Remember how hard it was to keep a secret when you were a kid, particularly if the news was something fun or exciting? We had that kind of day here at the office yesterday. The people who run the American Business Awards program – more commonly known as The Stevie Awards – shared their list of 2012 Finalists with those that had earned this honor, but asked us to hold the news until today, when…

I was intrigued by a piece that ran in PRWeek recently on the topic of corporate character.  The piece was prompted by a new report, “Building Belief: A New Model for Activating Corporate Character and Authentic Advocacy,” issued by the Arthur W. Page Society, a professional group for senior comms leaders. The report reflects insights and best practices from major brands such as Johnson & Johnson, P&G, Apple, FedEx and IBM. It describes a new…

When Alexander Graham Bell and his pal Watson achieved their breakthrough in voice communications 136 years ago, who could have imagined the role the humble telephone would one day play? Twelve years after Mr. Bell did his thing, only about 150,000 Americans had phones. Today, the phone, in mobile form, is an essential part of our everyday lives. According to the International Telecommunication Union, there are now some 5.9 billion cellular subscriptions worldwide. To support this…

I recently contributed an article to PR News’ Digital PR Guidebook, Volume 4 on “Using Storytelling Skills to Transform Your Web Content”. The article talks about the current dynamics in the marketplace and how you shouldn’t expect to get much share of mind in a fast-paced digital world where everyone is competing for eyeballs—unless you have an exceptional story to tell. As a PR professional, you need to become the person who knows how to mesh “what will…