I decided to republish this post from a couple years age when our younger son Elliot got married. While today is Father’s Day, not “Parent’s Day,” I still seems to fit the scene. Here goes … Let’s start with the marriage of Marv and Ruth Hoffman. The photo above shows my parents on their wedding …more
With Mother’s Day around the corner, I’m reminded of learning the basics of interviewing from my Mom. She perfected what I came to term the where-what-who method of questioning: Where you were last night? What did you do? Who were you with? Fast forwarding to today, I’ve conducted well over 500 interviews. I love the …more
By my back-on-the-envelop math, I’ve conducted over 500 interviews. It’s one of my favorite parts of the job. The cajoling and probing of a source to get to the good stuff offers a sense of discovery. With Mother’s Day around the corner, I get to dust off an interview that makes my top-five list. But …more
No exclamation point needed. One simple word. Vote. Everyone says democracy is on the ballot. For me, I checked the box for sanity. Thomas Friedman, New York Times columnist, wrote last week: “The good news is that we’ve survived four years of Donald Trump’s abusive presidency with most of our core values still intact. To …more
I’ve avoided clickbait for nearly nine years and 1,096 posts … until now. The headline for this post definitely qualifies as clickbait. You’re not going to find a video on Kim Kardashian dissing her mom. With that said, watching my mom share her unfiltered insights on the business of public relations does offer …more
I’ve written 1,009 posts including this one. I don’t know if my Mom has read all of them — suspect she took a pass on my tirade about the city of Middleton’s proclamation of “Mustard Day” — but she’s been an avid reader of the blog. She claims that the blog is an extension of …more
Confession time. Wheel in the single light bulb recreating a scene from “Deutschland 83.” Let’s add an interrogator to left of the bulb who is gifted in non-verbal communications. OK, I’m ready. I had never voted in a public election — casting my ballot to get Stanley Telson elected as our fifth grade homeroom rep …more
This wacky business of PR isn’t easy to understand if you’re standing on the outside. I was curious about how much my mom had absorbed on the PR profession through sheer osmosis and interviewed her a few years back on the topic. Armed with an iPhone and my trusty videographer — that would be my …more
Our younger son gets married on Saturday. At a time when everyone looks ahead, I decided to also look backward to the marriage of Marv and Ruth Hoffman. The photo above shows my parents on their wedding day flanked by their moms. Their story is a common one for their generation — their parents arriving …more
