Most companies want to be known as innovative. To bastardize the Wallace Simpson line, “you can never be too rich, too thin or too innovative.” The problem is those same companies often depend on adjectives to tout their breakthroughs. The Wall Street Journal challenged the use of the “i” word over ten years ago: “Businesses …more
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
Whoever said there’s no such thing as “bad PR” never held a press conference at the Four Seasons Total Landscaping in Philadelphia. No matter how much Republicans try to change the narrative —Hey, we thought it was time for something less formal — Trump’s chronology of tweets tells the story (source: @sissenberg). Noah …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
Writing feeds my soul, so producing 1,000 blog posts on public relations, storytelling and everything in between hasn’t exactly been combat duty. Still, there’s something about a round number with three zeroes that causes one to pause, to consider what went into this corporate blogging journey. Even though the destination was unknown, my anxiety was …more
Note: A version of this essay appeared in EE Times. Beleaguered. That’s the word that seems tethered to Huawei these days. Yet, “beset with difficulties” doesn’t quite capture what the telecom giant is experiencing. As a student of communications — the type with words, not satellites — I’ve been observing Huawei from afar since …more
By Mandy Heiser, Account Executive Let’s take a look at the top Google results for the recommended search “china and us”: What about “us and china”? Let’s pull out a few phrases: “high-stakes trade”, “far apart”, “fail to reach agreement” “fighting for global power” … The story these search results …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
OK, it’s more than a few. This question came my way last week: Here goes. I moved to Silicon Valley in 1981 two years out of college. You’ve heard the saying, “It’s better to be lucky than good?” I was lucky in the sense that I moved to Silicon Valley because of the vibrant culture, …more
