In IT, a black box is a program that measures output against input in complex systems.
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.
A client asked why their press release bill was 3X higher than before. Though the answer was a no-brainer — they issued 1 press release one month and 3 the next — I was reminded that these days everybody is mindful of costs. In the future I’ll ask: “Are you sure you want to do this release?”
This just in: Major offshore tech firm opens its first U.S. office. They leased space, installed comms systems, put up a sign, hired staff and printed business cards. They did everything, in fact, except tell customers. Seems somebody flicked the mute button on PR. What a waste.
“I used to shoot people for a living.” So began the article in, of all places, a software testing magazine. The author turned out to be harmless, just a software geek for the U.S Army. His great opening line hooked me: It seems the best work, even by those who automate for hire, can’t be automated.
Years ago I interviewed motivational author Wayne Dyer. I found him incisive, pragmatic, brilliant and at one point irascible — like CEOs I’ve known and admired. It was such a welcome contrast to his warm, fuzzy public persona that I quickly liked the man and forgave him his books.
