Your PR Architect

Our canal boat. (c) DKassnoff, 2012. A couple of years ago, I rented a boat and cruised for a few days on the Erie Canal. Some of the communities we saw on our voyage were charming. Others offered all the allure of a miniature Rust Belt refinery. There's more to the Erie Canal than most people realize. Communities like Fairport and Brockport in upstate New York have built substantial attractions around the canal. Others have more modest setups: a small park or a boat launch. But if your community has invested anything in its waterfront in hopes of drawing tourism, you'd be wise to tell someone about it. Here's an example: This is what TripAdvisor.com has to say about things to do in Newark, New York: Even at full size, it doesn't say much. There was a movie theatre, but it apparently closed in 2014. And nothing else. When I visited on my voyage, however, here's what I found: A comfortable, clean canalside park with moorings, free WiFi, and a lau...

Colleges have the difficult problem of when to disclose the name of a student who's run afoul of the law. Or worse. This weekend, the "worse" happened. A student drowned in the Erie Canal in Brockport, NY. The College at Brockport, a SUNY campus, did the right thing by communicating news of the drowning. College at Brockport's Facebook feed, May 10, 2015 But the initial announcement didn't disclose the student's name, which sent thousands of anxious parents across New York state into panic. Is it their son or daughter?  As it happens, the student's family asked that the victim's name not be released. Which is terribly unfair to thousands of families wondering if their child is that victim. SUNY Brockport needs to respect the family's wishes, but at the same time, reassure parents of thousands of students that their child is not the victim. A few parents' unhappy reactions are captured in the screen shot of the college's ...