The 4 Fs of Thanksgiving and the “Meatballs Mantra”

Thanksgiving has been my favorite holiday for more than 20 years — a time when I savor the 4 Fs: family, friends, food and firearms.

Don’t get your shorts in a knot, OK? If you’re a regular at ToughSledding, you know I’m a hunter. And it so happens that the Monday following Thanksgiving is Opening Day of the deer season where I come from. I talked about it at last year, so if you’re so moved, visit my “million deer post.” Not much has changed.

Because my tree stand has no wi-fi (and Blackberries are the devil’s work), I won’t be doing much online for the next week. If you post a comment, be patient. Ditto for email. I’m goin’ off the grid effective 3 p.m. tomorrow for about a week.

The teaching job at Kent State is officially posted…

…so pass the word, OK?

I’m trying something a bit different this time — a job blog for PRKent.

Why a blog?  Because it’s so easy, and I don’t need any geeks to give me server space or to figure out why my links don’t work. If you want to learn about the teaching job at Kent State, or if you want to apply, just click here.

Truth in advertising. A good friend in the ad biz thinks I may be overselling the benefits of this job in the original post — you know, the June, July and August time off and the funded pension. Maybe he’s right.

Our faculty at Kent JMC get along exceptionally well compared to most academic cultures. But we also work our butts off, grading papers on weekends and answering emails at odd hours — even tweeting with faithful alumni. Seems like it never ends — at least until May 15!

I’ll warn you: If you’re looking for 9-to-5, this isn’t the job for you. For the 9 months you’re on contract, it’s full-time and then some. But if you love the idea of helping young PR professionals get off to a flying start, I hope you’ll consider joining us.

Oh yeah. The goofy guy in the black hood?  He’s chairing the search committee. Humor him.

PR ramblings: The consequences of free speech

Last week, two of my Facebook friends joined “cause” groups on the social-networking site. One signed up for “DEFEAT Proposition 8,” the other enlisted with, “Stop Abortion!” I have a diverse group of online pals.

While the Internet is a great place for self expression, how often do you consider the consequences of flashing your politics in public? After all, people judge us by the company we keep — in the office, in the community and online.

It was Dan Cooper who got me thinking about the consequences of free speech. Until a few weeks ago Dan was president and CEO of Cooper Firearms of Montana, a manufacturer of high-end rifles used by discerning sportsmen. But Dan also was a supporter of Barack Obama, and he said so publicly. I suspect many of you did the same.

Transparency and PRSA

Jack O'Dwyer

Journalist Jack O’Dwyer loves to criticize the Public Relations Society of America. In fact, he’s been so tough on them in recent times that PRSA forbids staff and national officers from talking with him. A letter to members (pdf) presents PRSA’s position on this media relations nightmare.

The standoff with O’Dwyer means little to the average PR person, but it’s important because Jack is the only high-profile critic PRSA has. Sometimes he gets it right, and yesterday’s editorial is one of those times.

The latest bruhaha

Point: O’Dwyer’s opinion piece of 11/18 (see complete text, bottom of this post) calls out PRSA for withholding the transcripts of its National Assembly meeting held last month in Detroit. O’Dwyer believes the document should be posted for review by PRSA members and made available to news media. Since the Assembly serves as official governing body of PRSA, publishing the proceedings would seem the “transparent” thing to do, and as it turns out, the laws of New York state appear to call for it as well. (Details in the editorial)

Some positive spin on a nasty recession

Rather than mourning the demise of my 401K, I’ve decided to put some positive spin on the economic collapse. I am a PR pro, after all. And a PR pro can always find a positive story if he turns over enough rocks. In my case, I simply looked in the mirror and counted my blessings.

5 positives I found in this recession.

My job is relatively safe. No job is totally secure in these times, but according to this story from MyEdu, education is rated the #1 employment category likely to endure these hard times. And there’s a bonus in it for me, since the #2 category is accounting, my wife’s vocation. This is such welcome news I’m thinking of buying a Hummer and extending my sabbatical until next June.

My university is in better shape than Harvard. Because Kent State’s endowment is under $100 million, we stand to lose a whole lot less than Harvard as the market tanks. Havard’s endowment is/was at $37 billion, and administrators there depend heavily on endowment income for operating expenses. Kent State does not.

Do your critical messages break through on email?

Among my first posts to this blog was one headlined, “Have you heard? Email’s dead.” It was triggered by this article from ConsumerAffairs.com, Here’s the lead:

Even as consumers shift more and more of their daily tasks and chores to the Web, one famous form of online communication is losing its luster. E-mail, that staple of your daily work and social life, is withering from a combination of excessive spam and the onslaught of “instant” messaging services for the attention-challenged.

Is email really “dead”? Maybe not, but its value — at least in my life — has seriously diminished over the past two years. I routinely delete most email from my own university unless I see a compelling subject line. And those are rare. Sometimes really important messages get buried in the digital avalanche. I’ve missed a few meetings as a result, but nothing critical as yet.

Hanging out on Twitter for Election 2008

Like most Americans, I spent last evening watching the election returns. CNN was my network of choice for national news. I watched the local ABC affiliate for state & local races.

To add a little spice, I opened the laptop and bottle of Cabernet, then I joined the conversation on Twitter. It was a nationwide chat, worldwide at times. But most of all, it was a fun way to exchange information and impressions on the most historic election of our lifetimes.

I began tweeting at about 10 a.m., foreshadowing the Obama victory in Ohio based on 70-degree temperatures and “blue” skies. I would post 36 tweets over the next 15 hours, many of them reacting to others on the network and some just goofy random thoughts like this one: