The Latest on Corporate Communications

Steve Rubel on how to run a corporate blog. Frankly, I have never been a big fan of these sites – they are mostly dull, contrived or both. Rubel offers some advice on how to avoid getting into trouble if you are running one of these blogs. But then again, if a company is afraid about getting into trouble with its blog, maybe it shouldn’t have one.

Seth Godin writes about the growth in business learning online with an explosion in the use of video. For all the educational videos you could ever want, go to Videojug. (The most popular videos on the site have a common theme. Hint: it’s not this or this.)

Crisis communications in China

According to the Globe and Mail, China has a lot of learn when it comes to handling a crisis – in this case, the ongoing series of stories and revelations about the safety of Chinese-made products, especially childrens’ toys.

At times, Chinese officials’ reaction to the seemingly never ending barrage of stories has bordered on the farcical — hiding behind burly security guards to dodge reporters and taking days to respond to media questions, or simply ignoring them.

All is not lost though: “However, the government has been holding more and more news conferences on the subject, and even providing interpretation into English.”

The Great Communicator

Slate Magazine is publishing a graphic serialization of Ronald Reagan’s life. Part one is published here.

Reagan was the central political figure of my teen years and in retrospect I have many fond memories of his personality and his ability to articulate key ideas in the debates that dominated that era.

He also crystallized the notion that a key role of all public officials was communication and his communication style was based on simplification and optimism. This was a formula that served him well and has been emulated by many politicians since then.