What I Realized About Clients...

I realized that as intimidating as some clients can be, they always love a good laugh....

Following is a note from my client after receiving our Xmas gift....



Dude is looking at me funny again.

So I get this package just prior to the holidays from the good folks at our PR agency. Ever notable for being creative with their Christmas gifts, this year was no exception. Eagerly, I tear open the package. Wrapped in about eight layers of various and sundry packaging materials was…………………………an MK bobble head.

Initially, I must say I was elated at the prospect of having my own bobble head. Whatever self esteem issues I might have had were immediately erased by the presence before me of the shiny new mini-me. I proudly placed mini-MK (MMK) on the table next to my desk. Through the afternoon, I was working on some of my communication for the upcoming Leadership Conference. While laying down some PowerPoint slides for my strategic plan communication, I began to have these feelings like someone was looking over my shoulder. These feelings persisted, so I began looking out of the corner of my eye at the little bugger while I was working. I swear I saw MMK shake his head back and forth as if saying “no” and “yes” on several occasions. It was like the miniscule dude was trying to tell me if I was going in the right direction or not. I don’t mind telling you that I immediately suspected an elaborate surveillance conspiracy involving our PR firm and my boss. I conducted a quick examination of the bobble head to look for embedded microphones, web cams and such. Although I didn’t see anything untoward, I elected to set up a quick meeting with my boss on some innocuous subject in order to survey his office for the presence of some sort of toggle stick on his desktop. While it was difficult to talk about paper napkins for 30-plus minutes to allow for adequate survey time, I did manage to get the job done. In the end, I didn’t find anything to further the notion of this conspiracy theory, although I continued to have suspicions.

As I continued the development of my conference content, I began to think about organizational communication and activation. Specifically, how important communication, focus, guidance, follow-up and reinforcement are to achieving the desired outcome. We have to influence the staff to make right decisions and take right actions continuously in order to deliver the results. Suddenly, the “validating bobble head” made a lot of sense to me. What if I could make a couple thousand MMK’s to be at every bar, host stand, service station, retail store and kitchen, nodding approval or disapproval at each impending action or inaction? Wow, enormous potential.

I know what you’re thinking, “He’s going to replace us with some sort of bobble head army.” No.

I do want you to think about the legacy of your organizational communication and activation, as it pertains to how your staff behaves when not under your constant direction. Are they aligned with the specific results that we are trying to achieve? Do they understand completely what is expected from them? Are they knowledgeable about what actions and behaviors will produce the right results. Are they motivated to choose right? Do they know if we are achieving the results? Are the management team consistent in their focus, communication and activity? Do we reinforce right behavior and take corrective action on wrong behavior on a consistent and ongoing basis?

The start of a new year is a great time to make an assessment of your internal communication and activation process. Take the next week to evaluate how well you execute manager meetings, how that communication translates into specifics of staff activation, how well that communication reaches the entirety of the staff, and the responsiveness of the management team in aligning behavior toward the achievement of the results.

While the idea of the “validating bobble head” may be a bit before its time, the principles that it presumes are not.

As for the conspiracy, maybe I got a bit off my rocker for a minute. I kinda feel bad that I slipped that micro GPS tracker into the bottle of wine I gave my boss for Christmas.

Looks like he’s in!

What I Realized About Getting What You Want..

I realized that in order to get what you want in this world, you have to be strong, stern and firm. (All great adjectives for eachother, by the way.)

While I consider myself to be all of the above, I have a hard time taking it one step further and being really demanding when I am told no.

For example, I am exactly 508 miles away from being Continental Gold Elite Status for all of 2009, but I need to accrue these 508 miles before December 31st. No matter how hard I tried to convince Continental that they should upgrade my status out of good faith, when they said no, I could not bring myself to get nasty! And unfortunately, as I learned from going to Rutgers (famous for the "R-U Screw), you have to bitch to get what you want...

Sometimes I wish I was one of those women that could be mean to customer service people when necessary, but I can't! But then again, if I were to be, I would immediately be labeled as a bitch and I don't want that. What to do... What to do...

That being said -- If you or anyone you know has a hook up at Continental, let me know ASAP!!!!!

