Emerson Responds to Water Break

In reflection of the whole Boston water break these past couple of days, I was looking at how Emerson responded in terms of crisis communication. I think they responded very well. Sunday morning I woke up to an e-mail from Emerson about the issue and what they were doing to make it easier for students living on campus. They had clean, boiled water in the dining halls until a certain time at night that students go get to. They had bottles of water being delivered to the school, they were not serving anything in the dining hall that first needed to be cleaned by water and they were informing students of what they needed to do: how long they needed to boil water for before using it. I even woke up this morning with an e-mail from Emerson informing me that the boil water order had been lifted. I heard this from Emerson before even reading the paper, I didn't even see it in the paper until this afternoon. Therefore I think in terms of crisis communication, a college responding to a city crisis and communicating information to it's students, Emerson responded really well.

Red Line Fire

On Thursday night, the MBTA had to shut down service on the Red Line due to old wiring near the Downtown Crossing station. According to reports, a few feet away from the station platform, a fire started when 30-year-old wiring sparked a blaze. Smoke spread from Park Street all the way to the Boylston T-stop (where I happened to be standing)!

Fortunately, the T was up and running again by 5 a.m. on Friday. However, the quick fix of capping the damaged wires will only be efficient for so long. This blaze comes at a time where MBTA officials are already in a financial bind. The Boston Globe spoke with Bryan Kane, the financial analyst for the MBTA. He stated that the MBTA does not have enough funds at this moment to ensure that more problems do not happen in the future. Clearly, Downtown Crossing is not the only concern for the transportation system, but it is just one more thing that they want to fix but simply cannot fund.

As far as the public that uses the T, we are in a 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' situation. Many of us do not want to be one of the 19 sent to the hospital for smoke inhalation on Thursday night. However, many of us do not have a car in this city, either. We worry about using the trains in situations like these, but we simply do not have another choice. Here's hoping Massachusetts and the MBTA figure out a way to fund these problems soon. I, for one, would prefer a safer, more reliable public transportation system.

Tea Party-Poopers

Fortunately, for Sarah Palin, she had some followers at her rally a few weeks back. Her staunch supports were there with their signs protesting Health Care, tax increases, and well--most of Obama's agenda.

Unfortunately, for her, the press already asked her supporters how of a Tea Party was expected on April 14. One advocate for Boston's 'Tea Party' rally estimated possibly 20,000 Palin supporters on that date. However, the 'underwhelming' party-of-sorts only managed about 5,000 party-goers (State House News). Those who attended still talked of the event as being a successful one. Palin was quoted clinging to her "constitution, guns, and religion," telling Obama to "keep his change.'

Though the Tea Party may not have looked successful to Democrats, it may have looked successful for Palin in lieu of a possible presidential bid. If Palin does indeed plan to run for office in 2012, she'll have plenty of those party-poopers--er, I mean, party-goers to cast their aggreeable votes when the calendar hits 11/2012.

3rd Annual Record Store Day = Best Day Ever

Last week, record store across the country celebrated the third annual 'Record Store Day,' and event that celebrates music on specifically vinyl records.

Well after the amount of relative tame media buzz, the day actually helped generate enough sales to make it the best sales day in Record Store Day history! And that isn't all. Not only did the day itself set records, but it helped set private record store records for many stores involved with the event. If the economy is back, the indie scene is bringing it back with an edge.

This day should be a wake-up call for many marketers and promoters. The frequently-tapped 'indie' scene has been good for many things. The latest great song for a car commercial, the best new movie, the coolest new 'do. However, with sales for these record stores soaring due to just one event, it is clear that more PR and marketing firms should take a stab at being part of the latest and greatest in 'cool, new indie trends.'

Sandra's Kept Her Secret

...that is, until now.

Announcements were made yesterday that Sandra Bullock and almost-ex-hubby Jesse James secretly filed for of an adoption four years ago. Their baby, 3 month old Louis, was actually brought into their home in January. Bullock had wanted to keep talk of the baby hush-hush until after the Oscars.

Unfortunately, we all know what news broke after the Oscars. Therefore, until now, the baby has been kept a secret by the Bullock camp's close friends and family. In light of Jesse James' already bruised ego, this news does not help him out one bit.

Bullock is a seasoned professional in the Hollywood scene, however. With all of the controversy about James and his mistress, she seems to have kept it cool in the baby arena. Yes, she is (and her PR team are) positioning Bullock to be the loving-mother-done-wrong. In this case, it looks as though she may have quelled the storm of controversy after all. Or at least until more unknown reports surface about her husband. Which, honestly, will not be very surprising.

Obesity Gene Can Lead to More Problems

A specific type of obesity gene has been found to also reduce brain volume and increase the risk of Alzheimer's. This gene has been found to be carried by one-third of Americans. The gene has been dubbed the FTO gene, or the fat mass and obesity gene. Those that possess this gene also may have brain defects that make them more likely to develop Alzheimer's. When taking a look at the numbers, they are startling. They are especially unsettling when taking into consideration another disease highly linked with obesity: diabetes.

Diabetes is already affecting numerous amounts of Americans, both young and young-at-heart. Massachusetts has taken great strides in creating healthier food programs in schools where it can. However, the rest of the nation needs to follow suit. Though the economy is tough, we need to figure out a way to replace Twinkies with apples and Sprite with skim milk. It needs to start from the bottom up: elementary schools and other educational institutions and then we can focus on the workplace. Obesity is a growing health concern for our nation and I'm glad that Michelle Obama has taken this issue under her wing.

Death of an Icon

News reports swirled today with news that Alexander McQueen was high on cocaine when he committed suicide just months ago. On February 11, McQueen was found by his housekeeper at his home in London. The fashion icon had hung himself after taking a "cocktail of cocaine, sleeping pills, and tranquilizers."

Having attempted suicide in the past, it is evident that McQueen had a history of inflicting self-harm. The designer had been close to his mother who recently passed away. And, sources believe, this was the final straw for McQueen. After his mother's passing he was fraught with grief and sadness. His mother was one of his closest friends and inspirations and he could not bear the thought of being without her.

The news of McQueen's harm to himself comes as an unfortunate and many time unwarranted stereotype for those in the fashion world. Because of McQueen are we to believe that other fashion icons, designers and models do not partake in this kind of behavior? What is it about the fashion industry that would drive a man to do something like this? If he spent his life creating 'beauty' and beautiful clothing, what is to be said about his not-so-beautiful private life? The fashion industry may have much more explaining to do in the future.

Recycling: Functional & Fashionable

It's not recycling, it's 'upcycling.' This latest environmentally-friendly craze involves taking recycled goods and making them into more interesting items. The items used include old Capri Sun containers, discarded packaging, and more to create lunch boxes, flower pots, and tote bags.

New Jersey's Terracycle is one such company making recycling into an 'upcylcing' adventure. Many people have decided that making their own tooth-paste bag takes far too much time, so they let Terracycle do it for them. On their site, they show off their 'consumer by-product' masterpieces.

Even if you're not into recycling, you might not resist bringing lunch to work in a bag made out something you ate out of yesterday! These kitschy designs make even the modest of recyclers into upcycling phenoms.

Toyota Is...

That's right. You guessed it... recalling more vehicles!

Now, Toyota has decided to recall 50,000 of their 2003 Toyota Sequoia SUVs because of their ability to 'move forward, a little too fast.' The "aggressive" control system used in these vehicles is what caused the car manufacturer to reclaim these vehicles, said Metro News.

Unfortunately, Toyota has been dealing with recalls for months and we are still seeing more and more vehicles recalled. Just recently, the dealer recalled some of their Lexus GX SUVs because of "failing stability controls."

