By Aaron Perlut, Founder, Elasticity; Contributor, Forbes.com

I recently completed a humor-based campaign for H&R Block, and early on in the effort I was surprisingly reminded of what I've found to be one of the more confounding tenants of traditional corporate reputation management — keep the CEO out of the fray.

But first, let's take a step back.

When you think of attacks lobbed at corporate America, fairly or not, they quite often focus on the chief executive. To wit, consider:

• By the time Lee Scott retired, he'd entered Jack Welsh territory — but early on in his tenure as Wal-Mart's CEO his leadership was being questioned by most analysts and media pundits.
• With every little tweak that is made to Facebook or for each personality flaw people think they uncover, Mark Zuckerberg has been quite the whipping boy for a company that has fundamentally altered the global media and cultural landscape.
• Despite being handed an implosion sandwich served with a side of customer upheaval, former AOL Time Warner CEO Richard Parsons was eaten up like Mike Tyson on an Evander Holyfield earlobe.

Much of this is of course relative to the exorbitant salaries that today's CEOs garner. It comes with the territory. But it's also far easier to lob grenades at people you don't know. And what you find is that once critics get to know the objects of their attacks, the tenor changes, and often softens.

By Ronn Torossian, CEO, 5W Public Relations

The U.S. Public Relations industry is one that is very high-profile, but is actually a tiny, close-knit industry with only perhaps 75 American PR firms having more than 50 employees (i.e., enough scope/influence to represent a foreign government or foreign interests). Over lunch last week, one of my peers who, like me, owns one of the 25 largest U.S. PR Agencies, explained why his firm would no longer work with Jewish organizations and pro-Israel concerns — there is simply too much money working for Arab organizations and interests, and between front groups, organizations and projects from a business perspective, he was no longer working for pro-Israel or Jewish organizations. It's a trend that will grow — and will see Arab interests even more positively portrayed in American media.

In the latest news, Bahrain in the last 12 months has hired at least ten public relations companies since last year. Yes, you read it right — 10 — including Qorvis, the Washington company hired by Saudi Arabia to salvage that kingdom's reputation abroad after the 9/11 terrorist attack. The regime of Bahrain — which tortures its own citizens, has an awful human rights record and doesn't recognize the existence of Israel — also hired Joe Trippi, former campaign manager for Howard Dean's 2004 presidential bid, and Sanitas International, whose partner Christopher Harvin is a former Bush White House aide.

In the "new" Middle East a lot has changed, except recognition of Israel, and millions are spent by Arab interests on professional public relations campaigns …

By Mike Lewis, VP of Marketing and Sales, Awareness, Inc.

Consumers are telling us everything we need to know (and sometimes more) about themselves, but is it TMI (Too Much Information)? I think not.

There's no question the volume of social data is crushing. Twitter announced in 2009 that posts to its platform had reached 10 million per day. By the first quarter of 2011, according to Search Engine Watch, the volume had jumped to 200 million per day, and more recent estimates top 250 million posts per day. That's a 2,400 percent increase over three years.

Facebook data tells a similar story. The Wall Street Journal reported recently that 845 million individuals were actively using the platform as of December 2011, including more than 425 million who were using the site daily.

The opportunity to turn all this user-generated, real-time data into consumer insights is not lost on marketers. They understand the benefit of reliably measuring the sentiment of users, becoming more effective with every outreach, and engaging customers to encourage brand advocacy and drive sales. However, they recognize how ill equipped they currently are to do that. Unlike balance sheets and PPC data, readily understood by accountants and search specialists, respectively, social media lacks a universal measurement standard.

Looking forward, marketers are betting on the evolving field of social analytics to turn all this data into actionable consumer insights and, ultimately, business value. Social analytics measures the impact of social media on business. It is a budding business discipline that allows the enterprise to understand how conversations on social networks and online communities influence business performance — conversations driven by industry experts, competitors, prospects and customers.

