A clue! A palpable clue!
Larng time no blog, fella. Laaaaaaaaarrrrrrnnnnng time. Usual excuses.
Just haven't really had much of interest to blog about fer a while. We've had my folks here getting to know their newest grandson for most of the last month. And I guess we've just been busy out of doors enjoying all the there out there.
Plus, I guess I sort of lost interest in the whole thing for a while. Wasn't really that much I cared enough to blog about. Except for a certain larger-than-usual amount of worklife craziness; about which I certainly cared enough, but certainly couldn't blog about.
Today, though, something popped up that has made me want to blog again. The excellent Rick Bruner (who I sparred with at the Jupiter Blogging conference thingy back in June) just sent out what is probably the best news release of 2003, if not the best of all time.
Go read the release and related backstory here. Go on...I'll wait.
Sweet, isn't it?
It's a painful story for Rick's firm, of course, but beautifully handled from a PR perspective. Plus it's so much more interesting and, yes, newsworthy (to the marketing media, anyway) than most of the bland detritus that crosses the wires every day.
Unfortunately, as you'll have learned if you've read Rick's post - the two big wire services, Businesswire and PR Newswire, refused to distribute this release for reasons best known to themselves.
IMHO, the wire services are being idiot wussies by responding like this. They seem to have completely forgotten (and overstepped) their role here. They're not editors, fercrissakes - and neither are they communications professionals - they're simply a conduit. Their job is not to assess or to judge; merely to fulfill. Clueless sods.
Full credit and high kudos to Rick and his fellow MarketingWonks for having the stones to do something so interesting, honest, and highly, highly entertaining.
Just haven't really had much of interest to blog about fer a while. We've had my folks here getting to know their newest grandson for most of the last month. And I guess we've just been busy out of doors enjoying all the there out there.
Plus, I guess I sort of lost interest in the whole thing for a while. Wasn't really that much I cared enough to blog about. Except for a certain larger-than-usual amount of worklife craziness; about which I certainly cared enough, but certainly couldn't blog about.
Today, though, something popped up that has made me want to blog again. The excellent Rick Bruner (who I sparred with at the Jupiter Blogging conference thingy back in June) just sent out what is probably the best news release of 2003, if not the best of all time.
Go read the release and related backstory here. Go on...I'll wait.
Sweet, isn't it?
It's a painful story for Rick's firm, of course, but beautifully handled from a PR perspective. Plus it's so much more interesting and, yes, newsworthy (to the marketing media, anyway) than most of the bland detritus that crosses the wires every day.
Unfortunately, as you'll have learned if you've read Rick's post - the two big wire services, Businesswire and PR Newswire, refused to distribute this release for reasons best known to themselves.
IMHO, the wire services are being idiot wussies by responding like this. They seem to have completely forgotten (and overstepped) their role here. They're not editors, fercrissakes - and neither are they communications professionals - they're simply a conduit. Their job is not to assess or to judge; merely to fulfill. Clueless sods.
Full credit and high kudos to Rick and his fellow MarketingWonks for having the stones to do something so interesting, honest, and highly, highly entertaining.
