An excerpt from a speech given in 1988 by Edward W. Block, then senior consultant to Burson Marsteller Inc., and former senior vice president at AT&T. Block clearly and aptly defined the public relations profession in this presentation to the Public Relations Research and Education annual luncheon meeting. “What is it that makes public relations […]
Read more →It’s always been a tough assignment for college and university creative shops to garner the credit they deserve for the high-quality work they do. Something about professionals outside the academy being better somehow. So we enjoyed hearing this management strategy from a veteran of higher education public relations a decade or two ago, and it […]
Read more →Some time ago, the folks at Penn State University decided to solve the main campus’ parking problems once and for all with this memorandum to the university community: “The redesignation of Green F, Red F and Yellow F is in process. We alerted you earlier that Green F will be redesignated to be Green B; […]
Read more →Despite the claims of public relations agencies and others, their “contacts” in the news media are not the keys to news coverage. The actual keys, according to journalists, are a story’s relevance to readers, its newsworthiness, its content and the local angle. That said, it is important to hire someone who has a professional relationship […]
Read more →If you are looking to fill a writing or editing position or even support jobs that require language skills in your public relations, marketing or communications office you may want to consider a simple battery of tests. A spelling test. Give the applicant 20 challenging words and ask her or him to select the misspelled […]
Read more →Some thoughts for careful writers and editors to ponder. Is there any good reason to say “utilize” instead of “use”? Does anyone know what “e.g.” and “i.e” mean? Why do football players always “sustain” injuries? It’s got to be a lot tougher than “suffering” them. Seems like it is always better to “reside” in a […]
Read more →We’ve always admired the work of Bill Conlin, one of the greatest baseball writers ever. So some years back, when Conlin covered a Philadelphia Eagles football game for the Philadelphia Daily News we were not surprised that he uncovered “the rarely heard quintuple cliché.” It came from defensive back Ray Ellis after the Eagles lost […]
Read more →We’ve all heard these famous quotes many, many times. “An eye for an eye.” “Necessity is the mother of invention.” “Put your best foot forward.” “Blood, sweat and tears.” “Money is the root of all evil.” One problem. They’re all wrong, points out William W. Craig of Tisdall Clark and Partners, Ltd. of Toronto. “An […]
Read more →A 1985 survey of principals and teachers in Chicago-area high schools produced this list of the top 10 books educators felt every high school student should read. Plays by William Shakespeare (various titles) “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain The Bible “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne “The Odyssey” by Homer “The Grapes […]
Read more →Dr. William Jurma, a speech communication professor at Texas Christian University, once conducted a study of offices in Fort Worth, Texas. Here’s a summary of his findings. Wooden desks are a must. Forget metal or chrome. In and out boxes are out. A dark-colored phone is best. Beige is acceptable. A clean desk is not […]
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