By Jim Signorelli, Founder and CEO, ESW Partners

If you've gotten past the title of this article (and many don't) you're obviously intrigued. How could anyone expect to sell anything this way? Telling someone you're terrific is so, well...crass, obnoxious and Neanderthal, anything but effective. Right?

Curious, I created an experiment. I set out to see how people would actually react to someone saying "Hey there! I am terrific!" — not in written words, but in a real face-to-face interaction. So, taking life into my own hands, I stood out on a street corner to see how passersby might react.

After a startled stare and/or a quizzical "huh?," I either received a polite "no thanks" or a profane description of what I should do with or to myself. Consequently, I gave up on this experiment early on so I don't have anything that would come even close to a projectable sample. But I'm going to take a leap of faith and hypothesize that the chances of someone responding with "okay, I'm buying whatever terrificness you're selling," are slim to none.

So why would I do such a thing? What's to figure out? Nobody talks this way. So what's the big deal?

Before you answer that, watch a little TV tonight and pay particular attention to the commercials. Take stock of the how often brands depend on self praise in their advertising, as in "we are reliable, we are caring, tasty, smart, cool, friendly, sexy etc." Look around you, on billboards, postcards, digital banners, restaurant place mats, business cards — wherever there is paper, plastic, video or audio paid for by an advertiser, chances are that it won't be long before you see and hear words telling you how terrific some brand is.

By Lore McManus Solo, Principal and Vice President of Public Relations, Strategic America

"tip·ping point"
Noun: The point at which the buildup of minor changes or incidents triggers a significant shift or makes people do something they previously resisted.

Commonly in various workplaces, we see a gathering of colleagues with heads and shoulders bowed inward, hands clasped under the table. They're not praying. They're texting or checking email. However, even in church, worshippers are reminded to turn off their cell phones so they can tune into heaven instead of cyberspace.

We've all experienced a conversation in which one of us receives a quick glimpse or a prolonged "uhh-huhhh" as the offender offers one eye and one ear to the person right there…while some distant recipient, who may not even be present, gets the better half. We've sat in meetings in which someone taps, taps, taps and then claims to not know the assignment or when called upon, asks for questions to be repeated. It's not less personal in a group versus one-on-one. The facilitator feels the sting. The group inwardly groans. Someone notes: "There can't be that many emergencies going down daily."

The message sent: "I am more important than the meeting, conversation or people at hand."

The recipients' interpretation: "You don't care." Or, flat out, "You're rude."

The way in which we surf the Internet is changing at the speed of light thanks to the mobile devices that enable us to be always connected. The technological structure is ready, consumers are ready, but marketing strategies still have to be adapted to the new reality.

By Silvina Moschini, CEO & Founder, Intuic | The Social Media Agency

The World Mobile Congress, which is taking place from February 27 to March 1, has brought together more than 1400 exhibitors who, during its four-day duration, are unveiling the latest technology in a sector that is no longer news, and has transformed itself into an inescapable reality. The official launch of Windows Phone 8, and the presentation of new devices by the big players in the industry such as LG, Nokia and Huawei are just some of the principal new attractions on show at this edition of MWC.

The recent Google book, Winning The Zero Moment of Truth: ZMOT, analyses how the Web has changed consumer behavior, and how this obliges businesses to come up with new strategies to reach users right at the moment when they are making a purchase decision. The browser giant assures that currently two thirds of the world's population have a mobile phone and that, in 2020, five billion people will be connected to the Web and ten million will have mobile devices.

But going beyond these figures, what about the facts? What happens at that crucial moment when the user picks up his or her smartphone or tablet and enters an online application? According to data released by the Barcelona Go Mobile project, 44% of mobile phone users in Spain have a smartphone, and one in four use them to make purchases online. But, of the total number of Internet users who enter a site using their mobile, 61% don't return. This is due to the fact that just 10% of Spanish companies have adapted their sites for adequate use with mobile devices. This shows that while online consumer behavior has radically changed, businesses don't always have the sufficient dynamism to follow the pace of change. There is an enormous challenge that is, at the same time, an opportunity: to reach the growing number of consumers who are opting for new channels of connection and interaction.

