Jet Blue Apology Video

You know...there are those who really know what they're doing, but can't execute their job correctly. Then there are those you don't know what they're doing, but have the ability to properly to present themselves by their professional PR department.

Unfortunately, Jet Blue falls into that first category. The person representing Jet Blue knew just what to say and hit all the points of the mistakes they made and what they're doing to rectify the issue.

In the video, he uses his finger and does the "pointing" thing. Which is highly frowned upon in the media/PR industry. But other than that....he seemed to touch on everything else just fine.

Exxon Valdez Oil Spill

Geez! What a mess! Especially for a remote location such as Prince William Sound, Alaska. Exxon and its chairman, Lawrence Rawl, did an awful job covering up the PR tracks with positive media coverage and press release. Rawl even went out of his way to mention that the media is out to hurt him and his company.

The way that this country alone covered the issue was awful too. Almost reminds of how Hurricane Katrina was mis-handled, yet we will go out of our way to go to war with a country thousands of miles away.

Our government needs to put priorities into a bright light for examination.

Hoji Fuse: Guest Speaker

Haha...this guy was freaking great! He had such boastful emotions and comments about his home country, Japan. His use of body language to captivate the attention of the school clearly showed the love he has about education.

He mentioned that it is important to study about technology, globalization, economy, demographics, and peace in order to be more in touch with interpersonal communication between people.

Enron Video

In short....I think the video made me feel bad for both the employees and those guys in the top chair at Enron. Talk about a company that was SOOOOOOO dedicated to staying afloat that they went so far out of their way to make some good out of something so worthless.

The electricity scandal in California was really depressing however. The residents there had to put up with crap so far out of their hands, they had no choice but to live with what they were given.

Glengarry Glen Ross

Hmm...what can I say about this play?

I hope I'm not the only person when it comes to saying that I was somewhat lost throughout the entire play. The fact that there was some sort of unethical actions occurring within the play was my only clear understanding.

The characters fit themselves every well. Their behaviors & their acting for that matter could easily be labeled as 'over the top' and the amount of expletives used can easily have been filtered. I was not offended by any means, but I think the context & acting was just too much.

Overall however, I can say that the message that the play conveyed is similar to which people live their lives everyday. Making ethical decisions is a part of our daily rituals and at certain times, we come across a phenomena that can either resolve our dilemma or improve our finances, but it comes at the cost of another person facing a troublesome situation.

Morality Quiz

Took the morality quiz a little over a week ago and I find myself still questioning the method in which the test was distributed. I don't exactly agree with the final result given to me, the test undermines my level of morality and fairness.

Tests like these leave results to be completely unrelated to one particular person. Each person in this world portrays a different level of character of behavior and belief.

I can not see this being anywhere near a 'formal' type of testing method.

Dallas Cowboys 'Scissorgate' scandal

Simply put...this is one event that could have been easily avoided. I remember vaguely about this situation when it occurred, but I immediately put it in the back of my mind with a tag saying, "Another BS Cowboys incident, IGNORE!"

The questioning within this controversy is one for the record books for being one of the most spun information served to the general public. The Dallas Cowboys have lost their reputation for being a team with outstanding tradition and integrity.

I'm still a fan of the team, but some changes need to be put in place.

The mind of an Apple PR officer

Just from 5 minutes of research, its clear that life through the eyes of a PR officer for Apple is probably the most doleful experience a person can face. Not only are they the most tight lipped people on the planet, their job as outgoing personnel for a popular computer & technology company is next to obsolete.

I can say that the PR personnels at Apple can easily be labeled as some of the most lethargic group of people in the tech world. On the Apple website, you can see that their PR officials have their direct telephone numbers posted, however, my attempt at reaching ONE person was impervious. I'm curious as to what they do all day!

Ad Age reported "If you Google 'Apple did not return calls,' you'll come up with 2.35 million hits."

Perhaps the reason they aren't answering anyone's calls is this tidbit of info about PR officials at Apple; did you know that they are not allowed to cultivate a relationship with journalists?? I mean, isn't that one of the cardinal rules in PR?!

Oh wow...keep reading, it gets better! Another unique characteristic of a PR official for Apple is that they are not allowed to share information among other marketing segments of the company (i.e. - iPod, iMac , iPhone, etc...). It is by absolutely no means a checks & balances system.

Either way....my take on this whole "staying out of the general media scene" for PR officials at Apple is too preposterous. I will admit that Apple puts out a quality product (maybe not its 1st gen model, but preceding ones) and their marketing is pure genius to attract attention among consumers, but their PR department can stand to loosen a few strings.

Who knows what Apple is working on right now...

Cosmopolitanism in PR...

Cosmopolitanism in PR....hmm, in my opinion, this can go 2 ways. Either a lot can be said or this can be answered in a short few sentences.

In a nutshell, I can say that cosmopolitanism in PR is very important in relation to collaborating with your audience, consumers, colleagues, & even yourself. Bringing in hundreds of different channels of thought, beliefs, & cultures into one is not something that can be accomplished very easily.

