PR Week on the recent pr firm fiasco working with the U.S. military in Afghanistan.  Worth reading mostly because I spent a lot of time with the reporter on this, and am quoted in as well: Agency termination places spotlight on military contracts Tonya Garcia September 04 2009  News that US military in Afghanistan terminated a $1.5 million contract with Washington-based strategic communications firm The Rendon Group (TRG) threw agencies that work the Beltway circuit back into a negative limelight following last month’s coal association-Bonner & Associates letter-writing fiasco.  The Defense Department’s own publication, Stars & Stripes, broke a story where it claimed TRG had been producing profiles of journalists, assessing whether their work was “positive,” “negative,” or “neutral.” The publication writes that “at least two journalists’ applications for embeds” had been rejected based in part on information compiled by TRG.  While the analysis of media coverage for tone – a common tool for corporations and organizations as well – was not denied by the agency or the military, both have condemned the suggestion that reporters were rejected for assignments to Afghanistan based... 

Imagine a company whose top leadership is absolutely despised by its customers, whose product is among the worst in its category, who routinely sues its customers while bilking them of their hard-earned money, and yet whose brand popularity and loyalty remains at stratospheric heights year after year.  Stumped?  Why, the Washington Redskins, of course.   The team hasn’t been any good in 20 years, its owner is among the most disliked in the league, and now the Washington Post has published a series of articles detailing how ticker-holding fans who hit economic hard times and fall behind on their payments find themselves sued to the max by their home team.  In one case, a die-hard lady of 73, a realtor whose house is filled with Redskins memorabilia but has victim of the recent recession, is facing a $66,000 judgment against her thanks to her team.  This follows an expose of how the team secretly bought up blocks of thousands of tickets for resale–in some cases to opposing teams whose fans out-numbered the Skins’–even though there is a massive waiting list of Redskins fans for those tickets. As a damage control specialist, this would be my worst nightmare client, and in the Post articles, the Redskins’... 

Want to which direction gas prices are heading this fall, or at least have a better understanding of how oil prices are set?  Check out my interview of Mike Loya, president and CEO of Vitol Inc., the leading physical oil trading company, based in Houston, Texas, for Focus Washington.  I visited Mike in Houston recently, and asked him about the general trends in gas and oil prices.  Read More →

I’m down in Atlanta this week working with the experts at the Centers for Disease Control.  One of the topics that always comes up (how could it not?) is how to handle, actually how to message, the swine flu epidemic.  The challenge– how to get a significant part of the U.S. population motivated to get vaccinated for what could be a rather serious– and potentially deadly– strain of flu.  If the federal and state agencies charged with protecting the health of Americans scream too loudly, then they will be viewed like Chicken Little, not to be taken seriously.  But if they don’t talk loudly, and persuade the population to take action and get vaccinated and the threat turns out to be particularly real, it could be Katrina all over again. I don’t think the issue is lack of knowledge by the public.  The media has been providing saturation coverage, and social networking sites like Facebook have daily postings from government agencies.  I am not sure there is any more penetration that the would make a difference.  Rather, I think it is a lack of motivation on the part of individuals to accept that 1) this is real and could be dangerous, 2) I need to get myself/parent/child/loved one inoculated,... 

Most sane people wouldn’t go to a troubled war-torn nation still facing the legacy of its centuries-old divisive ethnic factions for vacation, but we did spend a day in Bosnia two weeks ago as part of our visit to Montenegro for vacation.  It’s really a shame that these spectacular Balkan states, all newly emerging from their carnage of just 15-years ago, haven’t been able to set their pasts aside to reap the bounty of their tourist potential.  As we saw first-hand, these nations are gorgeous and historic.  We have spent parts of the pst two summers exploring mostly the coast (but also inland Slovenia, the Albanian border, and parts of Bosnia, and would go back every year if it didn’t feel so far off the grid.   Today’s Washington Post has as good a primer on the current tension there, manifested by the continuing arguments over control of Bosnia. When political leaders there want the U.S. to step back in, you know their troubles are fairly intractable.  Our one day there was admittedly just a brief snapshot on the nation– but we can attest to the beauty and vitality, at least in that little corner of the country.  For a look at our day there, check out the video I took.  (You’ll...