By Joe Thomas, Owner, Left Brain Digital

There's a lot riding on a website that's working for a business. It has to convey brand and professionalism, communicate the right message and engage visitors. Every detail plays a role, from the logo to the text to the design and functionality. One of my recent clients, Marsha Friedman of EMSI Public Relations, understood that so well, she put off developing a badly needed new website for five years.

"I knew how important every detail was, so I was afraid the process would be long and painful and still, in the end, I'd be dissatisfied," says Friedman, who happily (for me!) reports just the opposite was true.

I'm amazed by the calls I field almost every day from high-level brainy types who have this fantastic website designed by the hotshot friend of the nephew of their sister's third cousin. But their product, service or book is just not selling from the site.

Usually, my first thought is to offer them a discounted handful of magic beans and tell them to hope for the best. But alas, I've run out of magic beans. They've spent months, even years, developing their business or products, writing their book or becoming an expert in their field. Then, three weeks before they launch into the market, they find the least expensive "Web guru" to build their site. Approached this way, 9.7 times out of 10, they will wind up with a somewhat functional disaster.

By Victor Vrsnik, APR, Principal at Vancouver's SPIRE Public Relations

My favourite Don Draper line from Mad Men is, "I don't sell advertising. I sell products."

If Draper were a PR madman, he'd likely adapt the line to, "I don't sell communications, I sell products," knowing that good PR softens consumer resistance and builds brand equity.

Draper identified his craft with his client's corporate objectives.

'What' he does is related to the outcome of his work, and that is to sell his clients' products. 'How' he does it is through advertising, an output.

Mad Men Season 5 is right around the corner, premiering March 25.

Too bad Draper wasn't around to chime in on the recent PR definition project launched by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA).

By Adele R. Cehrs, President of Epic PR Group

On the heels of recovering from one of the worst recessions in U.S. history, largely caused by financial sector mismanagement, Edelman's 2012 Trust Barometer released findings that show consumers trust financial service institutions more this year compared to last year. Ironically, this announcement was made on the same day that Goldman Sachs executive Greg Smith issued a damning resignation letter calling one of the biggest firms on Wall Street "toxic" and "destructive." The op-ed, which appeared in the New York Times, was reportedly vetted by the paper's editorial staff before being published.

This begs the question: if trust is so high, why is this issue receiving so much play? The answer is threefold.

From Water Cooler Gossip to the New York Times

The relationship between traditional media and social media continues to evolve, a symbiotic connection that fuels 'viral' stories like this one. We call it the 'bounce effect' because stories bounce from traditional media to social media (and not necessarily in that order).

It's clear that some stories are 'bouncier' than others. Elements of a bouncy story include mass appeal, the human element and controversy — and this tale of intrigue is no exception.

In the past, all staff emails from disgruntled employees received a small, but captive audience when someone was let go abruptly. Now, the way people share information has made what would otherwise be water cooler gossip into a public relations nightmare for a major company.

By Jim Signorelli, Founder and CEO, ESW Partners

Since the beginning of language, stories have helped us understand human nature. By helping us identify with characters during their quests to achieve certain goals, stories teach us important lessons about who we are and what lies within our own potential. But this teaching is done through implication, not explanation. Stories don't tell us how to think or what to value. Rather, they provide a welcomed freedom to self-select the truths we read into them. This is why they can be immensely powerful.

In many ways, stories provide a great example for brands to follow. Brands, like stories, also contain truths. But whose truth is it, the brand's or ours? It is one thing for brands to push their meanings on us, and quite another to help us to our own conclusions. Too much advertising tells us how to see things or what we should believe is important. As a result, we are often inundated with facts that can be argued, and opinions that are self-serving. It is hard to form a willing relationship with anyone, let alone a brand, that tries too hard to convince us of its own importance.

What is a story? In simplest terms, a story is made up of a character (or characters) dealing with obstacles to achieve certain goals. The extent to which stories help us connect with our own truths is a function of how well we can identify with the values, beliefs and feelings experienced by its character.

