Jane Genova: Speechwriter - Ghostwriter

"The Blair Witch Project" Heather Donahue: When the cheering stopped

In 1999, the cult classic film "The Blair Witch Project" became embedded in the American consciousness.  So many of us wondered if we also could, through our arrogance, get ourselves into a similar fatal situation.  Heather Donahue who wrote and acted in the film was all over the media.  Then, as the saying goes, the cheering stopped.

In her book "growgirl," Donahue recounts the familiar tale of how lost we can become after a major success, at least after the public has moved on to something else.  The problem is that we often can't move on.  We're stuck in the past. The book is how she tried to cleanse herself of the past's hold on her and experiment with fresh paths.

Now that the world seems to be moving faster, the glow of our successes doesn't last as long.  More of us are finding ourselves on the wrong side of time.  Some get back on the right side.  Those include Hillary Clinton, Clint Eastwood, T. Boone Pickens, and Betty White.  Soon to join them might be John Edwards.  The trauma of his recent trial which was ruled a mistrial could catapult him into a whole new space.

St. John (Edwards): Most saints started out as sinners

Most saints such as Francis of Assisi started out as sinners.  So, the odds are high that John Edwards could evolve into a major spiritual force in America - or the whole world.

POLITICO has a major article in which experts advise that he go on television and cry his eyes out. Rubbish.  He did his rite of humiliation in that trial which should never had taken place.   For four weeks he was the defendant. 

The penance out of the way, he can start building his new image.  Since his daughter obviously has forgiven him, he does not have to ask anyone else to.  It's time for action, not words from a public relations script.

Like Watergate's Chuck Colson, Edwards is destined for big things.  His temporary fall from grace may be the best thing which had happened to him.

John Edwards' Mistrial: Brand Federal Takes a Hit

The image of federal prosecutors took a hit today.  Judge Catherine Eagles declared a mistrial in the John Edwards case after the jurors could only agree to acquit the defendant on one count.  They could not agree on the other five counts.  

During the time leading up to the trial and as the trial progressed a lot of taxpayer money had been spent.  Also spent had been plenty of Edwards' own money for his defense.  He suffered personally and professionally.  Yet, going in, legal experts anticipated there could be a mistrial because campaign finance law can be quite complex.  It has to be determined that the alleged miscreant knew that the act was illegal and then knowingly had broken the law.  That means that the jurors had to get into the mind of Edwards.  Guess they had more than a little trouble doing that.

A mistrial in "U.S. v. Gupta" could deliver another blow to Brand Federal.  There the evidence is, a number of legal experts opine, largely circumstantial. Yet the defendant Rajat Gupta's life, including the professional part, has been derailed.  His defense is likely costing him a king's ransom. 

Everyman and Everywoman fears that he or she could also wind up in a similar legal mess. 

Blankfein, Dimon, Zuckerberg: Is smart-aleck CEO brand over, for now?

The leadership persona in corporate America is rapidly shifting.  That brash style of Lloyd Blankfein (Goldman Sachs), Jamie Dimon (JP Morgan Chase), and Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) have become not only out of date.  They scare investors who are fleeing companies with outsized personalities.  The Facebook stock is at 28.09, within a range so far of 27.86 to 45.  So much for the staying power of a high flyer.

Instead of the Big Boom of a man (this is usually a male kind of branding) we are coming to trust the old-line boy scout.  We demand the socially appropriate human being who is oriented to scan the horizon for what the world needs, not what they personally need.  Such leaders and their companies are thriving and without the burden of a feeding frenzy by the media.  My prediction is that the stock market will continue to favor the ordinary guy like Tim Cook at Apple who gave shareholders a dividend rather than the stand-up comic performances of those whose need to be way out there which, we fear, can lead for financial tragedy.

CEO: One of the most dangerous jobs around the world

Somewhere in some conference room in some nation which allows public companies, some lawyers and compensation specialists are hammering out a package for a chief executive who will be ousted.  Few jobs are as filled with peril as that of the CEO.  Just about every few years their average tenure at holding the job declines.

I look at this phenomenon for the financial information company Motley Fool.  Here you can read what I have opined.

 

 

 

Newspaper Industry: Smart moves by The New York Times Co, questionable ones by Berkshire Hathaway

In all the buzz, including in NEW YORK Magazine, about why Janet Robinson might have been canned, the media have been missing the good-news story about the progress The New York Times Company has been making in surviving. 

Pieces of that story include the success of the paywall, paying off Carlos Slim's high-interest loan, and the creation of Ricochet which bundles advertising packages somewhat like Google does.  I highlight those victories here in my analysis for the financial information company Motley Fool.  With that track record for coming up with and executing good ideas, The New York Times Company might beat the odds and be around in five years.

