Frank Williams
by Frank Williams
The current economic climate leaves much to be desired, to put it mildly. Unemployment remains high. Gas prices have skyrocketed in recent weeks, a fact that cuts into many business owners’ bottom line. Every day I talk with small business owners and entrepreneurs who are struggling to make ends meet and scrambling to get through their to-do lists.
LELAND, N.C. – A breakfast held Feb. 22 in Leland raised approximately $6,500 for the Cape Fear Council of the Boy Scouts of America. The Leadership Breakfast, which is part of the Boy Scouts’ “Investment in Character” campaign, is only the second such event held in Leland. District Attorney Jon David was the keynote speaker.
Frank Williams
by Frank Williams
On October 20, National Public Radio (NPR) fired analyst Juan Williams for comments he made on Fox News. I have heard a wide range of opinions on Williams’ remarks and on whether NPR should have fired him. This column does not focus on the substance of his remarks or whether he should have been fired; instead, it focuses on a few public relations lessons we can glean from the manner in which NPR handled his firing.
Frank Williams
by Frank Williams
On far too many occasions, I have seen well-meaning and otherwise effective businesspeople and organizational leaders step on public relations landmines that blew up in their faces and greatly impeded their ability to do their jobs.
Here are five such public relations landmines:
1. Failure to plan in advance. Far too many organizations fail to plan in advance. Their leaders and team members must then scramble like mad — usually with no semblance of organization or focus — when trying to implement their communication campaigns. Advance planning can help prevent this crunch time pandemonium.
Frank Williams
by Frank Williams
On July 9, I posted an article entitled “Public Relations Lessons from the LeBron James Media Spectacle.”
I received several e-mails in response to that article.
One of the e-mails came from a friend I have known since college. The subject line was “Are you kidding?”, and the e-mail said the following: “LeBron did this publicity stunt for the Boys and Girls Clubs. He will not be hurt at all from this. You should know better.”
HOLDEN BEACH, N.C. – Holden Beach Town Manager David Hewett recently completed the Senior Executives in State and Local Government leadership program at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
The specially tailored program is offered to a small, select group of senior-level appointed and elected state, local and international executives. Through interactive case studies led by world renown practitioners like Dan Fenn (special assistant to President Kennedy), Phil Heyman (Deputy US Attorney General/Watergate Special Consultant) and Hannah Riley Bowles (Harvard’s Women and Power Program Director), participants learned to navigate advanced issues of leadership, strategy and political management, public value, policy analysis and internal capacity management.
Frank Williams
by Frank Williams
For the past two months, much of America’s attention has been focused on the unfolding disaster resulting from the explosion of BP’s oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. I believe we are all united in our hope and prayer that those charged with capping the well and getting the leak under control will be able to do so soon. As someone who lives in coastal North Carolina and values our coastal resources, that is certainly my hope and prayer.
Frank Williams
by Frank Williams
Those who know me know that I believe in strategic planning. I place a great deal of credence in Coach John Wooden’s admonition that “Failure to prepare is preparing to fail.”
We have all seen people who appeared calm, cool and collected in a moment of crisis. We have seen others who were either a deer in the headlights or who went into panic mode the moment a crisis hit. One group of people seems to have it all under control, while the other appears to be out of control. I believe the difference is in their preparation.
Frank Williams
by Frank Williams
The economy is on everyone’s mind these days. According to a poll of North Carolina voters released on Jan. 29, 2009 by the John William Pope Civitas Institute, 24% of respondents indicated that the economy was the biggest issue or problem facing North Carolina today, while another 38% named unemployment. This means that 62% of respondents named unemployment or the economy as the biggest issue facing our state, while no other issue garnered more than 6%.
