The year was 1992, and I had just written an investigative story laying out the failings of a landlord in Elgin. On the phone, his son was irate, arguing that I hadn’t given his dad a fair shake – that the piece that appeared on the front page of The Courier News wasn’t balanced. I […]
Working with Plunkett & Associates over the last six years, one of my most rewarding experiences has been helping tell stories about those served by Scheck & Siress, an orthotic and prosthetic company with a variety of locations throughout the Chicago area. And among those stories has been the developing one about Melissa Stockwell. She is […]
Writing headlines is a lot easier said than done. It requires creativity, as long as you don’t get “too creative” and veer into distasteful or otherwise dubious terrain. It demands brevity, but not so succinct that you fail to communicate some gist of the story that follows. And, of course, it ought to be brimming […]
Last week, I saw “Flight,” the critically acclaimed movie starring Denzel Washington. He portrays an airline pilot who, although in the throes of addiction, does a remarkable job of landing a severely stricken plane and saving most of those aboard. The film brought to mind Denny Fitch. Excepting the drug-and-alcohol demons that beset Washington’s character, Mr. […]
When it comes to re-purposing content, don’t just get on with it…get online with it. For a case in point, extending the PR moment for McAdam Landscaping via the “Ask the Plant Expert” columns over the past two years, see my Chicago Marketing & PR Examiner column from last week. It’s the one that bears the […]
About three months ago, I blogged about my public relations effort for Mickey Straub and his ambitious and unprecedented plan to visit all 50 state capitols in 50 days. Turns out, he couldn’t do it…he only needed 44 days. It’s a remarkable, and really cool, story that’s only getting better, as I just related in my […]
Felix Baumgartner’s amazing skydive a few days ago, from the cusp of outer space, could lead energy-drink company Red Bull to a public-relations frontier where no other brand has journeyed. Having handled the “before” and “during” aspects of the story, now comes the limitless “after,” as I touch on in my Examiner.com Marketing & PR […]
Do you ever wonder who coined certain turns of phrase? Take “smile and dial,” for example, which refers to the practice of cranking out phone calls in some sales-frenzy fashion. I’ve got to believe that expression emerged some time in the last century, most likely in the last 50 years and certainly post-1876, when Alexander […]
Photos told most of the story, but a few select words also caught my eye in this Medill magazine essay. Is there an echo around here? Last week, I wrote about one of the signs of an effective publicist: that he or she is, essentially, invisible. Likening the PR pro’s role to that of a […]