I understand that these recalls are due to actual events where car control systems and accelerators have malfunctioned. However, with so many recalls, I have to sit here and wonder, are they being too cautious? I know what you're thinking, you want to be safe! And I get that. I'm just saying that with so many vehicles being recalled, are they taking into account the vehicles that have no flaws? I mean, they clearly want to make sure the public is aware of any problems with their cars, but I feel like these recalls are reaching a ridiculous level. I've said it before, that I'm definitely biased. My parents had their '87 Toyota Corolla for 14 years. However, I think this trend of recalls for Toyota is far past the realm of precautionary and heading into the Twilight Zone.

Interview With a Witch

When Annie and I decided to create a documentary about witches and discrimination, I was excited and also slightly terrified. However, when we interviewed Christian Day, I couldn't have been more intrigued by someone. He was unique, hilarious, intelligent and very well-spoken. If we could have picked any modern witch to interview, he still would have been at the top of our list.

Considering Annie and I both come from Christian upbringing, we had plenty to learn. The good thing about that was that Christian was ready to teach. Anything we brought up about rituals, what he believed, how he used his talents and more were all very well-received. He had an answer for everything and by the end we had more than enough footage for our film. What struck me the most about him was how he was so very sure of himself and his beliefs. It takes a lot of guts to stand up in front of a crowd very different from yourself and pronounce that you are different. However, throughout the interview, Christian lead us back to what we had thought in the first place: human beings aren't so different after all.

By the time Annie and I finished our film, we were overjoyed, exhausted, and very pleased. Moreover, we realized we produced a short documentary that could be used by many different organizations. Not only could it by used by the No Place For Hate Committe and the Salem Witch Museum, but by witches and Wiccans that want people to know their point of view. In creating this film, I found that as a public relations practitioner I will be in charge of a message. When the message is meant to bring about social change, it must be well-researched, have an acceptance within a certain community, and have room to 'grow.' In this case, if we were hired by the No Place for Hate Committee to create more pieces like this one, I think we have a good grounding on how to proceed.

**For another look at our film, you can view it here!**

Eurovision: Singing for Cultural Diplomacy

It is that time of the year again! We are only a few weeks away from Eurovision! Last year, to my surprise, I met some people who didn't know about this beautiful event! I thought Eurovision was the second biggest event in the universe - the first being, of course, the World Cup.

When something is an inherent part of your culture and life, it is very difficult to explain it, especially when other people have no idea what you are talking about - "It is like American Idol - but an entire continent competes" or "It is a parade of songs and stage shows that have never left the 80s" or simply "Just watch it, it is fun". Last year, I watched the final with friends from Nepal, New Zealand, and the UK. It was really interesting and funny to see non-European reaction to the contest.

Let me try to explain what Eurovision is. Once upon a time European countries came together and started an organization called European Broadcasting Union (EBU). EBU decided to do something to bring European countries together after the World War II, and tried to test the broadcasting technologies. Eurovision, a song contest broadcasted simultaneously in several countries, started in 1956. And we still watch it, and no, apart from Ireland, we are still not bored (Ireland won Eurovision seven times). The winner country gets to host the following year's contest. Last year, Norway won, and Eurovision 2010 will take place in Oslo, Norway.

Eurovision, for me at least, presents a snapshot of European politics, as well as our deep commitment to disco era. Last year, I was in a position to explain why Scandinavian countries give 12 points to each other, why it is a big issue when Turkey votes for Cyprus, and why we pretend to speak French (deuze pointe). Now, on one hand, we forget about politics - Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and even Israel are seen as 'European' countries, we love to hear them sing together. On the other hand, when it comes to voting, we are reminded how powerful political relations are in Europe - i.e. 12 points are exchanged between countries with strong ties (yes Scandinavian countries, I am talking about you!! Stop doing that!).

Long story short, thanks to Eurovision, people see at least some faces, melodies, and lyrics from all around the continent. Visit Eurovision's website at http://www.eurovision.tv/page/home and be a part of this great event!

PS: This is Turkey in ESC 2010:


and this is my favorite song thus far - Iceland 2010:

This blog post is also posted on http://efesevin.wordpress.com/.

Toyota's blind spot

Among the points in this interesting article: Toyota was very well equipped to be the No. 2 (in terms of vehicles sold) automaker, but unprepared when it became No.1 in 2008. Its vaunted Toyota Production System, under which any line worker could halt the assembly line if he detected a fault, was no help if any faults got through - the company simply refused to believe that it wasn't perfect. In addition, Toyota recalled 9 million cars since the crisis broke - nearly as many cars sold in the US last year.


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/06/opinion/06debord.html

How Safety Agency Investigates Complaints

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says it receives more than 30,000 complaints a year (a little more than 80 a day). 70% come in from the web. The NHTSA has legal authority to order a recall only when it can "demonstrate a safety related defect...In the last three years, it has issued 524 recalls involving 23.5 million vehicles."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/02/business/02toyotabox.html

Toyota pays $16.4 million fine, made it back in less than two hours

On April 19, Toyota paid a fine of $16.4 million to the US Department of Transportation, the largest fine ever levied against an automaker, for its role in concealing the sticky accelerator pedal problems and other quality issues. As is often customary with such fines, Toyota admitted no wrongdoing, but the company is still vulnerable to civil and criminal complaints, as well as ongoing Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission investigations.

There are some who question the effectiveness of fining a corporation without holding individuals accountable, as the fines are ultimately paid by the company's shareholders, while the company can shrug off the expense as a cost of doing business. Moreover, while $16.4 million is a considerable sum, Toyota earned nearly $22 million each hour in 2009, based on its $185 billion annual revenues.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/20/business/global/20toyota.html

Lawmakers’ Ties to Toyota Questioned at Start of Inquiries

As I've mentioned before, in many ways the Toyota crisis is similar to what befell Audi in the 80's, as its sales tanked after publicity about sudden acceleration. However, Audi was essentially driven from the US market for nearly ten years. While Toyota's sales and reputation are suffering, it seems highly unlikely that it will suffer Audi's fate.

Asking why raises some interesting issues. First, unlike Audi, which to this day is an upscale niche brand, Toyota sells cars at all price points, from the entry-level Yaris (less than $13,000) to the Lexus LFA ($375,000). Millions of ordinary Americans own Toyotas - even my parents, who drove American cars most of their lives, drive a Camry.

Second, the sheer volume of Toyota's sales and manufacturing have made them an "American" car maker. Toyota is one of the United States' largest private employers, with 172,000 employees, working in every state of the US. The scale and breadth of their operations means that they have natural allies among their suppliers, and local, state, and federal political leaders who value the sales, jobs, and tax revenues that Toyota generates.

Third, and somewhat controversially, Toyota has built up a huge lobbying organization that existed well before this crisis broke. According a recent New York Times article, Toyota had 31 full time DC lobbyists in 2009, a number that has almost certainly increased this year, and "has spent nearly $25 million on federal regulatory and legislative lobbying matters in the last five years, far more than any other foreign automaker."

Indeed, Toyota's long term position may benefit from a huge network of political contacts that it has built up in its decades in the US. To take just one example, U.S. Representative Darrell Issa (R-California), the ranking Republican on the House oversight committe that called Toyota chair Akido Toyoda to testify earlier this year, made his fortune selling alarms for Toyotas as well as other brands. Many Democratic lawmakers have similar financial ties to Toyotas.