Cosmoplitanism can be brought into the workplace by understanding what you and your co-workers believe what is the best route of accomplishing what needs to be done in the workplace. This can be achieved by taking time out to learn about each person's strengths, weaknesses, & special abilities. It also works if each person notes how the other's work habits & ethics are....then use it to expedite your mission.

Does everybody matter?

In my opinion, Appiah's World of Cosmopolitanism points out that everybody in this world matters, however, their own beliefs & opinions are limited. In short, throughout my reading, I noticed that the author never posed a bias. Content was stated, but never confirmed. Religious beliefs were brought out, but was never made covenant.

The principles applied in this text are very broad. I believe that the principles should be applied more firmly as the author seemed too poltroonish about going more in-depth about beliefs among religions.

Among the corporate supply chains, I believe that the understanding of corporate exchange helps me better identify the relationship between the two. It is necessary for people to come together and form a channel for clear communication and reach boundaries never achieved. This form of business can be applied well for cosmopolitanism.

Food For Thought

You know, during that whole Spinach ordeal that went on in late October through November, I didn't not notice much work along the lines of PR.

I thought about it for a moment and decided that th FDA should be in charge, however, they didn't not address much information about what they plan on doing to regulate the situation.

I'm still thinking about this....

Importance of Values, Mission, Goal, Objective, & Tactics

The basic fundamentals of PR is knowing the importance of values, mission, goal, objective, & tactics. Accomplishing tactics by means of communication is very important. Communicating builds relations which leads on to accomplish missions. Accomplishing missions leads to making goals and meeting objectives. Using tactics determines the framework a person/organization does to make what they need to work.

Isolation vs. Quarantine

Isolation

i·so·la·tion /ˌaɪsəˈleɪʃən, ˌɪsə-/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[ahy-suh-ley-shuh n] - **** noun

Defintion:

1) A segregation of a group of organisms from related forms in such a manner as to prevent crossing.

2) A psychological defense mechanism consisting of the separating of ideas or memories from the emotions connected with them.

(Source: Dictionary.com - Dec 8, 2006 - 5:02pm)


Quarantine

quar·an·tine [/ˈkwɔrənˌtin, ˈkwɒr-, ˌkwɔrənˈtin, ˌkwɒr-/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunckwawr-uh n-teen] **** noun or verb

Definition:

1) A strict isolation imposed to prevent the spread of disease.

2) Enforced isolation or restriction of free movement imposed to prevent the spread of contagious disease.

(Source: Dictionary.com - Dec 8, 2006 - 5:04pm)

Encoding & Decoding

This communication model that was originally introduced to me in Ch.5 basically introduced me to how news is produced and delivered to the general public. This particular left me with confusion and questions about the possible gaps in the system. In Ch. 14, a more complex version of the communicaton model was introduced and this made things much more clear for me.

The general public in this country is extremely diverse. We all interpret news differently, whether the blame lies among us or the enemy. The enemy also lies within and watches the same news that we do.

The process of encoding & decoding basically sets everyone up in both negative and positive ways. Positive in that we know specifically what may be going on in the world. Negative in that the enemy can us this tool to hurt the innocent even more.

There really is no 2 ways around avoiding the negative system. America unfortunately opened their door to too many enemies and wrangling them down is next to impossible.

Another follow-up about Cross-Cultural Communication

Stereotyping

ster-ee-uh-tahyp-eeng **** –noun

Definition:

1) Sociology. a simplified and standardized conception or image invested with special meaning and held in common by members of a group: (i.e. - The cowboy and Indian are American stereotypes.)

2) To give a fixed form to.


(Source: Dictionary.com - Dec 7, 2006 - 3:20pm)


My personal opinion of stereotyping, though it may be useful in some ways, it is definitely NOT to be used as a means of a negative medium. According to the PR book, it is a definite tool for the failure of cross-cultural communication.

It is upsetting to see that many people, who try to be helpful to others who adapt to a certain lifestyle, actually end up upsetting their guest or party b/c they feel offended that person purpose might not have correctly adapted to their culture. That can be a big deterrant when it comes to a possible business deal.

If the World Were a Village

A long while back, I thought about how the world would be divided up if the entire human civilizataion were a village. On Ch. 14, the section about International Public Relations made me think about this again & I never knew that there was a popular children's book about it.

It goes on to say that the world would look like this:
- 24 residents would have no electricity, most others would only use it at night.
- 22 would speak Chinese, 9 would speak English, 7 would speak Spanish.
- 20 would earn less than a dollar each day.
- 17 would not be able to read or write
- 10 would be younger than 5 yrs old, 39 would be younger than 19, 1 would be older than age 79.
- 7 would not own a computer

(Source: 3rd edt. Public Relations - pg. 460)

Its unbelievable how many people live in unsuitable conditions according to our standards. Not only that, but there are many individuals who own more than 1, 2, or maybe 3 computers. The thing that gets me the most is that 20% earn less than a dollar a day.

This really goes to show that many people in this country do not take what they have for granted. There are millions everywhere else in the world that only wish to have 1/3 of what we have.

I'm glad I came across this section in Ch. 14, it gave me more insight on this issue.