Rolling Dice: Crisis Communication Meltdown

Following the crisis that surrounds the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada over the last several months has been an exercise in evaluating futility. It can best be likened to crisis communication and common sense gone horribly wrong, with dozens involved in making decisions that resemble games of chance. For example, the majority of physicians who helped Dr. Dipak Desai create a multi-million dollar gastroenterology...

Stirring Media Revolutions: Citizen Journalism

"You furnish the pictures and I'll furnish the war." — William Randolph HearstWith the financial support of his mother, William Randolph Hearst bought the failing New York Journal in 1885. And, within a few short years, his name, along with that of Joseph Pulitzer, who purchased his way into the publishing business (he originally bought the Post for $3,000 and other papers before the New York World), became forever associated...

Promoting Citizen Journalists: CNN

Valeria Maltoni, Conversation Agent, did her usual excellent job covering the debate between Jeff Jarvis and Michael Tomansky about citizen journalists. It's a conversation I'll be picking up tomorrow (today got away from me). It's truly is a worthwhile discussion. I only wish those discussing it would give a nod to history, making the point that this is not a new debate and appreciating that the so-called formalization...

Wagging The Dog: Social Media Lessons

Next Friday, May 2, I will be teaching Social Media For Communication Strategy class for the Division of Educational Outreach at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) public relations certificate program.In addition to providing an overview of various technologies — blogs, news aggregators, social networks, digital media, presence applications — I’ll spend some considerable time emphasizing real-life case studies,...

Eye-popping Predictions: The Genius Of Perception

The newest trend in communication seems to be the art of prediction. A quick search on Google reveals some 15.4 million results that contain the word “predicts,” with more than 15,800 appearing in media stories — 400 in the last 24 hours alone. Prediction racks up another 11,000 hits, many trumped up with words like eye-popping, chilling, and current (which gives a nod to the idea that predications change, frequently)....

Tagging Games: Seven Useless Facts And 12 Great Blogs

A few days ago, Michelle from Monarch Health Promotions, tagged me with a meme that asks I share seven useless facts about me and then tag 12 more blogs, asking the authors to do the same. Her blog as the complete details.Seven Useless Facts About Rich1. I worked as stage foreman for a few years in college. The most memorable concert was Pink Floyd, an outdoor show in Sacramento. The 8-story stage took all night to...