Many of these lawmakers have, while acknowledging Toyota's faults, cautioned the public and the media not to come down too hard on a large American employer during a severe recession: “ 'Toyota has unquestionably placed the safety of its customers above profits,' Gov. Steve Beshear of Kentucky, which is home to a Toyota manufacturing plant, said in a letter to Congress this month that was signed by three other governors.
'At the same time, they have not laid off a single employee, despite the impact these concerns have had on sales,' the letter said. 'All of these actions are representative of the valuable friend we have in Toyota.' "

All of these factors may in many ways insulate Toyota from the worst effects of this crisis. Audi was a small carmaker, making all of its cars in Germany, and with a limited dealer network. It crumbled under the onslaught of bad press. Toyota is in many ways a thoroughly American company (in all senses of the word): learning from criticism that was unfairly competing against US automakers in the early 80s, since then it has directly engaged the US political system, and in many ways made itself an integral part of that system.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/23/business/23donate.html

Moody's Cuts Toyota's Credit Rating

In a sign that the effects of the Toyota crisis will have long-term repercussions, on April 22 credit rating agency Moody's downgraded the company from "Aa1" to "Aa2." To put this in perspective, Aaa is the highest rating, Aa1 the next, and Aa2 a step below that. Any rating of Baa3 or above is considered "investment grade," while Ba1 and below are considered "subprime" or "speculative" investments.

Source: http://www.moodyskorea.com/english/definition/scale.asp

Moody's cited many challenges for Toyota, nearly all a direct result of the quality crisis: "sluggish demand, overcapacity, the need to provide incentives beyond normal levels to boost sales, and a real risk that its product quality problems have eroded significantly and permanently its historical advantages in pricing power...”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/23/business/global/23toyota.html?scp=2&sq=toyota&st=cse

Although Aa2 is still an investment grade rating, this is a very significant development that will almost certainly increase borrowing costs for Toyota, as banks charge higher interest to customers with lower credit ratings. Moreover, many companies struggle to overcome credit downgrades, as these "objective" numerical credit ratings often stand in as a psychological proxy for the overall health and fitness of a corporation.

New "Post-Crisis" Ads for Sienna Minivan

While Toyota is still handling the fallout of its many missteps, it's also putting out a new group of "non-crisis" or "post crisis" ads. Among the more prominent are a series of commercials for the new Toyota Sienna minivan. Featuring a relatively young, hip couple with two kids, the spots directly take on, with varying degrees of success, the perception that minivans are terminally uncool and unsexy - the sole province of women in "mom jeans." In one spot, the actress playing the wife says "the thought of driving a minivan used to make me cry myself to sleep." But today's Sienna is so sexy and modern, she spends her "alone time" in the minivan, doing her nails, watching "the OC," and chatting on the phone with her girlfriends.

Whether or not the commercials can bring sexy back to the minivan is open to debate. However, it's clear that elements of Toyota are looking forward to a new normal - the post crisis future.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZoBfpm1zHg

Toyota's Engagement with Crisis

While Toyota was (fairly) criticized for not responding to the sudden acceleration and other problems soon enough, it's clear that the company has now accepted that it's in a crisis and must engage the conversation. For example, just a couple of months ago, one could still frequently see ads blithely repeating the same homilies the company had used since the 80's: our cars have rock-solid quality - ask anyone who drives one. These claims seemed particularly tone deaf, as I often recall seeing them during commercial breaks for the morning news, which was simultaneously broadcasting sensational news stories about yet another quality complaint, accident, recall or disclosure of embarassing internal files.

Most of Toyota's commercials now expressly or implicitly acknowledge that its reputation for quality has been questioned, and strike a different tone. For example, an ad that began to play on February 6 features soft, emotional piano music, with a muted voiceover directly acknowledging the quality and safety complaints. However, the ad quickly pivots to another page from the crisis response playbook, featuring grainy, nostalgic photos from its early US history beginning in the 60's, mentioning its 170,000 US employees, and declaring that the company is spending $1 million per hour on fixing its problems.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZoBfpm1zHg

Fajitas & Fundraising

Last Wednesday, the Rosarito Project Team held a fundraiser at Fajitas and 'Ritas. This fundraiser was held to benefit Cha Cha's Angels, an orphanage in Rosarito, Mexico for young orphan boys. In terms of public affairs, this event showcased the good that is coming out of Rosarito. Instead of misconceptions about drugs and violence in this Mexican city, there will be an understanding of the kind of place that Rosarito truly is.

As far as public affairs goes, a fundraiser not only provides support for a specific cause, but it also sheds light on the organizations that hold the event. In this case, the Rosarito Project Team did a great job of showcasing information about Cha Cha's Angels and the city of Rosarito. Throughout the night, there were many opportunities for participants and donors to learn more about Cha Cha's Angels because of a video that was shown during the event. People got to 'meet' Cha Cha through this video, and meet the boys that benefit from fundraisers and donations collected at event like this one.

Funds that were collected go directly to this charitable cause. I have to congratulate the Rosarito Project team on pulling out all the stops as far as a culturally diverse evening. Not only did we enjoy great Mexican food a la Fajitas & 'Ritas, but there was a language corner and a silent auction. The language corner was an interesting idea because for a few dollars, you could have a phrase or your name written in Greek, Arabic, and Chinese. Thanks to the help of our fellow classmates, this helped bring in many donations throughout the night. The silent auction had something for everyone to bid on: beautiful photographs, tickets to the IMAX theater, Boloco gift certificates, and even a night on the town with some of our colleagues! By the end of the night, the bidding had ended and the funds raised will really support Cha Cha's Angels.

Is Scott Brown just a pretty face?

It looks to me like Scott Brown might be beginning to have a bit of a public image problem as it's becoming increasingly difficult to know what he stands for.

First, he snubs the April 14, 2010 Boston Tea Party and the Teabaggers who played no small part in getting him elected. Then, as reported in the April 15, 2010 Boston Globe, and quoted in numerous other media sources, he doesn't seem to have much to say about the regulatory reform that he so strongly opposes.

Brown opposes current financial overhaul bill

Brown left open the possibility that he could support a compromise.

"I want to see when it's going to come up, how it's going to come up,'' he said. "I'm always open to trying to work something through so it is truly bipartisan.''

Brown, whose vote could be critical as Democrats seek to find a GOP member to avoid a filibuster, assiduously avoided talking about specifics.

When asked what areas he thought should be fixed, he replied: "Well, what areas do you think should be fixed? I mean, you know, tell me. And then I'll get a team and go fix it.''

And then there's Brown's even more confused appearance on the April 18, 2010 "Face The Nation" reported in the next day's Boston Herald:

After being asked about whether he believes the country is being pushed toward socialism during the interview, Brown responded - and I quote from CBS’s transcript:

“I know that the President should start to focus on jobs and job
creation and– and– and– and– and that hasn’t been done. Since I’ve been here we’ve done health care, which they obviously rammed through by using a parliamentary procedure that has never been used for something this big ever. And then the bill as we’re finding out is– is flawed, seriously flawed. It’s going to cost medical device companies in my state, you know, thousands of jobs. But then, we’re taking– we’re talking now about regulation reform. We’re politicizing that. Maybe– I’ve heard illegal immigration is going to come forth. When we’re in Pakistan andAfghanistan, the only thing they talked about from the Presidents all the way down to the poorest farmer were jobs. Since I’ve been here, I’ve heard zero talk about jobs. So, I’ll let– leave that up to the political pundits, but I know from what I’ve seen that we need to focus on jobs and the President should start to do so.”

Really? Zero talk about jobs? That’s curious, because I distinctly remember Brown supporting a Democratic jobs bill in late February. The following are Brown’s words following the vote.

“I came to Washington to be an independent voice, to put politics aside, and to do everything in my power to help create jobs for Massachusetts families,” Brown said in a statement. “This Senate jobs bill is not perfect. I wish the tax cuts were deeper and broader, but I voted for it because it contains measures that will help put people back to work.”