By Chris McLaughlin, CEO, Maximize Social Media

There's a new buzzword that's gaining traction: f-commerce. And some retailers might just as well attach another f word to their results so far.

We've heard recently that major brands have jettisoned their Facebook storefronts, and the Facebook bashers are having a field day. Who's right? Who's wrong?

Both are wrong … and their mistakes show that they don't truly understand social media, and they are fundamentally misunderstanding Facebook and its effort to maintain high user engagement.

Millions of dollars were blown building a fancy platform that enables Facebook users to interact with a company's ecommerce platform from their Facebook Wall. But in truth this effort was nothing more than a virtual bridge to nowhere.

Why nowhere? The fact is that users very rarely revisit a page after they click the like button. It's estimated that only 4% of users visit a page after they like it — instead they engage with the business through the popular newsfeed, where they can comment or click like without leaving the newsfeed.

Does this mean that businesses are wasting their time on Facebook? Far from it — for business, Facebook is a communication tool, not a place to build a destination. Facebook efforts should focus on communicating with existing customers and reaching out to potential customers through social connections and advertising.

By Marsha Friedman, CEO, EMSI Public Relations

I remember when the Internet first gained prominence and it became apparent that having a website was essential for any commercial enterprise.

Back then, Web designers were not plentiful and few people thought to hire a professional to create a site. They felt that any Web presence was better than none at all and they found people they knew who were "into the whole Internet thing" to help them.

As a PR professional, when I saw a website that didn't represent people well or looked amateurish, I'd ask who created it. Invariably, I'd get answers like, "My nephew did it," or "I bought Web Design for Dummies and did it myself," or "My son has a friend who just graduated with a degree in computer science." While those days have passed for websites, I'm afraid I am seeing the same thing happen with regard to social media.

As social media has become an integral element of all mainstream media, some people regard it the same way they used to regard websites — as a good addition to their marketing tactics, but not so essential that they need to approach it with a professional sensibility. As with any marketing outreach, social media done badly will actually set a person back rather than move him forward.

By Laura Borgstede, CEO, Calysto Communications

Calysto Communications, a global public relations, media relations and social media marketing firm focused on the communications industry, just became the only PR, media relations and social media agency to ever be recognized with two Stevie Awards for its expertise in creating and executing cost-effective, low-budget public relations campaigns. To help companies with their 2012 budget planning, Calysto today is sharing five budget-conscious PR and social media strategies:

Cost-cutting Tip #1: Consider launching a focused, "project-based" PR campaign.
For instance, say your company is launching a new product in conjunction with a major trade show. You can hire an agency a few months prior to the show to help you create and distribute your announcement via a press release, pitches and social media outlets. The agency can also help you set up one-on-one briefings with media and analysts at the show.

These activities not only help your company maximize its existing investment in a trade show, they can also be an extremely cost-effective way to get your news "heard" at a show instead of spending a fortune to exhibit. In fact, depending on its scope, the cost of a project-based PR campaign like the one just described can be less than $10,000.

Cost-Cutting Tip #2: Leverage your content in multiple ways.
A few years ago, your message delivery options were limited. So if you wrote a press release, you might find a way to leverage that content in a bylined article or in your marketing materials. But that was about it. Today, thanks to the rise of social media, the same message can be delivered many different ways to multiple audiences – not only in traditional PR and marketing materials but also in a wide variety of social media communications outlets such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and blogs.

By Steve Lubetkin, Managing Partner, Lubetkin Global Communications

One of the biggest lessons coming out of the Komen Foundation's recent high profile policy and communications failures is the importance to corporations and organizations of having some voices of dissent in their circle of advisers.

A major problem of our technologically flat world is that we have the ability to tune out voices that we don't agree with more easily than ever before.

If we are conservative, we can watch Fox News and not worry about hearing a liberal point of view.

If we are liberal, we might read The New York Times and never look at The Washington Times.

