04/26/10 03:35 PM Filed in:
Public
relations
No news used to be good news. Now, no news can be no
good news.
Time
was when companies hired agencies like
Executive
Media
to keep them out of the newspapers. The axiomatic “No
news is good news” grew out of the perception that if
you did something that got you in the headlines, it
couldn’t be helpful unless you were a politician.
This was the first iteration of what we call
reputation management.
Things have changed for two reasons. First, news
organizations are stretched so thin and are so
starved for support that they promote stories they
once disdained as fluff. Second, the swirling pot of
rumor, spite, fiction and daydreaming called “social
media” makes mainstream journalism look solid and
responsible.
If some Klondike calls your company crooked on his
wacko.com blog, you may not know about it unless you
invest in a social-media tracking service. There are
so many channels out there that keeping track of the
names you’ve been called can be daunting.
One response, then, could be to seek comfort in
mainstream news reports on how you’ve stocked your
corporate campus with kittens and ducklings.

Rarely,
however, do kittens and ducklings go straight to the
point. So we help our clients determine what the
world out there thinks about them and then act to
generate the correct image. Often, it can involve
getting clients into the newspapers.
How things change. Call us if your reputation is on
the line.
Tags: Reputation, business, Indiana
04/09/10 12:13 PM Filed in:
Clients
New Look for Arena Project Website and Logo
EVANSVILLE
– A revamped website and logo for the new Evansville
Arena Project were unveiled April 8 at a public
meeting of the Evansville Arena Project Committee.
The changes are meant to make the website more
user-friendly and provide complete, up-to-date
information on the project.
The website,
www.EvansvilleArenaProject.com,
includes reports on economic impact, financing and
the public process that resulted in the development
of the new arena. The site also contains the latest
news on the project, answers to frequently asked
questions,

information
for vendors, and a webcam that provides images
of arena construction progress. In addition,
citizens can subscribe to email alerts about
construction, traffic and other arena-related
subjects.
“Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel appointed our Committee in
part to make sure that the public was kept fully
informed about this crucial step forward in the
City’s future,” Committee Chair Kathy Kleindorfer
said. “This site will make information about the
arena project available 24 hours a day and provide a
way to ask questions and express concerns.”
The website, as well as the revamped logo for the
arena project, was developed by McCool Media, Inc. of
Evansville. The logo combines the profile of the
arena with images of celebrating fans to express
excitement about the arena and the impact that it
will make on downtown Evansville and the rest of our
community.
“The design of the arena has brought cheers from the
community,” Kleindorfer said, “and we know that the
real thrills will start when the new facility opens.”
The new Evansville Arena will be the region’s center
for sports and entertainment, designed to host
basketball, hockey, concerts, exhibitions, and shows
for audiences as large as 11,000. It is set to open
in fall 2011.
Tags: Evansville, Arena
“Fundamentals are the crutches
of the powerless.”
So
says Kenny Powers, the arrogant, delusional lead
character in HBO’s “Eastbound and Down,” an
excellent series about a onetime baseball phenom
forced by failure to return to his small,
Southern town as a substitute, middle-school gym
teacher.
Kenny wouldn’t know what to make of the Butler
Bulldogs, whose mastery of fundamentals brought them
to the NCAA men’s basketball championship game.
In the communications business, spelling and grammar
are fundamentals. Like digital coding, they transmit
ideas with speed and clarity. Ignoring the rules of
language inhibits comprehension and brings the value
of your skills into question.
Too often, inattention to fundamentals blocks
successful communication. Recently, I received an
advertising solicitation from a business that
contained several errors describing their services.
An example: they referred to signed articles as
“bi-lined” rather than “bylined.” Immediately, my
trust in their competence dropped.
Communications becomes more important with increasing
speed and variety of channels. A company such
as
Executive
Media
can help protect your reputation by making sure that
the language you use makes your message sound loud
and clear.