I know, enough already of Tiger, and I totally agree, although I would like some credit for my prediction that this would be fun to watch.  I was even on a weekly call with folks all across Europe earlier this week, and that’s all they wanted to talk about.  In any case, Washington Post reporter Paul Farhi has an article today asserting that “with his bunker mentality, (Tiger) whiffed on scandal’s  p.r.”  I couldn’t disagree more. I think that Tiger has handled this the best he could given the facts he has had to deal with.  I am in no way condoning his behavior, just observing from a damage control point of view that: 1) his transgressions did not consitute illegal behavior (as in the allegations the Kobe Bryant had raped a woman) 2) he was not a public servant using public funds (ala Elliot Spitzer) 3) he did not cheat at his sport (Barry Bonds and a zillion other althletes) 4) he did not lie under oath (my former boss and client, President Clinton) 5) he did not betray the public trust (South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford and dozens of other politicians). If had had been involved in any of those types of behavior, I would jump on the bandwagon and demand that Tiger provide a full and honest accounting... 

Okay, I tried to be tactful and give some thoughts about tiger’s predicament.  But I am not going to get away with it.  I’ve already heard from too many colleagues that I neglected the most obvious scenario– that Tiger’s wife was chasing him out of the house with a golf club.  I know this is merely speculation, but I have to confess that I was ducking this in my post.  Readers have been quick to point out certain facts that perhaps do require this update: How did she happen to have a golf club with which to break into his car to rescue him (did she hear the crash, run outside, realize that she couldn’t get in the car, run back to the house, grab a golf club, and then sprint back to the car– and if so, wouldn’t that have taken far too long)? How did she not have any cuts and bruises if in fact she was attempting to reach in through a broken car window and pulling him out of the front seat? If he had in fact hit his head hard enough at impact to lose consciousness, why didn’t the airbags go off? Wouldn’t the facts fit better if she were chasing him out of the driveway with a golf club, and maybe she actually hit him a couple times on the way? I don’t know the answer to... 

“The baby was sick, we were afraid he had swine flu, I was half-asleep, rushing to the pharmacy to get medication, and was so upset that I lost control of the car and crashed into the fire hidrant and tree.” That’s what I told my wife over the weekend that Tiger would say (if he were listening to people like me).  It looks like he is taking a different route, and that one has risks and rewards.  This will be fun to see how it plays out.  Here’s the issue: All we know for certain is that Tiger went rushing out of his driveway (he had to be rushing to do the kind of damage he did, and also to have hit his head so hard that he was lost consciousness for six or seven minutes). It was 2:30 in the morning. He had to have been one of the following:  half-asleep; very mad; drunk; otherwise distraught. Several of those possibilities (the ones being speculated in the tabloids) aren’t good for his reputation. He has a golf tournament in California tomorrow and a scheduled press conference to face. His options: Total disclosure.  Face the media, answer all questions.  This really only works if his excuse is something along the lines I outlined to my wife.  Hide behind the cloak of confidentiality that has... 

Fo those of us who believe that protecting your on-line reputation is a crucial element of any reputation management strategy, there’s a must-read front page article in today’s Wall Street Journal on the health and future of Wikipedia (Volunteers Log Off as Wikipedia Ages).   The main point of the article is that the number of volunteer editors and contributors to the web’s fifth-most visited site is decreasing significantly, and goes on to explain the difficulties editors have in making their contirbutions to a site that solicits the unfiltered collective wisdom of the world. I frequently remind clients that when anyone runs a search engine on them or their company, Wikipedia is often one of the top items that comes up.  Many people use the shorthand of Wikipedia– notwithstanding its obvious lack of peer-review or fact checking– to get information.  The only catch is that no one is allowed to edit their own page (or their company’s).  Yet, if there is damaging or inaccurate information contained in that Wikipedia entry, it can do real damage with customers, policy-makers, or other key audiences. How then, to correct  innacuracies?  We recommend three steps that can be taken, although none is... 

Yes, I am as dumbfounded as everyone else (including the White House) about today’s announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize to President Obama. After all, aren’t those awards based on decades of efforts and success in the particular topic area? I can’t help but interpreting the award as a symbol of the global sigh of relief that the eight years of George Bush and his foreign policy are over. But I am equally dumbfounded by the Republic reaction– RNC Chairman Michael Steele came quickly out of the box to criticize Obama, I guess for winning the world’s most prestigious award. “It is unfortunate that the president’s star power has outshined tireless advocates who have made real achievements working towards peace and human rights,” Steele said this morning. I think that’s a really bad strategy for the Republicans, one that once again plays only to its most conservative base of Obama detractors. Maybe that is Steele’s audience, since he often seems more intent on justifying his leadership in fear of losing his job than on building a broader base for the GOP. But criticizing Obama for winning an award that he didn’t seek is sort of like cheering that the United States lost...