THE STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS AGENCY

You may have seen recent social media posts by journalists, bemoaning the increasing number of “PR people” who contact them daily. What’s behind it? The U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Statistics just released data showing that there are six “public relations specialists” for every one reporter. That’s a lot, and reporters are apparently feeling the pain. While I’m happy to see the communication industry grow, I would like to see that growth because of an increase in the p

“Changes” remains one of my favorite Bowie songs. Aside from it just being a phenomenal song, every time I hear it I relate it to some change I’m going through. And vice versa. Often when I’m going through some sort of transition, the “ch-ch-ch-ch-changes” refrain runs through my head. And change today is constant, isn’t it? At last month’s Hood Hargett Breakfast Club event, I had the pleasure of hearing Robbie Bach, Microsoft’s former Xbox king. He spoke about leading change

Three months ago when I embarked on this next chapter in my life, I really didn’t know what I wanted to do. All I had known for most of the past 25 years had been what I considered to to be the traditional work environment – granted, in multiple industries and in radically different environments, but still typical for me. I was on-call 24/7 (I had served as spokesperson for my organizations for the past 16 years), I worked a fast-paced 45+ hour work week, I attended evening a

Seriously, I do, and while sometimes I can do it quite gracefully, usually it’s unexpected, disorienting and it hurts. All of the sudden I’m on the ground wondering how exactly I got there. It’s a feeling I had about three months ago when I had the rug pulled out from under me. I had a good job that I loved for almost six years, and then all those buzzwords you hear so much about came into my life. A new CEO. Corporate Restructuring. Layoffs. For the first time since I was in

Chris Evans/Ruby Red Slippers/CC-BY ND Oh, #United… We’ll be watching and reading about this case study for weeks, if not years, to come. From a communications standpoint, the airline made many errors, but one fatal mistake. They didn’t realize we aren’t in Kansas anymore. Welcome to the new, 24/7, smartphone-in-hand, world. It’s a common mistake that many organizations make when dealing with a crisis today. This is not the time of old when stories took a while to break, and

So I’m always looking for new tools that make my professional life easier, and here are five gems I swear by: Waze. This FREE app is amazing, incredible, and my favorite one. I am in the car constantly – I have a long commute and I go to multiple meetings most days; traffic is not my friend. Not only is Waze easy to follow and to use, but it has cool features that make it essential and fun. I literally leave meetings downloading this app on other people’s phones. theSkimm. I

I love “Game of Thrones” (GoT). I mean, I really love it. I watch the TV show, I’m reading the books, I read all the articles, and now I’m listening to a podcast about the series. Happily, I do remain grounded in the fact that it’s not real. HOWEVER, I do think there may be some lessons for those of Iron Throne. If you don’t follow GoT, suffice it to say that there are a bunch of families competing and plotting against each other to rule the kingdom. The show is filled with c

Our speaker did not hesitate. “Always be true to yourself,” she said. “You know, it’s ok to hate golf.” While I don’t remember the specifics of the rest of her story that put her advice in context of her career, that one statement has stayed with me all these years later, and it’s advice I often share with others. Don’t feel that just because you are a women, or young, or new to an organization, that you have to pretend to be something you’re not. Be true to what matters to y