It looks like Brown may be trying to reposition himself politically. But where? And does he even know himself.

Study Abroad and Culture

I was silent for around two weeks. I was preparing for International Academy of Business Disciplines Annual Convention in Las Vegas. I presented two papers, one project, and co-chaired four sessions. In addition to all this academic work, I tried to support IABD Press project. Shortly, I had quite a busy schedule during the conference.

One of the papers I presented was on the impacts of Fulbright Program entitled "More than a Touristic Visit: Scholar Exchanges as a Communication Method in Public Diplomacy". I introduced a three-level schema for intercultural encounters. The first level is tourism. Tourists, indeed, see a new country/culture, and go through a highly fabricated and controlled experience. But still, they go through an intercultural experience and they will have something to say about the country. The second level is exchange program participants. Scholars spend longer periods of time in a different country and go through a less controlled experience. After they return back to their home countries, they are considered as information sources about the host countries. The third (and for me the highest) level is the cultural ambassadors. People might start arguing for their host countries and might advocate their rights. We discussed how tourists and/or exchange program participants can be transformed into cultural ambassadors.

Given the international characteristic of the association and backgrounds of participants, we started discussing personal experiences and the importance of study abroad experience (Two people from the audience, both American, became cultural ambassadors of two different countries after their study/teach/live abroad experiences). Dr. Bonita Neff talked about her university - Valparaiso University -, and its commitment to increase the number of international exchange programs. I was amazed by the number of opportunities available for students to go abroad. I am not going to reinvent the wheel but I would like to recap some of the most important obstacles we discussed for intercultural discussions:

- Dominance of American data: We realized that most of the research we were doing was based on American data. For instance, I was discussing scholar exchanges through Fulbright program. Another presentation discussed face-ism through 2008 Presidential elections. The last presentation was on celebrity diplomacy, and of course, discussed mainly American celebrities. The volume and quality of data about the US is more than satisfactory, and we do not feel the need to look at other countries unless we are willing to do a comparative study.

- Dominance of American literature: Even the resources we cited were mainly from the US. Practically speaking, data and journals - maybe unintentionally - cause the scholars to focus solely on the United States.

- Cluster Study Abroad: When students are sent abroad by their colleges and universities to study abroad, they tend to travel in clusters, either with students from their own countries or from similar cultures. Therefore, even after spending a semester abroad, students have no idea about the host culture.

- Plain laziness: Many people just don't want to take the risk of moving abroad (usually overseas in the case of the United States). So, they choose to stay in their home country and do not interact with other cultures (well, maybe occasional interaction when they want to eat 'authentic' food).

In short, go abroad & live abroad. You don't need to come back as a cultural ambassador, but your intercultural experience will broaden your horizon.

PS 1: This is a photo of me, getting the Global Communication Award at IABD (hopefully, I will get another award for this weird handshake next year.)
Frankly speaking, I am proud to be part of such a diverse organization. This was my second year at IABD, I am looking forward to the convention in New Orleans next year! For further information about IABD, please visit http://www.iabd.org/. You can reach the press project for IABD 2009, St. Louis at http://www.iabdpress.org/ and for IABD 2010, Las Vegas at http://www.iabd2010.com/.

This blog post is also posted on http://efesevin.wordpress.com/ and http://placebranding.ning.com/.

The Arc of Crisis

Funny how the passage of time dulls nearly all crises. Just a few weeks ago, Toyota was all anyone could see on the news, but now the story seems to have subsided into a dull rumble, buried under the successful passage of healthcare, Jesse James/Sandra Bullock, earthquakes in Chile and China, and a volcano in Iceland that may be causing a new economic crisis in Europe. Aside from short attention spans, Toyota seems to be showing a completely different attitude toward quality problems; together, these factors appear to indicate that Toyota is entering Turner's Stage 6 of crisis - the "new normal."

Toyota has clearly been chastened and humbled by its experiences over the past months. Until recently, it would be impossible to imagine the carmaker voluntarily withdrawing a Lexus SUV off the market after a single Consumer Reports article. Just a few weeks ago, Toyota might very well have contested the rating, and aggressively fought back. Toyota is clearly operating in the "new normal" now, as Consumer Reports gave the $55,000 GX 460 a "don't buy" warning on April 13, citing electronic stability control problems. Instead, within days Toyota admitted that its engineers were able to reproduce the problem, and immediately pulled the SUV off the market.

It remains to be seen how well Toyota will recover. Car sales in general are still weak for all manufacturers due to the limping economy. Therefore, it's difficult to quantify how much of Toyota's sales decline is truly caused by the crisis. Still, despite Toyota's earlier missteps, the fact that much of its production is in the US may give Toyota an advantage that Audi didn't have a generation ago, when it was essentially driven from the US market.

Related Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/17/business/17toyota.html

A Star is Born

A couple of weeks back I posted about how a careless TV interview ended a political career in Ireland. In the current UK General Election the opposite happened last Thursday and a political star was born.

Normally, the UK "Leaders Debate" - the equivalent of the US Presidential Debate - takes place between the leaders of the two main parties, Labour and the Conservatives. This year the Liberal Democrats who normally run a poor third in the polls, and have just under 10% of seats in the UK parliament, muscled their way in, although nobody, especially the other parties, was taking their presence very seriously. They should have.

The following day the headlines in all the main UK newspapers declared the Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, the clear winner in the debate.

In a poll published yesterday, the Liberal Democrats had the highest support, something that would have been unimaginable in the past. Given the UK "first past the post" electoral system they still haven't a hope of winning the election and, in fact might only pick up 2 or 3 extra seats. However, they will probably be the kingmakers, being able to choose which of the other two parties to support in government or go into coalition with. If this is ends up being the case they will be in a position to name whatever price they want.

To me, coming from a country that uses proportional representation to elect its parliament, the fact that the Liberal Democrats can have nearly a third of the electorate's support and still only win 10% or so of the seats in parliament is evidence of a very broken system and fundamentally anti-democratic. Although successive Conservative and Labour governments for the last 30+ years have paid lip-service to introducing some form of proportional representation there has been no incentive for them to do this - indeed quite the opposite; it would be like turkeys voting for Christmas.

If the Liberal Democrats do hold the balance of power and make proportional representation part of the price of their support it will change UK politics forever.

Transparency International Report 2009

I came across the interesting statistic recently that the cost of corruption equals more than 5% of global GDP (US $2.6 trillion), with over US $1 trillion paid in bribes each year. This set me off on a quick perusal of the topic. Transparency International, in particular, has some really good publications available for free on their website.

The annual TI Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), first released in 1995, is the best known of TI’s tools. It has been widely credited with putting TI and the issue of corruption on the international policy agenda. The CPI ranks more than 150 countries by their perceived levels of corruption, as determined by expert assessments and opinion surveys.

In recent years, TI has sought to develop other corruption measurement tools to complement the CPI. The Bribe Payers’ Index (BPI) assesses the supply side of corruption and ranks corruption by source country and industry sector.

So, where the US ranks on both lists?

• 19th least corrupt out of the 150 countries surveyed for the 2009 Corruption Perceptions Index
• 12th biggest bribe payer out of the 22 countries surveyed for the 2008 Bribe Payer's Index
  

If you have the time and the interest their 2009 Annual Report is also an excellent read. From a Public Affairs perspective the sections on lobbying are particularly interesting.

