Dave Duffield, the founder and new CEO of PeopleSoft, issued a memo to employees this week dispelling any rumors that he has returned to broker a deal with Oracle CEO Larry Ellison in one of the more memorable hostile takeover bids in recent history, Internetnews.com reports. “I didn’t come back here to sell to Oracle,” […]
Category: PR
Don’t forget the reality checks
Like most communicators who blog, I’m a strong advocate for encouraging, persuading, prodding and cajoling my fellow communicators into introducing blogs in their organizations as part of their communication planning. This isn’t a blind, because-it’s-there thing – although, depending on the organization, elements of that approach can be a very good idea in applying a […]
Delta employee not fired for blogging
The story about Ellen Simonetti, the Delta Airlines employee in trouble regarding a photo she published on her blog, is making the rounds of the blogosphere. Nearly every post I’ve seen in the past two days has got it completely wrong. See the first line of this post, above. Ellen’s got into trouble with her […]
Yet more reasons for policies on blogging
ComputerWorld has a very good article on the legal issues and potential liabilities facing companies whose employees blog, whether those employees do so officially or not. The article discusses topics that include libel, disclosure of trade secrets and confidential information, careless statements that can be used during litigation, the risks of loose-cannon bloggers, and advocates […]
Satirical poke at UK PR
A welcome addition to the UK PR scene – Spin Bunny, with a refreshing satirical view on the industry: In the summer heat of August 2004 a crack team of PR professionals met at a secret London location to plot the launch of an alternative PR industry trade rag. An old fashioned publication based on […]
Corporate blogging: Setting the ground rules
Yesterday, I posted a contribution to the Kitchen: How to Cook a Weblog collaborative blog on the subject of establishing clear policies regarding corporate blogging. It’s a mini-essay that discusses why companies and organizations need to pay attention now to how they enable blogging as a communication channel, and avoid messy and potentially damaging outcomes […]
Delta employee blogger now fired
The latest development in the story about Ellen Simonetti, suspended by her employer Delta Airlines for posting a photo on her Queen of the Sky personal blog – she has now been fired. A BBC News report says that Ellen is initiating legal action against the airline for "wrongful termination". Delta has repeatedly declined to […]
IAOC hosts online PR blogging event
Constantin Basturea reports that the recently-formed International Association of Online Communicators (IAOC) has started a blog. What’s more, starting on Monday 8 November, IAOC will be facilitating an online blogging event throughout the coming week – the Thrilla’ in Mozilla blog fest – that will feature a different contributor each day: A-list US marketing and […]
Corporate blogging: Start slowly but start now
A report just out by IT industry analysts Forrester Research recommends that corporate use of blogs should vary based on business goals, and companies should start slowly with blogs but start with them now. The research was conducted by Forrester analyst Charlene Li, who started a blog in September. The 18-page research report is available […]
Communicators’ views on BloggerCon
Good commentaries about BloggerCon III from Australian PR practitioner Trevor Cook who was there, with some focused thinking on what it all means from the business, PR and general communication perspectives. (What’s BloggerCon?) Blogging, journalism and public relations Bloggercon: the vendor problem Blogging and money The Bloggercon ‘politics’ session Some Bloggercon reflections – the podcasting […]
Codes and policies to blog by
A welcome contribution to a clear code of practice for bloggers comes from Charlene Li at Forrester Research. As part of a report into corporate blogging that Charlene prepared, and which Forrester published last week, come 13 suggestions for a blogger ‘code of ethics’ (I prefer the expression ‘code of practice’): I will tell the […]
Blog monitoring: Pay or DIY options
I received a press release on Wednesday announcing BlogSquirrel, "a new service that enables businesses to monitor efficiently the contents of over 100,000 blogs," it says. While I admire the way in which CyberAlert, the provider, has spotted an apparent market gap and developed a service that lets you search, monitor and clip blog content […]
Pitching to bloggers means building relationships
In my previous post, I wrote about BlogSquirrel about which I received a press release on Wednesday. This was the third press release I’ve had in as many weeks from companies pitching their services to business bloggers. While I don’t mind getting unsolicited press releases like this (well, I say that when the volume is […]
Podcast your voice brand
Music and sound can be an integral part of a business’s brand, say Fast Company and Strategize. Many leaders listen to music to inspire creativity and innovation. And it’s been found that corporate voicemail welcome messages can make an impact on your business and bottom line. The Top 100 Voice Brands project collects recordings of […]
Another employee relations issue goes public after blog post
First, Friendster. Then, Delta Airlines. Now, Electronic Arts. These are three high-profile examples in as many months of matters concerning employee/employer relationships that would likely never have seen the public light of day if it were not for blogs. The latest case, with Electronic Arts, has already expanded into a legal issue with the company […]
More than meets the eye in Delta employee blogger case
An interesting angle on the story of the Delta Airlines employee blogger fired for posting photos of herself in uniform on her personal blog was reported in yesterday’s New York Times. The NY Times piece discusses the background to the case and the pending lawsuit the employee, Ellen Simonetti, has now filed against her employer […]
More advice on corporate blogging
Yet more advice for communicators to pay attention to, from Michael Gartenberg at Jupiter Research: Blogs are rapidly becoming a mainstream technology, but there’s lot at stake when an individual or business begins blogging to the outside world. Some organizations have a culture that allows for blogging to take place with minimal disruption, and blogging […]
PR fudging
Imagine this. A company has a financial hole that’s $92.9 million big. As a publicly-listed company, they have to report it and issue a public statement, which they do. So this is how one newspaper, The Washington Post, reported the news yesterday: McLean technology consulting company BearingPoint Inc. said yesterday that its chief financial officer, […]
The sweat shop computer games industry
If you followed the story of ea_spouse, the wife of the Electronic Arts employee who wrote in her personal blog a from-the-heart tale about working conditions and practices at the game developer and the effects on her husband and family, a report in the New York Times throws some more light on what it’s like […]
Target’s reality trip
So US retailer Target Corporation is offering marijuana for sale on its e-commerce website. Is this a pending PR crisis in the blogosphere? Steve Rubel thinks so. I’d be inclined to agree with Steve. Start with the blogosphere – as in Nathan Weinberg’s post at Inside Google with its headline “Taget [sic] pushes drugs” – […]