As we admire this business shrewdness, we also scratch our heads about Warren Buffett's recent decision to buy the 63 newspapers under the umbrella of Media General. It was one thing for him to buy his hometown paper.  Cute.  Believe me, if I were wealthy like he is, I would pull out all stops ensuring my hometown paper THE JERSEY JOURNAL stayed in business.  It's another thing to enter in a big way an industry which likely won't be around in five years.  Has the Oracle of Omaha lost his touch?  That's seems to be a growing consensus.

Payoff from Being Poor, Old: We have never had it better

Here in supposedly affluent Connecticut, the single family house is no longer a symbol of the good life.  Instead, a lawyer who lives here and works in Manhattan, is finding it to be exactly what could keep thousands of ambitious professionals stuck as the economy continues to change. 

Should she not be an "up" in the up or out system in the legal sector, her option would have been to sell her house in Darien, based in Fairfield County and use the gain - there used to always be a gain - as seed money for another career path.  If she's without her $300,000 annual paycheck, she won't even be able to hold onto the house.  However, if she tries to sell it, with the mortgage underwater, she will be plunged into debt.

In BUSINESS INSIDER, Keith Jurow reports that housing hasn't bottomed out in most parts of the nation, including Fairfield County.  Jurow cites the statistics on the William Raveis website.  For Fairfield County in general the market value of homes is down 10.7% from the year before and for Darien, it's down 13.5%.  That means a simple one-million-dollar house in Darien lost about $135,000 in value.  It could lose more, if Jurow is right about no bottom in sight.

That leaves us poor folks realizing we never had it better.  Unlike those struggling to hang onto an upper middle class life style as once I had done (Download Geezerguts) we aim to just pay bills.  That frees us up to only accept communications assignments we love to do.  In the past 10 days I have turned down 14 assignments which would not make me more marketable.  The name of the new game is Learn and Earn.  I can also "afford" to blog on brandname sites for modest compensation. 

When I had a this old house in Fairfield County and a cottage by the Atlantic Ocean, no way could I "waste time" making a name for myself through relatively low-paying work.  Incidentally, a musician acquaintance, who also has come to embrace poverty, is more in demand because his presentation has improved.  The money pressure is off.  At age 62, he could make the big time.

Another gift, in addition to genteel poverty, has been aging.  Those of us "old enough" for Medicare don't have to force-fit ourselves into full time jobs in order to get medical benefits.  When I was a spring chicken I was hog-tied to the whims of employers since I needed the benefits.  Old Enough for Medicare has become the new Promised Land in America.

 

Ricochet: NYT Co Michael Zimbalist discusses this, with print books in background

In a Google state of mind, The New York Times Company created Ricochet, for digital marketing.  Essentially, the advertiser, for example SAP, selects articles from company's digital properties which are relevant to its commercial message.  Then the Ricochet Platform generates a unique web address that bundles the articles to the brand's advertising.  That could be for any period of time the advertiser wants. 

The analogy here is the way Google allows advertisers to place their click ads in the sections with specific keywords or phrases.  So if a person is searching for "Ghostwriter, High Tech Experience" and I buy the ad space on that page, the odds are good that the ad will attract the right kind of prospects.

The funny thing about the way the NYT Company is promoting Ricochet in online videos is that spokesperson Michael Zimbalist, Vice President of R&D, talks with a bunch of print books in the background.   Here you can view the interview with Beet.TV.  That could be transmitting exactly the message the NYT Company wants to get out there:  We have our focus in two worlds, digital and print.  Think about it: Baby Boomers, who grew up in print, are still in positions of power and influence.

Herman Cain et al.: When money is irrelevant in staying part of the conversation

Despite his new-found wealth, Boy CEO Mark Zuckerberg may become less valued and credible for input into "the conversation."  This is an era in which fresh ideas and the ability to package information and insight into entertainment count much more than money.  Sure, in the capital of wealth Manhattan everyone chases those with money.  But those being chased get attention for only that: money.  Not for what the influence of their views.

Former idea man Herman Cain is struggling, reports POLITICO, to recapture the right kinds of attention.  His magic moments were cut short by allegations of sexual harassment.  What we in the influence business watch is if and how he can pull off a return to being a voice that's heard.  As we know, that's tricky.

Some like Paul Volcker have had a comeback.  His insight about the operations of investment banks has been proven out in the JPMorgan Chase losses.  Others who have fallen off the radar screen aren't so fortunate.  Despite several tries, including aligning with Occupy Wall Street, Eliot Spitzer can't get traction. 

That's a case study for PR: Why do some influentials bounce back and others don't? My hunch is that it has a lot to do with being able to let go of their earlier identity.  Oprah can't stop being Oprah of the talk show space.  Her voice is fading out.

Brand Kennedy: Gossip tabloids didn't disappoint

The tried and true formula for the gossip tabloids like GLOBE is to ferret out and expose the villain.  Thursday is the day GLOBE et al. are at the supermarket.  They didn't disappoint.

GLOBE fingered Mary Kennedy as the miscreant.  In its coverage it explained how she used to beat up her husband Robert and even ran over the family pet.