This is a mistake. You need to be listening to voices that don't agree with you. For example, boards across the country should be reading and discussing every article in Mother Jones magazine about their industry.

This well-known publication happens to do some of the best investigative reporting around today, and offers insights into the social and political issues that your organization will need to deal with in the coming months and years, whether you like it or not.

By Micho Spring, Global Corporate Practice Chair, Weber Shandwick

In a corporate culture where companies must pay attention to legal concerns and regulatory compliance, an equally important form of liability — potential damage to one's reputation — can easily be overlooked. But leading companies have learned two lessons. One is that reputational liability must be added to legal liability as a top-line risk management concern. The second is that the aftermath of a crisis is too late for an organization to strike that balance. The culture it establishes in advance is just as important as — perhaps even more important than — how it reacts in the definitive first days of crisis. Those are also among the lessons of an in-depth survey of crisis-tested communications and legal officers recently undertaken by Weber Shandwick.

The irony is that organizations are often thinking of protecting their reputations when they guard against legal liability at all costs. Yet it is precisely that kind of thinking — elevating legal over reputational liability rather than thinking of the two as closely intertwined — that often gets organizations into difficulty.

The challenge is enhanced by the fact that lawyers are often trained, and understandably so, to consider legal liability above all else. Moreover, they are right to see legal liability as a threat to an organization's reputation. But as one battle-tested former legal counsel put it in our survey, "Your voice is not the only voice. … Legal issues are clearly important, but not the ones that necessarily should rule the day."

By Larry Kamer, Principal, Kamer Consulting Group

The greatest fallout from the Komen crisis may be that the organization has lost something more valuable than money, more costly than lost time, and perhaps more precious than reputation and trust.

In the span of 36 hours it has, for many, lost the benefit of the doubt. That's the ingredient that determines the difference between a swift ascent out of crisis or an agonizingly slow slog. Will people believe what you say or will every little thing be challenged, debated, and nit-picked?

Komen has gone from being widely regarded as an organization singularly focused on eradication of breast cancer to one that's viewed through the lens of abortion politics. From a reputational standpoint, nothing hurts an organization more than an apparent division between its stated mission and what its actions convey.

Late last week, there was a flood of media coverage about Komen's "reversal." Founder Nancy Brinker said, "We will continue to fund existing grants, including those of Planned Parenthood, and preserve their eligibility to apply for future grants."

She then went on to apologize, which in most cases is the first step on the road to recovery after a crisis: "We want to apologize to the American public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women's lives."

My friend Rich Galen, a conservative blogger, spoke for a lot of Komen supporters when he Tweeted earlier today: "Kudos to #NancyBrinker for stepping in and getting a needless argument stopped."

But did she?

By Laura Finlayson, Beckerman

I often hear people say their company is not ready to use social media, does not have a large following, is locally based or is simply too small. My response: "That's why you need to start now." After all, social media can be a cost-effective way to increase your business's following, generate buzz about your products and services and help your company grow.

I remember hearing of a pizza place (as we call them here in New Jersey) that was based in a college town. They launched a Twitter handle and promoted it with signs alerting patrons to follow them for exclusive specials. What they did then was just short of genius: whenever the store was not busy they would tweet a short-lived special, i.e. "free soda with a slice for the next hour," "buy one slice and get one free for the next hour" or "any large pizza for $9 until 9 p.m." The result? Students swarmed their store. I couldn't help thinking that almost any small business could use this strategy — and they should.

Now a restaurant selling pizza in a college town may be able to get thousands of followers on Twitter, but that may not be realistic for some small businesses. So, if you are asking yourself where and how to start marketing via social media, remember these simple rules from Kindergarten and put them to work in your social media marketing efforts:

1. Be kind to others. I remember seeing a bumper sticker that read, "He who dies with the most toys wins." Well, that's not the case with social media. It's not about amassing large numbers of followers; it's about building an engaged community of followers who may actually frequent your business. Think of these individuals and engage with them in a personal level; talk with them – not at them.