What I Realized About Traffic...

I realized that even when I think I'm going to be on time for work, it NEVER happens. The second it starts drizzling, people forget how to drive, and I become the victim. Today, I was stuck in the bowels of the NJ Turnpike, smushed in between 100's of trucks.

Another thing I realized is that truck drivers are probably the most evil drivers on the face of the planet. They drive like they have Mini-Coopers. And Today, about 8 of those stupid oversized speed-racers flipped over and reeked havoc all over NJ.

Ahh.. good times...

What I Just Realized....

Another thing I just realized.... My job is definitely so much cooler than yours because my latest and greatest account is.....
PLAYBOY TV

YUP, that's right --- you're all jealous

What Celebrities & Managers SHOULD Realize...

Ok, enough of what I realize about celebrities...
Here's what celebrities and their managers SHOULD realize - but NEVER do.

Of course, we all have a job to do.
I get it.
Managers and celebrity publicists are supposed to protect their clients.
For us regular PR folks, our main job is to get media for our clients.
When we have celebrity events, our job is to get media for those events.
Our job IS our media contacts and relationships.

And it's been happening frequently lately that we will bust our butts to get media, just to get an email saying, "Bad news -- he/she will not do any interviews."

Then I think (and unfortunately can not say), "Ok, thanks for letting us know and thanks especially for all of your 'help.' Now we're going to go piss off a bunch of great media contacts and try for the next few months to either find new ones or try to prove to our existing contacts that we are not incompetent."

Recently, there was an event "fire drill" on my team. "MUST GET MEDIA NOW -- THE EVENT IS 4 DAYS AWAY!!!!! All hands on deck. Bring out your best contacts!"

So now, we are 12 hours away from the event and get that good ole email, "Uhhh, bad news -- the event has been cancelled. There's a certain someone who isn't happy about something."

Again, I would love to say, "Ok, thanks for letting us know and thanks especially for all of your 'help.' Now we're going to go piss off a bunch of great media contacts and try for the next few months to either find new ones or try to prove to our existing contacts that we are not incompetent."

After going through these situations many times, I came up with what I would say, if I could say one thing to all celebrity publicists/managers.

So here it is:

"Pretty please realize that, not only, are you disappointing us and our media contacts, but you are technically prohibiting us from doing our jobs. Media is at the very core of what we do. If we do not have any more media contacts, we can not do our job. Keeping this in mind, for next time, please REALIZE how badly you are hurting our current great media relationships and in turn, hurting our careers..... Oh Ya and one more thing -- you should try to remove that overgrown head from your aRRss. Seriously, you should have that looked at."

What I Realized About Celebrities

As a public relations professional, I have had the opportunity to work with hundreds of celebrities over the years.

I realized....
The celebrities that seem the nicest on camera, are the nastiest off camera.
Rock stars are the coolest people.
Rock stars are all shorter than me, for some reason.
"B" & "C" list celebrities are so much better to work with than "A" listers.
When the manager says that the celebrity won't do a media interview that you've secured, the celebrity didn't say no - the manager said no.
The way that a manager acts toward you can make you love or hate the celebrity he/she represents.
After a while, you are not star-struck anymore.
Celebrities are just people.... with a lot more money.

What I Realized In Las Vegas..

So i went to Las Vegas for the first time on a business trip. I had a few realizations while in "Sin City."

I realized:
It's one of those places that you NEED to go at least once in your life.
It's a place that you need to go ONCE and only once.
Normal people turn into creepy people.
Pick-up lines get a lot worse than usual -- "Hi, Do you want to do an 8-ball with us?" -- Classy.
Drunken midgets are hilarious.
Drunken midgets are even more hilarious when they run through your legs. (Not even lying.)
Seeing a 60-year-old, overweight man dressed like Strawberry Shortcake and twirling a giant lollipop can make you snort-n-laugh.... A LOT.
Video-taping the same guy while he is twirling his lollipop can make you snort-n-laugh harder.
And finally, I realized that Vegas is a circus. This is not a metaphor -- Las Vegas is full of circus freaks and if you stay too long, you will become one too!!!