The bear emerges

Just when you think all is quiet and the markets are void of volatility the bear rears and roars Grrrr. The Veep survives assasination, the Iranians inch toward the nuclear option, Iraq continues on its road to armageddon, the Arabs and Israelis … don’t get us started … and then market in China takes a dive. Did the Dow actually lose a couple hundred points in a minute? I kept staring at my computer screen like it was a typo. Nothing like the bottom dropping out of the market to remind us that we live on shaky ground. The markets giveth and the markets taketh.

The Australian market dropped more than 3%. In London overnight, BHP Billiton - a big supplier of minerals to China - plunged 6 per cent. This is the correction we’ve all been waiting for. I think now that the bear let us know he’s still around and has a mighty roar he may retreat for the rest of the winter. Let’s see how Wall Street shrugs this off.

Still working on the new PRBlogNews - messing with graffitti theme based on the Museum of the Graffitti Hall of Fame. See About

Pardon our digital dust …

It’s dangerous to start messin with your blog. You never know where it will end up. A widget here, a plug in there, you mess with the font, the color, the theme and before you know it you have this …. not only that, it’s snowing in New York. Really snowing.

So pardon us for a few days as we try to pull together the new PRBlogNews and experiment with the new WordPress 2.1.1.  Widgets come and widgets go … go read Strumpette.  Mix it up. That’s where the action is. We’ll be back and running soon.

Uncontrollable Irregularity Feeds jetBlue Blog Woes

Two days ago I posted about the odd two words that jump out in the much heralded new jetBlue Bill of Rights. Money will be given to passengers for delays due to a … Controllable Irregularity. It is comforting to see that a host of other bloggers, many of them hardcore travelers, are just as dumfounded. What the @#*! is a controllable irregularity, asks one.

Judging the google blog search on Controllable Irregularity (why does jetBlue capitalize it when there is no definition offered?) this issue may not disappear soon. The Cranky Flier has a great post called ”Controllable Irregularities Might Require Pepto Bismol.” The Cranky Flier called jetBlue media relations for a clarifiction of Controllable Irregularity. The response was, essentially, that it is what it is. Go figure.

The blog “Musings of a Global Traveller,” likens the Controllable Irregularity to mean whatever you want at at a given moment, sort of a Through the Looking Glass method of forgiveness.

So, where are the lawyers on this? What exactly does Controllable Irregularity mean (weather? flight control?) and is this a case of two words sabotaging all the good words that precede and follow? Will jetBlue face a real PR challenge when cranky fliers and global travellers challenge that meaning? Let us not forget that the blogosphere is a 24 hour a day uncontrollable irregularity.

“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone. “It means just what I choose it to mean - neither more or less.”

“The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.”

JetBlue Rules … but read the fine print

The jetBlue horror story of travelers interminably stuck in planes as cancelled flights stacked up due to ice storms, has become legend. Many other airlines face the same difficulties due to weather emergencies but the focus was intensely on JetBlue this time for two reasons:

1) JetBlue has a stong compact with its Customers (capital “C”) and is supposed to be different. 2) the real problem was communication - leaving travelers stranded and confused with little or no warning.

Well, in a swift turnaround that will undoubtedly deeply impact the airline business and serve as a case study in rapid response PR, JetBlue has turned obstacle into opportunity with a signature Customer Bill of Rights and impressive action to back it up. The reality of Congressional action also undoutedly prompted the airline to take the initiative.

In a halting speech, obviously sincere and down-to-earth, jetBlue founder and CEO David Neeleman delivers a YouTube video “Our promise to you” that has so far received over 40,000 views and 119 comments. I would have trained Neelman to be smoother and more precise in his delivery but his intent was unmistakable: contrite, apologetic, touching. He betrayed a trust, and he knows it.

It is prominent on the home page of the jetBlue web site - links to the Customer Bill of Rights, the video, an apology, an invitation to communicate, how much cash you get in the event of cancellations, departure delays, overbookings. A key point - not once in all the communication is the weather or any outside force blamed. jetBlue takes full responsibility. 

