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Among the few things I remember from Philosophy 201 is the quote from the French philosopher Michel de Montaigne: “It is good to rub and polish one’s brain against those of others.”

But for most of us grown-ups (personally, despite my advanced age I still feel compelled to add italics when thinking of myself that way), our days are spent in a mode of relentless multi-tasking—constantly putting out three fires at once, but hardly ever thinking.  How sad is it to be absent-mindedly checking your Blackberry while another person is standing there in the room trying to talk to you?  But we’ve all done it.

OK, constant distraction probably won’t kill you (smashing into a tree “texting while driving” being one notable exception), but to lead a truly satisfying life, it’s important for all of us to occasionally slow down and make the time to THINK.  To have a “spa day” to polish your brain.

That’s why this is one of our favorite times of the year at CEC—because we’ve just now opened up registration for our 2010 executive meeting series, Influencing Stakeholders in a Networked Environment. Read More »

According to Time, the best single guarantee of sales success—of any sort—is to get yourself booked on the Oprah Winfrey Show. This type of evidence tends to be comforting to communicators, who’ve spent years building relationships with the Oprahs in their own business spheres.  And with good reason: getting influencers on your side has long been considered a reliable shortcut to inspire the behavior you want from stakeholders at large—whether to recommend a product or to shape the opinions of others.

But I’m increasingly convinced that this is an outdated approach. Here’s why: Read More »

What do cupcakes, the American Red Cross, and best practices have in common? Clever ways to encourage participation, of course.

A few weeks ago, we were lucky to have Wendy Harman, the Red Cross’s Social Media Manager, join a CEC webinar on innovative approaches to social media. At the event, Wendy shared some great stories about how the organization overcame a “crippling fear” of social media and learned to motivate supporters to spread the Red Cross’s message through their personal social networks.

(At this point, you might be asking, “So where do cupcakes figure in to this equation?” Well, they were our small way of saying thanks to the lovely Wendy—and perhaps of motivating other communicators to participate in a future CEC panel!  Ahem.)

Admittedly, there are (allegedly) better ways than the “cupcake method” to motivate people to support your company.  The Red Cross provides a great example of these techniques, which I think are highly transferable across all types of organizations. Read More »

Deep down, every communicator is a voyeur.

How do I know?  For the last few months, Kayleigh and I have been analyzing the organizational design of CEC member teams, and let me tell you—communicators just love peeking at org charts. They have different reasons for this, but I think one is particularly powerful: a hope that some formula for success can be found in the neat boxes and lines on a PowerPoint slide.  (As you can imagine, the let-down factor is inevitable.)
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Free Willy was one of my all-time favorite childhood movies. In addition to a love for MJ’s classic song “Will You Be There,” this movie established my lifelong dream to swim with the orcas.  Willy was anything but “Killer,” and it’s hard to believe “Shamu” would be either.

I’ve been following the story of the recent tragic death of SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau—both due to my personal interest in the relationships between humans and animals in captivity, and my professional interest in how SeaWorld would respond to this crisis situation.  As a curious millennial, the first thing I did was log on to the SeaWorld website to see what they had to say about the incident.

Day 1 after the incident, I visit the SeaWorld press room—nothing.
Day 2, I try the press room again—still nothing.
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Economics writer Tim Harford wrote an interesting opinion piece in the Financial Times last week, urging readers to “Listen to the bearers of bad news.”  Though politicians were the primary examples, the piece’s fundamental message—“any leader needs frank advice, and the biggest obstacle to receiving it is often the leader himself”—applies equally to business. Harford says as much, citing the reality television show Undercover Boss.

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For many communicators, Legal is a slayer of dreams.

I’ve heard this (paraphrased) complaint countless times across six years of CEC member conversations. The source of the conflict varies, but the storyline is usually the same: Legal vetoes communication ideas that depart from a “command and control” approach to corporate communication. It probably goes without saying, then, that social media has been a virtual Celebrity Deathmatch between the functions.

That said, we’re seeing some promising signs of a relationship thaw. Exhibit A: last week, CEC members joined their Legal and Marketing brethren at a panel discussion about cross-functional collaboration in social media. The 90-minute session was co-hosted by two of CEC’s sister programs (GCR and MLC) and headlined by Wal-Mart, Allstate, and Coca-Cola. Despite some differences of opinion, the overall consensus was clear: these three functions need to work together to manage the legal landmines of social media WHILE aggressively using it to the company’s advantage in engaging stakeholders. Here are 4 tips specifically for Comms in negotiating this balance with Legal: Read More »

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In the most dissected PR tactic since Bill Clinton first addressed the Monica Lewinsky affair, Tiger Woods delivered a statement in front of a hand-picked crowd unable to ask any questions.  I’ve argued in the past that the real lesson was from his allowing such a disconnect between the perception and reality of his life, but because Tiger is as close to a functioning business as an athlete could possibly be, I believe it’s instructive for professional communicators to assess his performance nonetheless.

My answer: Disastrous (but it’s not all his fault!). Read More »

I do not feel old.

I can’t predict the weather based on whether my joints hurt.  I can eat a hunk of jalapeno cornbread on my way upstairs to bed, and still fall fast asleep.  I’ve never been to The Scooter Store (although I have been to a taping of The Price Is Right—twice, actually).

But when I think about how different the communications landscape is today—compared to when I started my career—it’s scary to think of how old I really am. Read More »

Last week, I learned a firsthand (and inadvertent) lesson about the new rules of media relations.  Here’s the story timeline:

• Washington DC has a series of blizzards across the week, leaving behind more than 50 inches of snow.
• Mid-blizzard, CEB (parent company of CEC) sends out an email stating that the office would be open regular hours, but to let your manager know if you were unable to come in.
• I laugh in disbelief.
• In aforementioned state of disbelief, I sign on to my personal Twitter account and tweet about it.
• Thursday morning I wake up to find that my seemingly personal and innocuous tweet has been cited in the Washington Post (PRINT AND ONLINE VERSIONS) with the context below—my own emphasis added:

Some Washington businesses that urged employees’ attendance have been getting pounded on washingtonpost.com and Twitter. Employees of Rosslyn-based Corporate Executive Board expressed exasperation that their office was initially open: “bec54″ wrote, “Boycotting CEB’s decision to stay open today by sitting on the couch in my fleece onesie. This snow is INSANE.”

[INSERT PANIC]  Pounded!?!  My fleece ONESIE?!?!  NOOOOooooo! Read More »