From the executive summary:

Corruption risks in corporate lobbying can turn legitimate participation into undue influence and put the legitimacy of governments and business itself at risk

Businesses are entitled to be heard in the democratic decision-making process, and lobbying conveys important information and opinion to political representatives and public officials. There is a risk, however, that powerful private sector players capture policies and governments and profoundly thwart democratic decisions, posing a signifi cant threat to accountable and inclusive governance everywhere.

The Global Corruption Report 2009 presents evidence of persistently close linkages between business and governments in developing and industrialised countries alike, multiple conflicts of interest and the growing risks of disproportionate infl uence on the part of corporate lobbying. Case studies from Bangladesh, Germany, Malaysia and Trinidad and Tobago all document a precariously close nexus between private business and public institutions. In the United Kingdom, politically connected firms are estimated to account for almost 40 per cent of market capitalisation – a level that rises to a staggering 80 per cent in Russia.

In addition, the scale and rapid growth of lobbying raises serious concerns about equal visibility and the right to get heard for citizens who cannot afford to hire lobbyists. In Brussels an estimated 2,500 lobbying organisations with 15,000 lobbyists vie for infl uence on EU policy-making. In the United States, lobbying expenditures by companies have risen sharply and, at state level, lobbying expenditures average US$200,000 per legislator, while five lobbyists vie for the attention of each lawmaker.

What is the point of second life?

What is the point of second life?

This question prompted me to take a look at the 3D virtual world where anything and everything is possible. I wondered if this was the new play thing for the social media junkie. The second life website (http://secondlife.com/?v=1.1) allows you to create a fictitious fantasy life in cyber space.

Anything from your dream job to your dream car is possible on second life, and yes you earn money (real second life money) in this fantasy cyber world. My favorite part of second life would be the "shop 'til you drop" aspect. So if you can't afford the latest Nike's in real life, you can rock them in your second life. Now thats where I need to be. I also noticed all the beautiful people on second life - but of course who would want to be anything else in fantasy world? And you can be 'fake' beautiful in fantasy world for FREE. Second life is free to join.

Based on what I saw, I think second life is more of a 'pretend game' for really bored people than anything else. I was just amazed at how much people were addicted to it. I soppose like any game, once you get into the flow, the addiction factor cannot be helped, but I was shocked to read on CNN the following day that a couple in Korea starved their child (the real life one) to death because they paid too much attention to the one on second life! That just did it for me and I conclude: second life is a cyber game for people with time on their hands. In the our current state of media over exposure, I just don't know how people find the time to live a fantasy life.

How can the Vatican get it so wrong?

According to the Associated Press (AP) - picked up over 100 international newspapers - the Vatican Enters 'Full-Fledged Damage Control Mode' Over Abuse.

"VATICAN CITY (AP) -- The Vatican has gone into full-fledged damage control mode in the priest sex abuse scandal ahead of Pope Benedict XVI's first foreign trip since it erupted. Officials are promising surprising new initiatives. The pope's personal secretary is speaking out. And bishops around the world are being told to report abuse cases to the police"

I had to laugh. As reported globally, the Vatican response so far has been an unmitigated disaster. Rather than look at themselves in the mirror:

Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, one of the Pope's top aides, denounces the media conspiracy against the Church (Daily News.com):

"This is a pretext for attacking the church," he said. "There is a well-organized plan with a very clear aim," he said, without spelling out who was behind it. Saraiva Martins said he was for zero tolerance of abuse, but could understand why some bishops covered up cases in the past. "We should not be too scandalized if some bishops knew about it but kept it secret. This is what happens in every family, you don't wash your dirty laundry in public," he said.

Rev. Raniero Cantalamessa, the Preacher of the Papal Household, likens the criticism of abuse to antisemitism (New York Times):

“They know from experience what it means to be victims of collective violence, and also because of this they are quick to recognize the recurring symptoms,” said Father Cantalamessa, who serves under the title of preacher of the papal household. Then he quoted from what he said was a letter from a Jewish friend he did not identify. “I am following the violent and concentric attacks against the church, the pope and all the faithful by the whole world,” he said the friend wrote. “The use of stereotypes, the passing from personal responsibility and guilt to a collective guilt, remind me of the more shameful aspects of anti-Semitism.”

The influential Catholic weekly Famiglia Cristiana argues rather petulantly that Protestants are twice as bad (Irish Times):

“Important international sociology studies, applied to religion, have demonstrated that among Protestant pastors, the percentage of those condemned for abuse of minors is double that of Catholic priests . . . and the frequency is 10 times higher among gym teachers and the coaches of youth sports teams.”

Cardinal Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State blames it on homosexuality (Irish Times):

It is homosexuality, not celibacy, that is linked to paedophilia, the Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, said yesterday, seeking to defuse the sex scandal that has battered the Catholic Church. “Many psychologists and psychiatrists have shown that there is no link between celibacy and paedophilia but many others have shown, I have recently been told, that there is a relationship between homosexuality and paedophilia,” he told a news conference in Santiago.

This is just a small selection of the coverage. A quick browse through Google News shows that the same stories are being covered all over the world.

So, why is the Vatican getting it so horribly wrong?

The Washington Post writing about the lack of a Vatican communications strategy suggests that the problem is at least partly structural.

They say the Vatican can appear tone deaf, even on the most sensitive subjects, and have theories why. One is structural, with a system that harbors a military respect for rank and fiefdom and is a massive, centuries-old theocracy that still requires some official documents to be in Latin.

Experts say there is no unifying figure or office to pull together a team during a crisis. Public communications are dealt with by multiple institutions: Lombardi, a Jesuit priest, runs the Vatican's media and press office. The secretary of state's office is also a key player, and the Pontifical Council for Social Communications has dozens of advisers around the world to help it spread the faith, including a Bombay filmmaker, a TV executive from Indonesia and a radio correspondent from Africa.

The council isn't charged with getting involved in news. But to some, it's emblematic that during an epic crisis, this panel of communications experts doesn't meet again until next year. Lombardi recently made a point of saying that he speaks for the Vatican, not the pope.

"The mind-set is that no one speaks for the pope," Shaw said. "If the pope wants to speak, he'll speak for himself."

The BBC writing about why the Vatican media strategy is failing suggests that personality and lack of perspective also play a role.

When I asked John L Allen, the American Catholic commentator on the Vatican, why its media strategy was failing, he responded:

"As soon as I see that they have a strategy, I will answer you! The fact is, they don't have one, and that is where they are going wrong."

Indeed, the absence of a coherent media strategy is evident, as a variety of Vatican personalities take it upon themselves to respond publicly to the accusations. They often do it in a defensive or denial mode, shooting the messenger, or denouncing a conspiracy against the Pope and the Catholic Church because of its moral stances on life, the family and bioethics.

Over recent weeks, the Vatican has often resembled a fire brigade as it dashed to quench a fire in one place only to find another has broken out elsewhere, and never knowing where the next might blaze up.

The Huffington Post writing about how the Pope's ivory tower adds to his detachment, suggests that the Pope's cloistered existence as an academic and senior church figure and his poor choice of advisers bear some of the blame.

Joseph Ratzinger, the future pope, only worked 15 months tending to a flock in the 59 years since taking his vows, instead closing himself in the ivory tower of academia – a background that may help account for his troubled handling of the sex abuse crisis engulfing the church.

...

Some of Benedict's critics, however, say the pope's real problems lie mainly with a practice of surrounding himself with unqualified advisers.

"He doesn't have grade A types around him – but he picked them," said the Rev. Richard McBrien, a theologian at the University of Notre Dame and frequent critic of the pope.

From a Public Affairs/Crisis Communication perspective, the Vatican provides a fascinating case study, and one that I'm sure will provide much fodder for students for years to come.

