , and the resulting investigations by college and local law enforcement failed to bring about action to discipline the offender(s) or change policy. Hobart's response to the Times ' devastating article? At first, no comments to the media, a letter on their website, and a follow-up letter to the editor of the Times from the chair of the colleges' board of trustees. Later, a heartfelt letter from college President Mark Gearan. HWS President Mark Gearan, By Kevin Colton (Kevin Colton) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons I worked at the Colleges a few years ago, when a st

If you know what a green-white checker finish is, you'll like this post. If you don't, you'll learn something about how businesses view unions in an era when unions are in decline. Last week, the top teams in NASCAR racing -- including those whose drivers include such marquee names as Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, and Ryan Newman -- aligned to form a "collaborative business organization."   Whatever that means. Daytona 500, 2006 (c) David Kassnoff The Race Team Alliance (RTA) may not be a union. Their stated mission is to explore areas of common interest and to work collaboratively on initiatives to help preserve, promote, and grow the sport of stock car racing. Millionaire drivers are abundant in NASCAR, so traditional labor issues might come down to what pit crew and garage teams are paid. That sounds noble. But, remember, NASCAR's a family-owned enterprise, not a franchise-managing league like those in football

Hats off to Google for opening their wallet where it's needed: in diversifying its workforce. Geneva Hats. Photo (c) DKassnoff, 2014. Google is paying to help women and minorities learn to write computer code, according to Business Insider.  A month ago, the company admitted it didn't have enough women or people of color in those IT jobs, and cited a lack of women and minorities studying IT to assume those jobs. This, tied with its $50 million " Made with Code " initiative, are fine steps toward ensuring a more diverse workforce. But, as I wrote here a month ago, Google's diversity effort is only 2/3 complete. Transforming the Internet colossus into a more-diverse business will really succeed if it also diversifies its leadership ranks. That's where the biggest gaps existed, according to Google's own numbers. Women and multicultural executives are essential to creating a business culture that's consistently mindful of the need for continued

By (WT-shared) Inas at wts wikivoyage  (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons If you're a CEO, President, Executive Director, etc. -- or one day wish to be -- please read this message from the head of Raindrop Products. It's a perfect example of how to treat customers, take responsibility, spell out a path forward, and do public relations around a thorny problem: Dear Citizens of Webster, Earlier this year the town of Webster officials made a decision to provide a new Spray Park on the grounds of the Webster Recreation Center. In addition to providing the citizens with a new community gathering place offering a fun, safe aquatic play experience, the officials decided to honor the town’s police officers and firefighters by theming this spray park with custom made spray toys with a “first responders” theme.  The purchase order was issued for the manufacturing of the custom made pieces with the hopes of having the equipment in place for a July 4th Grand open