One of many gorgeous beaches near the southwest corner of Portugal. So many people have been asking about my recent Portugal trip, I decided to write about the highlights as well as some travel issues I encountered so you might learn from them. Portugal itself was lovely, but the journey was a lesson in resilience. As someone who has been to more than 40 countries and traveled more than 99.9% of the people I meet, I can say with some authority that customer service levels of the airlines and rental car companies (in this case Icelandair, TAP Air Portugal and Hertz) have gone way down. [ Read More ]
Blog
From World Travel to Nuance in Communications
I am an avid world traveler, 40 plus countries and counting. All of it for fun. I was reading some of my travel journals recently and came across a gem that I wrote. More on that in a bit, but first some context. [ Read More ]
Basics of Strong Messaging
Creating strong messaging takes skill and experience. That said, the very basics of good messaging are so simple it’s surprising to me how many companies get them wrong. There are three primary things to focus on: clarity, consistency and repetition. [ Read More ]
Engage Humanity
Engage humanity. That is the tagline I came up with and I still love it. It was for an Australian company called Whispir that is in the communications space. I was working with them on a massive brand development project last year and worked directly with Jeromy Wells, the creative, smart and kind CEO of the company. [ Read More ]
May the Queen Conch Live On
Conch farms in Turks and Caicos. Conch fritters, and conch in numerous other culinary forms, can be bought at almost every restaurant in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Yet they are endangered. How can this be? I recently visited these islands and their stunningly gorgeous beaches to see firsthand what was happening with the coral reefs there. I had been there 10-15 years ago on a SCUBA diving trip and was interested in seeing if the reefs were surviving climate change, tourist bumping and the notorious lionfish infestation of the Caribbean. Instead I stumbled on the queen conch issue. [ Read More ]
PR for Robotics Companies
I have been interested in doing PR for robotics companies for many years. Just ask my friend Tandy Trower, former head of robotics at Microsoft and founder of Hoaloha Robotics, a company creating companion robots to enable seniors to live more active and independent lives. When I sent Tandy various media articles over the years, he delighted me with long email responses that helped educate me about the industry. I am grateful that he shared this knowledge and provided years of encouragement. In 2016, I have had the honor and privilege of working with three amazing robotics companies. [ Read More ]
23 Ways to Maximize the ROI of Media Coverage
It has always been amusing to me how many small to mid-size companies want “really, really great” media coverage, only want to pay relatively little to get it, don’t want to work too hard at it and then have absolutely no idea how to maximize their return-on-investment (ROI) once they do get it. This blog is about the last one. I have been helping companies get great media coverage for many years and below I outline how to maximize the immense value of a positive piece of coverage. [ Read More ]