Your request is being processed...Pope's Ivory Tower Past Adds to His Detachment

International Tourism in Mexico Continues to Decline

Drug violence in Mexico continues to harm Mexico's important tournism industry. Just today, Reuters reported that international tourism to Cancun is down 4% since the beginning of 2010. As our class' Rosarito Project Team is well aware of, international tourists are assuming that this violence is happening throughout Mexico. We know that the violence is far from both Cancun and Rosarito, but the fear sill exists.

Tourists still fear that travelling to these popular tourist cities could be dangerous. For these individuals, I want to say one thing: violence and crime exist everwhere. It exists in America. It exists in Egypt. It exists in England. We cannot escape drugs and violence anymore than we can escape hate and fear. However, we can learn to be proactive and so can Mexico's tourism industry.

As tourists, we should be doing our research. Rather than just listening to the hype, we should be looking for the facts. And as such tourists, we should be receiving vacation research help from...where?! The tourism industry! I think Mexico's tourism industry needs to re-evaluate how they can promote beautiful, safe Mexican communities and tourist areas. They need to show that these areas are not connected to violent drug crimes. With these tactics in place, maybe we can put fears to rest along with the overall economic slump.

Opinion on an Opinion

The Metro ran an opinion piece last Friday about Sarah Palin's possible presidential bid. In many ways the writer of that piece stated many of mthe same ideas that I also have about Palin. Mainly, that she seems to have a lot of problems with how our country is run: without any solutions. How can someone that continues to have so much press coverage continue to miss the boat?

You'd think that with so much (unwarranted and somewhat undeserved) attention on Palin that she would come up with something useful to say. However, any time she opens her mouth we continue to be disappointed. The opinion piece went on to describe which Americans are most disappointed in Palin's lacking leadership potential. Enter the undecided, "Militant Middle." They are disenchanted with Republican policy conerning Big Business and lower taxes for the wealthy. On the other hand, they see the Democratic party as too eager to hike taxes and push ultra-liberal policies.

During a time when this lost and underrepresented demogrpahic needs a leader, none is to be found. That is to say that none has been found yet. I am all for giving Sarah Palin a chance to redeem herself. However, in light of her many public opportunities to push her agenda, she keeps letting me and those in 'the Middle' down. Where are your ideas for our bright, shiny new nation, Sarah? Until you give us some concrete solutions, your presidential future looks dim.

Framing

Writers frame their stories based on the information they they gather, their own experiences or maybe their interests. Writers could report on the same story, but they will come out differently based on the way it was written, the focus on the story and the frame it took.

A couple of weeks ago when Elaine Driscoll spoke to our class she told us one of her assignments in college was to choose a news story in multiple newspapers and compare the similarities and differences in the frames of those stories. This showed how differently a story can turn out when written by two different writers.

I was inspired to do the same. Because the story of bullying at South Hadley High School and the death of Phoebe Prince is widely reported right now I chose two articles on this topic, both written on the same day. One is from the Boston Herald and one is from the Boston Globe.

The story from the Boston Globe seemed to point blame at the administrators and teachers at South Hadley High School. This story definitely reported on what happened to Phoebe Prince leading up to her death, but it seemed to target the fault at school officials, administrators and teachers. It pointed out a multiple times within the article, how Phoebe had gone to an administrator complaining about being bullied, wanting to go home and being scared, and the administrators did nothing about it.

The story from the Boston Herald reported on the same types of things that was reported in the Boston Globe, however the focus was on the students that bullied Phoebe. There was very minimal mentioning of Phoebe going to an administrator to talk about the problem, resulting in nothing happening. So this article seemed to frame around what students said and did to Phoebe as opposed to pointing blame at someone like the article in the Boston Globe did.

I think both articles had good information to offer on the topic, and reported on what was the latest on the story, but it's interesting the different frames that the stories took. even when they are both reporting on the news of the case.

Twitter to have paid tweets show up in searches

Twitter to have paid tweets show up in searches

Communication is becoming easier everyday with ongoing social media efforts. It only took time before Twitter would introduce advertising, starting with a test run with companies such as Sony, Starbucks and Best Buy. These companies can pay to have their advertisements show up in top search results through Twitter. However, if the ads aren't forwarded or being tweeted on by Twitter users, then the ad disappears.

I see this as an opportunity and also a risk for these companies. They can pay to have their advertisements show up in top search results through Twitter, and therefore reach a wider audience, but they also risk not getting responses from Twitter users resulting in loss of their ad space and the money they put into it. It could be a risk to put the money into it, and if you don't get enough attention then you lose the ad space and the money that paid for it.

Social Responsibility

I came across this article in the Boston Globe today, about incorporating green initiatives in real estate. It’s about green homes selling, and the particular house they refer to sold in seven days after being put on the market.

Being green is something that is not only becoming big in real estate, but many businesses are moving towards being green or promoting being green. I think this is extremely beneficial not only for our environment, but for the business itself, because it shows they care about the environment and are becoming involved in social responsibility.

An example would be Starbucks who does a lot for the environment outside of the business, involving green buildings, water, recycling and the climate. Starbucks also gives people a discount if they bring in their own reusable cup to fill with their daily coffee. In an effort to reduce the use of paper cups, this Thursday Starbucks is giving customers a free cup of coffee if they come into the store with their own reusable cup. http://www.starbucks.com/thebigpicture

Rhode Island School District

This past February a large amount (approximately 74 or more) of high school teachers were fired as of the end of the school year from one of the lowest performing high schools in Rhode Island. According to statistics, fewer than 50 percent of the students in Central Falls High School of Rhode Island graduate in four years. According to an article from CNN, when the superintendent suggested a plan of making the school day longer and asking teachers to tutor students for an hour outside of the school day weekly, the teachers didn’t agree without a compensation, which left the superintendent to fall back on her other option which was to the fire the teachers.

I’m curious as to instead of firing teachers, why an option wasn’t to simply reevaluate the curriculum? It seems quite a large number for the result of more than 50% of students not graduating in four years being completely the teachers fault, and not only a few teachers, but the majority of teachers at the school. I would think the superintendent would first look at the option of reevaluating the curriculum, look at how much support students receive with their studies and whether they have jobs or other responsibilities going on in their lives keeping them away from their studies. Simply firing majority of the teaching staff doesn’t seem like a valid solution.

The Protestant seat on the Supreme Court

Much is being made of the fact that when Justice Stevens retires, it is possible that there will be no Protestant justices on the court for the first time ever. Apparently this is a matter of great import, if the number of column inches being written on the subject is anything to go by.

However, what I find interesting is that in the dozen or so articles that I've read telling me how significant this is, most are saying that it is significant because it doesn't matter. The following is a quick summary of some of the more interesting articles I came across:

From the New York Times article Stevens, the Only Protestant on the Supreme Court:

“The practical reality of life in America is that religion plays much less of a role in everyday life than it did 50 or 100 years ago,” said Geoffrey R. Stone, a law professor at the University of Chicago. Adding a Protestant to the court, he said, would not bring an important element to its discussions.

“These days,” said Lee Epstein, a law professor at Northwestern and an authority on the court, “we’ve moved to other sources of diversity,” including race, gender and ethnicity.

That move reflects a profound shift in the way we think about law, and in the very meaning of identity politics.

From the NPR article Supreme Court May Soon Lack Protestant Justices:

Does it matter? Should it matter? Should it be discussed in polite society?

"It would certainly raise a lot of eyebrows," says University of Virginia professor Henry Abraham. "I don't know whether it matters. Speaking idealistically, to me the only thing that matters is competence, quality, education, ability, morals and so forth."

Ave Maria law school Dean Emeritus Bernard Dobranski agrees — but adds, "I think it would certainly raise questions with some people, and some people would be suspicious."

