peteberol's posterous

life, living, business and balance

Komen Train Wreck

You know I enjoy a a good PR Train Wreck. Only when it happens to someone else, of course. The "Komen Foundation Ends Future Funding to Planned Parenthood" being another good example of what not to do. Here is a great summary from www.CrisisCommunications.com 

"Literally as this e-newsletter is going to press, a cultural and political firestorm has erupted over the Susan G. Komen Foundation's decision to give no new grants to Planned Parenthood (current grants remain untouched).

The second and third-waves of news reports indicate (to us, at least) that the Komen Foundation made a political decision, one that is likely to have long-lasting negative consequences.

From a crisis communications point of view, this much is clear: Komen is doing a terrible job of defending their decision (we'll leave it to you to decide if that decision was correct).

This much we can say with conviction: the video of Komen CEO Nancy G. Brinker will likely go down in crisis comm history as one of the worst "defensive" videos of all time.

So you don't have to, we've sifted scores of articles about the Komen controversy thus far. Our candidate for one of the best is an article written this morning by Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic, which you can read here.

Another excellent article, written more from a crisis communications perspective, comes from Ragan's PRDaily, written here. In particular, the comments after the article are noteworthy."

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/02/top-susan-g-komen-official-...

http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/10720.aspx?

Tis' the season when all resolutions die...

I met Ken Davis many years ago and lost touch with him until I came across this post.  I share here mostly becuase it speaks to me but, also with the hope that it will speak to you as well.  Tis' the season when all resolutions die...  ____________

Just Do It.   by Ken Davis

The hardest part of almost any task or challenge we face is getting started. I am an expert at sitting on my rear while I analyze how difficult a task is going to be, agonize over how long it will take mull over whether I will be able to do it to perfection. A friend of ours, who happens to run one of the most successful fortune five hundred companies in the world, put it well. “Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly the first time.”

JUST DO IT. You can always improve on it once you have started.

My friend, Eric Alexander, helped guide the first blind man to the peak of Mount Everest. He had to do more than just dream about reaching the summit. He didn’t sit around worrying because a blind man had never been on the summit before. They made it! But it would have never happened if he had hadn’t taken that first step, crossed that first stream, established that first base camp.

What have you got to do today?
What have you got to do?
Apologize?
Exercise?
Run or just have fun?
Read?
Ride?
Forgive and let live?
Admit?
Commit?
Study and learn?
What have you got to do today?
What have you got to do?

JUST DO IT!

 

Clearly, Socrates was a parent.

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Socrates-226x300

"The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They 

contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties
at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers." - Socrates.

And clearly not much has changed... 

 

A guy who own only 15 things

This whole experience has taught me something very simple: debt kills dreams. Debt is cash, things and fear ... I don’t have much right now. 3 shirts, a pair of pants and shorts. Some odds and ends. I do some pretty interesting and amazing things everyday, and not once in the last month did I really want anything more … It has turned by life from stuff centric to relationship centric." - Andrew Hyde (owns only 15 things not including underwear and soxs) Makes 100 seem like alot...Extreme Minimalism | Andrew HydeI've drawn an unusual amount of attention to my minimalism project this week. 
via plus.google.com

"Extreme" minimalism is probably a bad term but he does serve as an example of what is really needed. When did stuff get to be so important... and why?

His site is:

http://andrewhy.de/extreme-minimalism/

@SMEIPhilly and @Philabizjournal Econ Forecast Summary #econ2012

 

A quick summary of this mornings Philadelphia Business Journal and SMEI Power Breakfast with leaders sharing predictions in politics, retail, real state and more!

  • Img_0021
    One cloudis food and energy inflation
  • Five panelists at #econ2012. All are optimistic or cautiously optimistic about US economy. The X factor is government and politics.
  • More manufacturing returning to the US. Lower cost natural gas is one factor. 
  • Retailing in the future will move well beyond just online shopping. 
  • The US lags Asia and Europe in the application of technology to retailing. 
  • Big pent up demand for cars both new and used and credit easing for consumers 
  • US will outpace world economy for next few years 
  • National auto sales still 20% less than pre 08, but recovering. Economy and earthquake, fewer dealers 
  • Commercial construction recovering but won't be same as pre 08. 
  • Fed Reserve home equity wealth still lagging, investment equity improving. 
  • Weaker than normal seasonal sales in Q1, better than normal in Q3 + Q4 

Thanks to and Via @richardhwells

http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/event/60841

#econ2012