Black Box Blog
I n telecom and OSS/BSS, a black box is a program that measures output against input in complex systems.
Written by Crawford PR‘s president and chief strategist, Jim Crawford, this Black Box is designed to help companies achieve a similar goal in PR. Black Box provides our candid input—based on several lifetimes of experience—for companies that want to measure and improve the performance of PR programs.
Crawford on the Air: Inside Communications with Mike Bako
Crawford PR’s very own Jim Crawford joined host Mike Bako last week on Inside Communications Radio to discuss the PR ramifications of mobile data roaming charges.
read moreTelecom PR: “Over the Top” on Roaming Charges — and Bad PR
Those who follow the tech industry are familiar with the phrase “over the top” or OTT — a term that designates a new class of video services that rides the networks of telecom and cable companies, providing movies and other content on an all-you-can-eat basis. OTT services like Netflix are a huge hit. Unfortunately, as one viewer recently discovered, if you use OTT services while on international travel, your roaming charges can be over-the-top. For the offending service provider, negative publicity can go off the chart,...
read moreCurses! Foiled by Smart Devices and Fiendishly Clever Search Engines — Again!
My moment of triumph over the phone monopoly had arrived. I’d show them. Stodgy old feature phone in hand, I burst through the doors of the Verizon Wireless store and slammed the device on the counter. “The damned thing has been broken all day and I can’t call out — what can you do about it?” The youthful service rep studied my phone from a safe distance, as one would any dinosaur, then bravely picked it up and placed a test call. “Works fine,” he said, “Let me see you try.” I did. Same...
read moreTech PR: Be Your Own Wire Service
One of my longstanding principles is to be nice to almost everybody. I do this even if they work for me and I’m in a position to lord it over them and make their lives miserable. It’s not that I’m a kindly soul imbued with bonhomie or involuntarily go around spreading good cheer. Far from it. I’m nice because it’s practical, and often the safest thing to do. Through a twist of fate you can end up working for some nincompoop who was once your employee. Ask anyone who’s worked at Crawford. Most are former...
read more“What Do YOU Think?” — The Most Important Question Companies Never Ask
In the tech PR arena we deal with companies that tend to differentiate themselves based on new product or service features: voice synthesis, business intelligence, and so on. There’s a continual game of one-up-manship to develop some clever new googaw or gimcrack that will give an edge, however slight or short-lived, over the competition. Frankly, if I were a customer I’d be more impressed if a company got in touch and said, “What is your biggest business problem, and how can we help?” or even “What do you think...
read moreCongratulations on Your Success! (You Egotistical Ass)
French essayist Michel de Montaigne wrote “modesty is the worst form of conceit.” In an election year where all candidates, including multi-millionaires, do their best to out-humble another in order to impress, I’d generally agree with Mssr. Montaigne. But today, following the arrival of two incredibly arrogant promotions that crossed my inbox, I’m taking exception. The first comes from the founder and leader of a local tech meetup group. What exactly he’s promoting other than his own vain self, who knows? The...
read moreLifetime Resolution: Know Your Groove
Way back in the 1960s, longshoreman, author and philosopher Eric Hoffer wrote, “When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other.” We see this phenomenon every day in the business world, where companies compete by copying products — adding some minor feature or performance boost in the name of differentiation. The same holds true in public relations, where one agency’s services — even in specialized areas such as telecom PR or tech PR – sound much the same as all the...
read moreTech PR Smarts: Startups, PR and the Buyout Endgame
Attention, startups looking for the big bucks, heed the Golden Rule of Funding: Ultimately, VCs want their money back with a hefty return. Of course, you want that giant payout, too. Here are 10 pointers to help you on your way down the path to riches. Look the Part. Whenever I stroll up the aisle to chat with speakers at tech meet-ups, I’m amused at how the crowd of Seattle-like grungies parts before me like the Red Sea opening for Moses. Why this happens: I’m the one old guy in a suit. I look like the money. If you choose to...
read moreTech PR Smarts: Avoid Making a “Fule” of Yourself Online
For centuries Marylanders and Virginians have feuded like Hatfields and McCoys. We Virginians view the people of Maryland as crooks and imbeciles. Marylanders see us as antedeluvian throwbacks. Having lived in both states I can attest with complete impartiality that such opinions are well-founded. The mutual enmity of neighbors is an ancient tradition. In classical times, Athenians looked down their noses at the rubes of Boeotia. Today it’s Maryland’s turn to get it in the neck. This morning I received a holiday email promo from...
read moreTech Stars: She Blinded Me With Science Exchange
Tech Stars is a weekly column profiling potential white hot stars in technology. It’s a sad fact of life in our far-flung society. The average physicist specializing in particle collisions often drives miles out of his way to find a large hadron collider (LHC). Which is why, nearly 80 years afters its discovery, there’s still so little antimatter to go around. Okay, I’m obviously kidding about the LHC, but now that I’ve got your attention, listen up: Scientists on the trail of important research do in fact have a...
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