Princeton Provost Christopher Eisgruber, another court scholar, makes a slightly different point.

"All of the justices who are on the bench now were appointed because of their constitutional views, and I don't think any of them are allowing their religious views to trump honest, sincere judgments about the Constitution," Eisgruber says. "And I think it's also worth noting that we've had Catholics on the court on both sides of the abortion question."

From the Huffington Post article The Protestant Seat on the Supreme Court:

To bring total Catholic, Mormon, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu and non-religion representation on the Supreme Court up to the percentage of those groups in the current population, the next 69 justices should consist of 32 Catholics, 29 non-religious individuals, four Mormons, a total of four Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus, and no Protestants or Jews.

And what about blacks, Hispanics and Asians? Blacks are 12% of the current population, but they have historically been less than 2% of the justices; Hispanics are 12% of the population but have been only 1% of the justices, and Asians are 4% of the population, but have never been represented on the Supreme Court. And what about women, who are 51% of the population, but have been less than 3% of the justices? To give women appropriate representation, the next 112 justices will have to be women.

In such circumstances, do we really need to fret over whether the next justice is a Protestant?

Public Affairs strategy #218: Send politicized signal to your base and apologize later

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell apologized Wednesday for leaving out any reference to slavery in his recent proclamation designating April as Confederate History Month, calling it a "major omission."
[...]

"He has a right to apologize," Virginia State Sen. Henry Marsh III, a black Democrat, told CNN. "But I don't accept that as a good answer because this is a pattern of this governor."

"He says the wrong thing, he sends a signal to his base and then he makes an apology," Marsh said, "It's a question of whether he's sincere or not."

FULL STORY HERE

Nike Commercial

http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/blog/devil_ball_golf/post/Nike-brings-back-the-voice-of-Earl-Woods-in-new-?urn=golf,232781

The link above shows a new Nike commercial, showing a depressed Tiger Woods with his late father's voice in the background. His father is asking him what he is thinking and if he learned anything from his mistakes. Quite honestly, this does not make me want to buy any Nike products, I'm not sure how I feel about Nike after seeing this commercial. I suppose Tiger agreed to filming it, but I don't think it was a smart choice for Nike. Nike shouldn't be leaping onto Tiger's mistakes to make commercials for their benefit. Seeing this commercial produces a negative image of Nike in my mind.

What do you think?

Public Relations, Public Affairs, Public Diplomacy

Throughout this semester I have been trying to come up with my own definition for Public Relations, Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy. This is what I have come up with:

Public Relations is the relationship between a business and it's audience. This involves all communication between the two. Including, the way a business reacts to a crisis, handles an event or responds to consumer demand. Anything involved in communication between the business and it's audience is public relations.

Public Affairs is news that effects ourselves or our community, such as social responsibility. Something that we as people in a community would like to see accomplished or created. An example would might be a wanting to have a more green community, and any events or efforts towards creating a greener community would be considered public affairs. This definitely relates on a much larger scale, including not just communities, but towns, cities, states and even the country.

Public Diplomacy I see more as national or international efforts, and definitely more in involved in politics. Yes, public relations and public affairs are also largely apart of politics, but my perception of public diplomacy is that it is more based on decisions from political parties.

My perception is in public relations decisions are decided based on the business, in public affairs decisions are based on local or national politics depending on the situation, but public diplomacy is more based on decisions on a national and international political level.

Social Bookmarking

I use to think social bookmarking was for personal use to keep articles you found interesting saved and organized in one place. Or if you are a researcher, being able to easily grab articles that could be used for research. But then I realized that people can comment and share all your articles with each other. So what is the purpose of social bookmarking? Is it for personal use? Or is it a way of finding people who have similar interests? Is it meant for promoting something?

Many forms of social media are used in businesses for promotional purposes. Facebook, Twitter, Flickr...these all seem great for businesses to use for this, but what about social bookmarking? It's a form of social media, but what exactly is it's purpose? Can it be used for promotional purposes? Would it be beneficial in a business setting? Are businesses incorporating social bookmarking into their social media?

What do you think?

Tiger Woods

I came across this article about Tiger Woods press conference today:

http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/blog/devil_ball_golf/post/Tiger-Woods-owns-up-to-mistakes-looks-forward-t?urn=golf,232143

This is a review of the first public press conference Tiger Woods has had since his accident in November. I didn't watch the conference, but by reading this article about it I think he has taken a giant leap to restoring his image. It sounds like he did a really great job. And come to think of it, I haven't read much about him in the news since his last press conference in February. From this article it sounds like he gave really sincere responses to all questions asked, showed concern and didn't show signs of anger towards the media like he seemed to show a little back in February.

What is your opinion of his effort to restore his image?

Giving back by drinking beer

Corporate social responsibility has either been thought of as a company truly wanting to help others or just another marketing ploy to grab customers. Either way it still helps whatever charity that is involved with the company. The idea of CSR has been spreading as it can be seen being used by almost all business sectors. The beer industry is no exception. Many breweries have specific charities they are affiliated with while others do not have a permanent one. Whether it is helping to clean up the environment or battle some horrendous disease, breweries have been trying to help our society.
I could be a cynic and say that these breweries don't even care about the non-profit they are raising money for or volunteering at and they are only doing it for good publicity. I don't think that is the case though. For those breweries who help local non-profits in their area, they are helping to build a stronger community around them. They realize that there is a need in their community and they are trying to help in a way which is beneficial to them as well. A brewing companies relationship with a non-profit is beneficial for both groups. After working at various non-profits any help from a for profit organization is very much appreciated. Not only does this relationship bring in donations for the non-profit, but it also free PR for them as well. Another added benefit is that the consumer can feel good about buying that more expensive craft beer 12 pack, because they know that some of that money will go to help a non-profit.
Hopefully CSR is not a fad which will fade away, but will actually help to create a stronger sense of community or responsibility for all. I know this is quite optimistic, but this mindset is needed for any kind of change to happen.

Paid internship opportunity

For any college students or young professionals interested in working with citizen diplomacy, the National Council of International Visitors (NCIV) is now offering an excellent opportunity to gain experience in Washington, D.C.

NCIV is now accepting applications for its paid internship
beginning in May 2010. Interns are able to assist with a
variety of substantive projects supporting the network and
NCIV as we begin our 50th Anniversary. Interns can receive academic credit for their work and $8.25 per hour; for a full-time,
10-week internship, this totals $3,300.

Please visit this website for more information; interested applicants should send a cover letter, resume, and writing sample to Chris Bassett at cbassett@nciv.org.

Auto Industry Turning a New 'Leaf'

I don't know about the rest of you, but when Nissan started advertising their zero-emission's car, my heart skipped a beat. Even more, I immediately clicked the 'become a fan' button on their Facebook page. I may be biased, being the daughter of a middle-aged couple with an envy-enducing Prius. However, I really do think that the Leaf is a top contender for greatness in the EV industry.

Enter the Nissan Leaf. A classy and fairly affordable (roughly $30K) newcomer to the electric auto industry. This vehicle is a welcome addition to the motor vehicle stage especially in the wake of Toyota's accelerator problems. Nissan should be at the forefront of the electric vehicle race and (one of) the first people think of at this time, correct? Unfortunately, not so fast.

Greencarreports.com mentioned their worry for the automaker due to an "underwhelming" display at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show. True, Nissan should have definitely kicked it up a notch considering the hype/excitement surrounding the car. Many environmentalists want to see Nissan succeed with promoting the Leaf before its release in 2012. However, they are going to have to work a bit harder if they want to impress the onlookers at Electric Avenue next year.