By Tonja Deegan, Airfoil Public Relations

Communicators and marketers have spent the last several years trying to decode, manipulate and master digital and social media for their business advantage. It's been an exhilarating and challenging time for the public relations profession, because the potential for reaching new and more qualified audiences has been infinitely amplified by social channels. Business communicators are only now scratching the surface potential of social, but we have an opinion that might be a bit surprising, especially given that we serve some of the world's largest technology brands: social will go away in 2012.

Of course we don't think that "social" — as in social media and networking — is really going anywhere. But we do think that business communicators who have poured blood, sweat and tears into unlocking, say, the secret to acquiring 800,000 Twitter followers would be better served in 2012 by taking a step back and recognizing a fundamental truth: precursive terms like "social," "digital," "e-" and "online" are less relevant than whether these platforms get businesses in front of the right customers, partners, media and influencers.

It's all communications. Social networking is networking; e-commerce is commerce; digital marketing is marketing; and online audiences are, simply, audiences. The already-fragile line separating social, digital and virtual from actual experiences, will become even more tenuous in the year and years ahead as customers, for whom mobile and social are a way of life, increasingly assume that businesses who want their dollars will simply communicate with them on their terms…whatever the channel.

By David Warschawski, Founder and CEO, Warschawski

Now that the new year is in full swing, let's clear out the biggest marketing myth so we can make way for great marketing in 2012.

The Myth: Having great external advertising and marketing programs is the number one way to build your business.

WRONG! This is, and always should be your second priority. The first priority is to have a clearly articulated brand that spells out for all your employees how you are different from your competitors.

Your employees are the most important marketing vehicle you have today, and they are also the most overlooked and ignored marketing asset. Focus on them first and make sure they are well prepared to serve as your brand ambassadors.

Great brand companies like Zappos, Southwest and Starbucks understand this. They invest first in ensuring that all of their employees understand what their company stands for and then empower them to live their brand. They understand that having their employees interact in a consistent and brand-centric way that is different from their competitors is far more important than any slogan or advertising campaign they could ever create. They understand that internal marketing should always lead to great external marketing, not vice versa.

By Tim Woodall, Strategist, Sustainability Communications

At Addison, we work with many companies that are just beginning to address sustainability as a core business issue. The question that often comes up is, "Will producing a sustainability or corporate social responsibility (CSR) report increase our stock price or drive revenues?"

The answer: Not necessarily. The notion that addressing environmental and social challenges will give a boost to sales or stock prices may be putting the cart a bit before the horse.

Many companies that are focusing on sustainability and CSR challenges for the first time are looking for the silver bullet that will answer all their problems. They mistakenly believe that putting solar panels on the roof of their headquarters, donating an extra million dollars to charity, producing a sustainability report, and/or offering reusable bags to shoppers will automatically lead to the public perceiving them as a responsible company, with accompanying increases in sales and stock value as a result.

This is simply not the case. Companies must take the initiative in addressing sustainability issues directly within their operations, supply chain, and product offerings, in order to generate the credible data that make up the heart of a CSR report. A CSR program and corresponding report without these metrics usually isn't worth the paper it's printed on.

By Merrie Spaeth, President, Spaeth Communications

What is a BIMBO comment and what does it teach us? At Spaeth Communications, we focus on how to influence what a listener or target audience hears, believes and remembers. Perhaps the most common mistake is the BIMBO comment, or rather, to repeat and deny a negative word. It has to do with how the listener hears and processes language; the listener is likely to overlook the denial, hearing the opposite of what the speaker is trying to say. We named the genre for the young woman who was caught having an affair with a high-profile, married man. She announced to the nation, "I am not a bimbo," thus causing everyone to think she was. In honor of those infamous words, we publish the monthly BIMBO Memo with the month's winning comments. Our point is that the way people actually hear can influence what people think and do. And negative words can have a dramatic impact. Remember two years ago when Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) leaked a letter he wrote to the FDIC expressing his fears that IndyMac bank might "fail?" His words caused a run on the bank which then failed.