How did Wall Street react to the masterful jetBlue PR moves.? The stock quote says it all: JBLU: $13.19  +0.29 +2.25%

What about the fine print? All refunds outlined by jetBlue are in the event of a “Controllable Irregularity.” I was unable to find a definition of this in all their communication. Is weather a controllable irregularity? Instructions from flight control? Can any legal types, or those familiar with the airline industry, shed light on this? Will the “controllable irregularity” clause come back to haunt jetBlue?

THE APOLOGY: “You deserved better - a lot better - from us last week and we let you down. Nothing is more important than regaining your trust and all of us here hope you will give us the opportunity to once again welcome you onboard and provide you the positive JetBlue Experience you have come to expect from us.” Sincerely, David Neeleman, Founder and CEO, jetBlue

Find A PR Job Now

 

Looking for a hot new job in public relations? You’ve come to the right place. Today, PRBlogNews unveils its PR job board. What can you find? Porter Novelli is looking for a Sr. AE, Healthcare, New York. Text 100 needs a AE in New York. Earn $115K in financial services. You can find a job in a dozen metropolitan areas, agency or corporate, full time and part time. Your perfect job is waiting.

Looking to fill a corporate or agency PR slot? Advertise for the perfect PR pro on PRBlogNews. For a special introductory price of $49 for 30 days you get top billing in PRBlogNews job searches and we will profile your job prominently on the home page above the search box. PRBlogNews attracts PR pros who are serious about their careeer and are engaged in discussion about effective PR practices in the digital age. Isn’t that the kind of PR pro you want working for you? Place an ad on the PRBlog News Job Board today. Sample jobs:

• Access Communications is looking for an AAE with B2B and/or Technology Public Relations Agency experience, New York. See PRBlogNews Job Board
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Blogs We Love #2 *A VC*

Fred Wilson is a venture capitalist at Union Square Ventures in New York but he is my main source - besides Pandora - for discovering great new indie music and buried old Dylan video clips. In A VC, Wilson follows his bliss and I, along with thousands of others, am happy to follow along.

This is not a corporate blog like Blogs We Love #1 *Marriott on the move* - it is a personal shared journal full of life experiences, photos of his daughters playing basketball, and wonderful anecdotes about business. I learn a lot from Wilson about the monetization of blogs, social media, new tech gadgetry, and the companies he is excited by and investing in. Wilson’s intellectual curiosity is infectious. I did not understand that flickr is the seminal web 2.0 service until I read Wilson’s post and the 24 comments that expanded on his theme. He’s the kind of guy you would like to hang out with to talk family, sports, music, and the next big thing.

A friend emailed me a link to this performance of North Country Girl and I thought I’d share it with all of you. You’ll have to fast forward to 5:00 mins into the video. But when you do, you’ll see Johnny and Bob singing a duet live during Johnny (Cash)’s first TV show in July 1969. This duet was taped at Nashville’s famed Ryman Auditorium. - A VC blog post

There is no design to speak of in A VC but there are plenty of widgets on display, gadgets being discussed, videos being shared, and useful intelligence bandied about. It’s a fun, nice way to learn - and it feels like a real community.
 

Blogs We Love #1 *Marriott on the move*

There are so many junk blogs out there full of irrelevant information, pointless jabber and wanton foolishness that you want to scream: stop the insanity! And then you run across a blog that make absolute sense and is truly representative of the power and and reach and beauty of communication through the Internet. When you do you have to bow down and say I Love That Blog. And then you want to say, in the spirit of St. Valentine’s Day, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.  Bill Marriott - you are one cool dude. Number one on this occasionally expanding list of blogs we love: Marriott on the move 

If there is a better travel and tourism or corporate executive blog out there now we’d like to see it. In his first post, January 16, 2007, Bill (you don’t mind if I call you Bill, Mr. Marriott?) admits that he knows little of computers, less of blogs, and he was virtually coerced by his PR people to do this thing we call blogging. Well, his PR people deserve an award, or at least recognition and praise. Bill Marriott doing pilates? Bill Marriott that globe trotting glad handing whirlwind of positive reinforcement, brand ambassador for the weary, the downtrodden seeking comfort and familiarity. Bill delivers. 

