"...and then I accidentally hit Reply All."

Scandal seems to be among us lately, from Terrel Pryor to Anthony Weiner. And it's unfortunate that many perceived role models really no longer are such. While that brings up the issue of crisis communications, I'll save that thought for another day.

In the meantime, Anthony Weiner specifically leads me to another thought. With the technological advances we've experienced in the last few years, communicating via type on any sort of device is more mainstream than many phone calls. Yet, it's also more dangerous. I have flashbacks about a snarky email reply I sent to a coworker several years ago. In my haste to disply my brilliant and slightly offensive sarcasm, I accidentally hit "Reply All". I still shudder when I think about the damage contol I had to do with other coworkers who did not find my remarks particularly humours. But, I learned an important lesson: don't put anything in cyberspace if you don't want it to have a paper trail.

Karen Malone Wright, has a great blog entry on just that subject here. All about our perceived privacy online and how really it doesn't exist. It's interesting but true. And hopefully it's helpful to someone who might make these mistakes. Because no one wants to learn the hard way, just ask Anthony Weiner.

Is perception reality?

Over breakfast this morning, my husband and I were arguing over whether the US is appropriately celebrating the death of Bin Laden. Now, Paul and I are known for often have to agree to disagree on social issues like this (or so I say, but I still think he’s wrong!) but that brought an interesting point up that’s been on my radar quite a bit lately in the PR world: is perception reality?

I have no desire to make this a political blog, but rather I’m fascinated by the communication of information, and how the information you do, or don’t receive, can color your perception of reality.

Does a person’s perception boil down to religious upbringing, political views, or the personal effect of 9/11? Does each person’s perception depend on perceived personal safety? Or, does it hinge on how, when and where you heard the news? Who you heard it from, who you were with, and what their reaction was?

While it may be a combination, I think the way in which people receive the news may be largely overlooked. Because our country has been embroiled in the war on terror for nearly 10 years we all have an emotional investment. However, it is likely that source of information each of us have relied on for information over the past decade will, to some extent, color our beliefs. Be it a faithful NPR listener or a FOX news advocate, I believe any individual will turn to their preferred news provider first, read their columns and then explore others – perhaps with a jaded viewpoint because any new information is often compared to what they’ve already internalized about the events that have transpired.

But hey, that’s just my perception…

Who's in your logo?

Recently I've been working on a new logo that requires having some sort of people icons in it. And it's tough. You wouldn't think that the shape the color, representing the right feel (are they strong? are they whimsical? and they childlike?) would be so hard, but all those subtle nuances slowly come together to create the right feel (or at least they should).

Unfortunately, I haven't hit my creative inspiration yet, so it's led me to search in the best place possible: Google. And while searching Google for logos with people icons I came up with some very interesting options. None of these work for what I'm doing, but some are quite amusing and deserve to be shared with you. Hope you get a kick out of them too.

Oh - and I promise to post the logo I'm working on, with the people icons, once it's finalized and available for (semi)public consumption.

A shop that specializes in voodoo dolls perhaps? I bet they get a lot of interesting clientele.

We make videos and we don't care who likes them. Or doesn't like them, I guess.

You need gears? We're your place - have a beer while you're at it.

This one is just funny for the emoticon age.

Alyssa Mintus Photography

In my attempt to blog more frequently, I thought I'd share a logo I recently did for a friend who is a very talented photographer. Alyssa (great name, huh?) started her photography business several years ago, and because she is supremely talented, it has grown by leaps and bounds. She took our family pictures last summer and did a wonderful job.

But, more importantly than her logo is how wonderful Alyssa is at capturing memories. Check out her web site (and her logo on it) here:

Calling All Branding Lovers

For all the font lovers, graphic designers and bradning junkies out there. I've found a new time suck for you: the retail alphabet game.

I first came across this game about 5 years ago, and spent countless hours analyzing each letter in an attempt to finish the 4 puzzles that had been published. Today, while working on a logo, I came across the 5th edition (which has been out for 2 years, but whatever, I've been busy...). Of course I spent an inordinate amount of time trying do locate the brand within which each letter came from, and along my travels, I also came across this article, about branding and the retail alphabet game. So, I share them both with you as something new take up your time as well. As if you didn't have enough things that did that already...

I'm really going to do this

As you can see, my blog is pretty pathetic up until now. I've posted all of what, 4 times? (hangs head sheepishly). It's not that I don't want to post, or don't have stuff to say (believe me, my colleagues are tired of getting an earful!) It's just that I never seem to get around to posting it.
But that's going to change... starting now. I'm resolving to update this blog at least weekly from now on. Hopefully it'll be interesting, maybe even inspiring... But at least I'll be saying what I have to say.
So, stay tuned...