The PR issues surrounding toll roads in Arizona

By on November 23rd, 2009 In Best Practices

There has been mention of possible toll roads in Arizona before; and according to the article in today’s Arizona Republic, it’s looking more and more like reality.  High Occupancy Tolls (HOT) may have found their best timing, with ADOT looking for more money, and drivers becoming increasingly frustrated over the traffic delays getting to work. [...]

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Bad magazine cover, no accident.

By on November 20th, 2009 In Hype!

The buzz about the Sarah Palin photo on Newsweek’s cover is roiling people up. But while it is spilling into a sexist argument, I find it a useful example of how images are used in buzz creation. Magazines know this so well, that people ought not be shocked at these choices. A photo by itself [...]

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The power of hype

By on November 19th, 2009 In Hype!

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the value of hype and how it impacts what we want as consumers. Do public relations professionals have any control over hype — in other words, can we create it or is it organic? At midnight tonight thousands of people will line up to see the first screening [...]

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Ho ho hold that holiday thought

By on November 17th, 2009 In Hype!

Thanksgiving is around the corner, which means one thing:   pretty soon my mailbox will be bombarded with holiday greeting cards, many from agencies I barely know or recognize, with handwritten signatures from all the agency folks.   I picture them sitting in a conference room, griping about having to sign hundreds of missives to go out [...]

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West-MEC looking for PR staffer

By on November 16th, 2009 In Jobs

Western Maricopa Education Center (West-MEC), a public school district that provides career and technical education programs for high school students in the West Valley, has an entry-level opening in its marketing and public relations department for a Public Relations/Lead Recruiter. Details are available on the district’s web site at west-mec.org. Interested applicants should send a [...]

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Larry King and Carrie Prejean – what a mess of an interview!

By on November 13th, 2009 In Hype!, Media

Did you see the Larry King interview of Carrie Prejean this week?   I squirm for both the interviewer and the interviewee everytime I watch it.   Here’s the clip from YouTube.  Ouch.   Bad ju-ju on both sides.   Didn’t see it?   Larry asked Carrie (former Miss USA contestant and Miss California who became famous for her anti- gay marriage [...]

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