“You can’t fake a smile,” Bill Marriott writes … and says … on a recent post. Great touch, the audio clip. Bill soothing, you can almost hear him smiling, like relaxing in a clean, modern, and trustworthy hotel. So, what’s so great about this blog, or as the Yiddishim might say, why is this blog different from every other blog? Here, we attempt to deconstruct answers to that Biblical question. 

Purpose- Bill Marriott is on a journey and he is taking you with him. He’s traveling around the world, the Marriott world. It’s like a plot in a novel. Without it you’re all messy in the head.

Voice - Folksy, natural, simple, sincere, Bill Marriott’s voice is authentic. He’s even cool. He tries pilates. He’s in Islamabad and compelled to reflect on terrorism. He starts a sentence with Gosh …

I’m venturing into uncharted territory as I launch this blog. A year ago, I didn’t even know what a blog was — until my Communications team began telling me about all the blog traffic on travel and tourism. Now I know this is where the action is if you want to talk to your customers directly — and hear back from them. Soon we’ll add an audio version of the blog. That’s how I’m most comfortable: telling stories and listening. - Marriott on the Move inaugural post

Substance - You must say something, have a position, take a stand, acknowledge reality. Bill helps his employees with learning programs. He contributes to the Hispanic College Fund and the United Negro College Fund. He supports and promotes diversity. He took some heat for the Marriott policy of banning smoking in all their rooms. So he addressed the issue head on. Bill responds.

Design - Clean, spare, nice, simple color palette, a graphic with each post. The first thing you see is Bill’s smiling face. Makes me want to run to a Marriott and have a nice nap.

Technology - Nothing fancy or particularly forward-thinking but the audio clip really makes it. 

Billy Marriott, wild man So I got with a Pilates instructor at Harbor Beach, and I did five courses of Pilates while I was down there, and I loved it. I never felt better. It stretched me out, and I think I grew a half an inch! All I did was stretch and move back and forth on a little roller seat. It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be, and the instructor was terrific. So, any of you who are losing an inch and want to stand up straight and look virile and healthy, get this Pilates thing going for you. January 24, 2007

(Disclaimer - I have no professional or personal affiliation with Bill Marriott or the Marriott organization. I did have coffee in a Marriott Courtyard once)

New York Times Print Edition Dead?

“I really don’t know whether we’ll be printing the Times in five years, and you know what? I don’t care, either”  

Maybe Arthur Jr. was breathing the heady air of Davos, where he granted that rare interview, or maybe he is feeling the pressure of that aging Aussie Murdoch grabbing the Internet media visionary lead with MySpace. The Times now has more readers online, 1.5 million a day, than the print newspaper, without the huge capital expense of expanding its printing operation. Sulzberger is betting that The New York Times reader, developed with Microsoft, will be a big hit. The Times reader feeds you a digitial representation of the print edition, with ease of navigation, searching, and video capabilities, and can be transported through handheld devices. Sulzberger said “we live in the Internet world.”  He’s betting on it.

The newspaper’s profits have been declining for four years, Haaretz reported, and the company last week acknowledged taking a $570 million loss because of write-offs and losses at the Boston Globe, which it owns. The great majority of Times profits are derived from its print newspapers and Sulzberger is grabbing for future revenue potential from digital media. He is contemplating charging for the Times reader, now offered free in beta.

A year or so ago newspapers began embracing the idea of the “citizen journalist” with comments submitted by readers. The Times has a rapidly expanding blogger media staff, as does The Washington Post and most other major newspapers. Still, it is astounding to see how rapidly and radically traditional media - we’re talking about the Gray Old Lady - is being forced to adapt to the democratization of information and opinion through the Internet.

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