Staffing and Management

Rarely do I mess with cookies, except to eat them. But an experience over the last two weeks with a furniture retailer had me clearing the cookies from my computer. So annoyed was I by the poor customer service and the constant retargeting of ads from this particular furniture store that I resorted to cleaning… Continued

Shopping for a 2017 wall calendar for my office over the holiday break, I had a hard time deciding between the zoo animals in yoga poses, all things Tuscany, or an adult coloring calendar.  My process of elimination amounted to total elimination: I knew I had neither the time nor artistic skill to color 12… Continued

At a networking event last week, an industry colleague asked me if I’ve ever Googled myself. She whispered the question to me as if to self-Google were verboten. Fortunately, we were interrupted by a mutual friend and neither of us had to share the answer, which is, of course, Yes! Who hasn’t done that in… Continued

Brands, in an effort to get out a shareable tweet or a super-likeable post, are often caught in a daily trap of shallow engagement with its communities. Your stakeholders — humans just like you and me — want to be part of a movement, not part of a marketing moment. That statement rang true to… Continued

It’s true – a lot of people just don’t understand what PR people do. They think it’s about pitching the media, chasing positive coverage, then rinsing and repeating. Certainly media relations is an important component of public relations. Communicators have gotten much better at relating to the media and are using more innovative ways to… Continued

Sand between your tanned toes and the relaxing sound of waves hitting the shore. Happy hour that begins at 4pm (it’s 5’oclock somewhere). Visiting new places. Dealing with crowds (literally, being able to deal with crowds). Such are the joys of summer. It’s enough to make you forget what’s going on back at the office.… Continued

You’re halfway through what’s been a rather interesting year in business, politics, brand successes and blunders and Game of Thrones developments. Which is to say: you still have another five solid months to make this your best year ever as a communicator. First, you’ll need to take stock of what you and your team have… Continued

Portraits in the hallway. Your team. Resumes. The About Us page on your website. When you look closely at the things and people you’re surrounded by every day at work, do you get the sense that maybe you need to call shenanigans? Are all the portraits hanging in the company lobby of male leaders? Do… Continued

“Don’t talk to strangers!” That was the advice many of us received as children. No one told us when to start talking to strangers again (at 19? 22? 43?) We had to figure that one out on our own. As professionals and communicators we need to not only talk to strangers to build our network… Continued

The buzz surrounding this year’s Consumer Electronics Show was predictably ubiquitous and positive. Even the taxi driver who picked me up from the airport was talking drones and smart homes. Surely, when you have 170,000 people attending a trade show about the latest technology, you’re gonna get some press. So as I walked the exhibit halls,… Continued