It will be interesting to see what Nissan does to create more buzz for this car in the coming months. I would love to see this car as a prominent vehicle on the road in the next two years. C'mon, Nissan! While Toyota's working on other problems, this could really be your chance!

Pick Up The Phone, Lance.

Lance Armstrong & Co.'s recent duping by a woman pretending to be a cancer victim could have happened to anyone. Unfortunately for him, this was not the first time he'd been fooled. When the woman contacted Armstrong with intentions of making her life story into a play, he believed her. When the same woman contacted the head of Livestrong, they, too believed her. Organizations should never just turn down inquiries like this, but this situation contained one big problem.

No one decided to check her credentials.

Apparently, this thesbian-of-sorts also contacted both Armstrong and Livestrong headquarters pretending to be the princess of Spain. However, the only mode of contact in this case: Armstrong's Twitter account. Did anyone even think to call the Spanish government concerning the princess' support for the cancer victim-turned playwright? It just seems rather ridiculous to me that user 'Adriana J.' was not confronted until money was going to be transacted.

As far as Livestrong's and Armstrong's communication teams, what roles did they play during this Twitter attack? Shouldn't they be responsible for checking up on contacts to Armstrong's Twitter profile? Or are we to assume that Lance tweets all of those witty comments by himself?

Though Armstong's squad did catch Adriana J. at her own game, it should not have taken so long. Money may not have been handed over, but there was still damage done. His reputation as a spokesperson for cancer patients has taken a big hit.

Brookline Police in the News

Last summer Cambridge Police had an incident involving alleged racism, and quickly became a nationwide issue. The media swarmed on the topic and after a while, the Cambridge Police Department had the situation under control, at least as much as possible. In the end, one officer was fired and investigations continue.

In my last blog post, I spoke of the Boston Police Department's blog/website and how transparency keeps the Boston Police Department in control from stories. This transparency hides nothing from the media, thus there are no "dirty secrets" to dig up.

Now it is time to focus on the Brookline Police Department, most specifically an incident that occurred this past weekend and involved four off-duty officers, a exotic dancer and a "chaperone." To read the story, click here.

I did some information digging myself, starting with the Brookline Police Blog. There is no record of this, although there are detailed accounts of the other incidents reported or investigated the night of the incident. News stories are reporting that the off-duty police officers have been placed on paid-administrative leave. According to the Boston Globe, the dancer's chaperone "suffered a broken eye socket, broken nose, and a laceration on his left brow during the alleged attack..."

According to the Brookline TAB, Brookline Police Chief Dan O'Leary made his first statement yesterday, two days AFTER the incident. The union representing the Brookline Police has yet to make a statement. In other words, there is a severe lack of communication, which may tarnish the image of the Brookline Police Department.

From a public affairs and crisis communication standpoint, they are dragging this out and making the situation worse. Because they did not address Sunday morning's incident, and seem to be covering up details, it broadcasts that the Brookline Police Department is protecting their own, rather than the safety of their community.

The Brookline Police Department should take notes from the Boston Police Department: transparency is key. They should make public details of the incident, reassure the community, and begin rebuilding their reputation.

From a public affairs standpoint, what are your thoughts of how the Brookline Police Department has handled Sunday morning's incident?

Do you consider yourself a Global Citizen?

People Who Know Foreigners or Travel More Likely to See Themselves as Global Citizens

A WorldPublicOpinion.org survey of people in 21 nations from around the world finds that people who get to know people from other countries or who travel outside their country are more likely to view themselves as global citizens.

See full article.

Doctor Shortage

It appears that one of the consequences of the new health care reform is the fact that there is now (or has been for a while) a shortage of primary care physicians to cope with the amount of newly insured patients. An article on AOL news stated that even in Massachusetts doctors have to shut their doors because they can't cope with the amount of patients that are seeking treatment. According to the article some people have to wait 50 days for an appointment.

I was thinking about the problem and I wondered whether a solution to this might be for the government to set up some sort of program like Teach for America where the government forgives some of medical students' debt if they work as a primary care doctor. Since being a primary care physician isn't as attractive to people right now because the pay is less and medical school debt is high, perhaps offering to pay off some of that debt and gain some experience might entice at least some medical students. I know the government (and everyone else) is strapped for cash but maybe investing such a program would be worth it since it could alleviate some of the problems facing the system.


Source: http://www.aolnews.com/opinion/article/opinion-what-good-is-health-reform-if-you-cant-see-a-doctor/19419684?icid=main|main|dl1|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aolnews.com%2Fopinion%2Farticle%2Fopinion-what-good-is-health-reform-if-you-cant-see-a-doctor%2F19419684

Bullying at South Hadley High School

I saw this article in the Boston Globe this morning, about students being charged for bullying Phoebe Prince, and it getting so out of control that it led to her committing suicide. I think, and hope, a story like this one really makes schools more aware of the amount of bullying that actually occurs, and to what degree. Hopefully this will make people realize the limit that bullying pushes some students to, in this case to a student committing suicide. This should make school administrators more aware of it and step up to do something about it before it gets out of control.

The need for students to be able to defend themselves is important, however, when bullying gets to a point as serious as this case, school administrators need to find a way to discover what is happening, how it is occurring, to what degree it is affecting the student being bullied- and to do something about it. Strongly enforcing anti-bullying in schools clearly needs to take place.

"Groupthink"

Erykah Badu makes a statement against "groupthink" in her new song "window seat". The singer explains that "groupthink" is an "unwritten rule" that "i will not express my true opinion if it opposes those i love and fear."
So basically she encourages her audiences to liberate their souls and minds and express their opinions.
Personally, I like the song and I think she has a point but do we did all of this visual to get that point? That's the first question I thought of when I saw the video. Also I think there is a reason why society adheres to certain social norms so we can coexist. Are we really free to express our opinions even if it goes against the grain, against the people we love or express the unpopular opinion?

You can read more about how the video was shot at http://www.the33tv.com/news/kdaf-erykah-badu-naked-downtown-dealey-jfk-story,0,3145095.htmlstory

Lessons Learned: The Importance of Brand

Last week we were fortunate to meet Elaine Driscoll – Spokesperson for the Boston Police Department. As most other speakers have told us, it is important to brand yourself, your company, etc. And in order to see results we must put ourselves out there, highlight our talents, and never give up – all while staying updated on the latest technology and social media trends. Truth be told, this can be extremely difficult to juggle – especially when it is on top of schoolwork, jobs, and other responsibilities. But Driscoll let us know it is possible, and branding ourselves is imperative to achieving our goals.

Driscoll went a step further than most other speakers: she used her quirky personality to tell story after story. These stories not only provided insight into the ways of the communication industry, but also how we should brand ourselves to reach our goals and create a network. Although we have heard this numerous times, her stories of a clueless college graduate turned accomplished communications professional made me feel like there is hope after all. Instead of sharing only her successes, she shared how she learned from each life experience. She was open and honest with us, even sharing her career embarrassments, and she reiterated the importance of a distinctive brand.

I researched the blog Driscoll created for the Boston Police Department (BPD), which has now transformed into a large informational site, and found that the blog allows BPD to highlight news stories – both good and bad – and communicate with the community. Driscoll told us that, on average, the site receives over 40,000 hits per day. The brand Driscoll created for BPD is trusted by both the media and local community, and because of this they have control of their external image.

Branding is everywhere – we are told to create our own blog; have a LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook account; utilize Digg and other social media sites. I have heard this from numerous people and speakers. But it didn’t hit home until Driscoll spoke last week and used story after entertaining story to illustrate the importance of branding. The brand we create for ourselves, combined with hard work and determination, is what will get us to our career destination.

What role do you think brand plays in the success of an individual or organization?