After conducting our storytelling workshop over the years, a certain theme has emerged. By the close of the workshop, participants buy into the concepts. They then jump back into their jobs with renewed determination to communicate with conversational language and a show-don’t-tell attitude only to run into that visible force called stakeholder approval. We continually …more
As part of celebrating the Agency’s 30-year anniversary later this year, I will periodically play the nostalgia card in the blog. Such is the case today. In the course of digging through old client files, I came across the news release from our first press conference in New York City for client Meridian Data. Before …more
Millions of college students are about to graduate and strike out in the real world, some with shiny apples in hand. Given that the number college grads far exceeds the available entry-level jobs, finding that first gig can feel like the search for a donut at Deepak Chopra retreat. . But there’s a sure-fire way …more
The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the number of people working in PR at 218,910 (as of May 2015). Some of these folks are extraordinary. Others communicate with the finesse of a carnival barker. Most fall somewhere in between. For the sake of discussion, let’s say that 3 percent of the PR population falls into …more
I don’t smoke. I rarely drink more than two Old Fashioneds at a sitting. If I have a weakness, it’s called WG Yogurt. Their root beer yogurt deserves a Michelin star — “creamy with hints of cherry tree bark.” What does this have to do with business writing? During my last stop at WG Yogurt, …more
You can’t make this stuff up. Raking through my storytelling and PR posts, I’ve curated a list of seven “life is stranger than fiction” moments. 1. Media Squeeze — and Watermelon Explosion — Described by the NY Times Presents an Opportunity for PR BuzzFeed proved what everyone has always believed in theory. If you stretch …more
I suspect the recent Presidential election made for some spirited discussions around the Thanksgiving table this year. Even a slice of pie worthy of Twin Peaks — “This must be where pies go when they die” — can only go so far in bridging the political gap. Still, there’s something reaffirming in knowing that Thanksgiving …more
It’s my birthday today. As my family and friends know, I’m not a big birthday guy. This has nothing to do with the annual reminder that more grains of sand in the hourglass have sifted south. Instead, it’s a byproduct of being a closet introvert. I typically do a good job of sidestepping the concentration of …more
I thought the newspaper was asking me questions about my favorite travel destination. It turned out that the newspaper assumed San Francisco was my favorite travel destination — hey, why else would I live 53 miles south of San Francisco? — so my answers around Aix en Provence didn’t fit. As public service for those …more