The 2011 BIMBO of the Year goes to the Occupy Wall Streeters. "We're not here just to march and bang on drums," said Bill Buster, the PR volunteer for Occupy Wall Street in New York's Zuccotti Park. OWS had some defenders on the left, some of them surprising. "They are not lazy people sitting around looking for something to do," said Lawrence Fink, one of the wealthiest and most successful people on Wall Street. For most Americans, the OW Streeters were handled with kid gloves by the media and municipal officials until patience finally ran out and tent cities were cleared out, leaving huge piles of trash punctuated with occasional spurts of violence.

By Kenneth C. Wisnefski, Founder, WebiMax

With financial models and economic data released last week, innovation can lead to profitable SMB growth staring in 2012. Next year can be a rebound year for SMBs if business owners commit to innovating and focusing more on client-retention. The key problem is that most business owners are reluctant to move forward due to pressing economic concerns including the financial markets, credit ratings and unemployment; however it's the lack of focus on key internal areas that are keeping them in a hover pattern.

While the Small Business Confidence Index rose slightly in October (90.2, from 88.9 in September) in large part due to sales growth less negative, there have been positive signs in recent weeks. Leading up to Thanksgiving weekend, retailers and online merchants spent an average of 31 percent more on paid search advertising, which translated to a record 16.4 percent uptick in Thanksgiving weekend purchasing by the consumer. This suggests both retailers and consumers have a lot of cash sitting on the sidelines.

This is where innovation comes in to play. Those merchants and retailers who chose innovative and lesser-expensive advertising channels including social media and paid search were rewarded well during the Thanksgiving weekend. Ecommerce is surging and SMBs that want to generate new sales growth and improve client retention need to pay close attention to the momentum that is building.

In the spotlight: G.A. "Andy" Marken, President, Marken Communications

For a whole bunch of publicists, the holidays — Chanukah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, you name it — are the starting gun to perform and deliver for bosses and clients at what is arguably the largest trade show in the world … CES (Consumer Electronics Show).

Here are the players:

The Client/Boss

More than 3,000 companies preen themselves, get pumped up and spend a whole lotta money to descend on Las Vegas. Their goals:

• show new products they expect/hope will take them to the next level
• develop a lot of buzz about the company/products
• at the very least, enable them to survive another year or be bought

They work nights and weekends finalizing product ideas and finishing up the first run of product or polish prototypes.

They direct their publicity folks to ensure that they get to meet with/be interviewed by all of the "big" members of the media. (Yes, Virginia despite all of the social media discussion, press people are still held in high regard.)

They throw last-minute specifications and applications information to the publicists; and as they leave for the holidays, tell them to produce elegant releases that get their messages across loud and clear.

They continually ask which media people will they meet with; and with a voice that questions your professionalism, relationships ask why Bill, Joan, Jane, Walt, David and Deborah aren't on the list.

By Jim Signorelli, Founder and CEO, esw StoryLab

As I walked into my office today, there was a copy of George Orwell's 1984 on my desk. On the book was a sticky note attached to a page with a drawn arrow that pointed to a certain passage. The note wasn't signed, but I knew that the words "READ THIS!" were written in my assistant Heather's handwriting.

Like most books I was supposed to read in high school, all I can remember about George Orwell's 1984 is what Cliff Notes told me to remember. And what I remember most are warnings against evil dictators, Big Brother and the thought police.

As I wondered if Heather was trying to send me a message, I sheepishly started reading the passage. By the time I was done I was ready to give her a promotion.

Here is an extract from the passage the arrow pointed to:

The book fascinated him, or more exactly it reassured him. In a sense it told him nothing that was new, but that was part of the attraction. It said what he would have said, if it had been possible for him to set his scattered thoughts in order. It was the product of a mind similar to his own. The best books, he perceived, are those that tell you what you know already.

The context is less important than the content of this message. But if you're interested, it's in Chapter 9 when the lead character finishes reading a book he had been struggling to get his hands on.