Rutgers, my alma mater, is the state university of New Jersey. For many years, the school had a perception problem. While Rutgers enjoyed a strong reputation academically, athletes from New Jersey often went out of state. That began to change in the past decade or two. Recently the school has taken a huge leap in its ability to attract the state’s top student athletes.

All that progress is now threatened by the mishandling of the current crisis involving head basketball coach Mike Rice. Clearly, the administration failed to understand the seriousness of the problem when it first came to light months ago. Rutgers made some classic crisis communications mistakes. Now its reputation will endure long-term damage unless it takes some important steps to manage the crisis.

To review, last November the Rutgers athletic director received a video from a former athletic department employee showing Rice physically and verbally abusing players at practice. The AD suspended the coach for three games and fined him $50,000. He also required Rice to attend anger management training. In March, the AD said that the coach would be back next season.

Last night, ESPN’s Outside the Lines played the video. Viewers were shocked. Politicians (Rutgers gets state funding) were outraged. Sportswriters demanded the firing of the coach, the AD and the school president amid questions about why parents would send their kids to Rutgers after this.

The crisis might have been avoided if Rutgers had handled it better months ago. Letting it linger only made it worse. If the administration had conducted a more thorough investigation, handed the coach a stronger punishment, and made significant changes in the athletic program, it might have avoided the situation it finds itself in today. Which is scrambling to put out the fire that threatens to hurt its recruiting as it prepares to enter the big time Big 10 conference in 2014.

Because Rutgers wanted to protect the reputation of its athletic program, it allowed the reputation of the university to suffer serious damage that could take years to repair. Today the school fired Mike Rice. More heads are certain to roll. The crisis is far from under control. And it all could have been avoided.

Every organization is vulnerable to a crisis. Every organization needs an effective crisis communications plan that is adaptable and frequently updated. Crisis communications training should be practiced regularly. But even if those steps are taken, all of that will fail unless the organization is determined to act quickly, responsibly, ethically, honestly and transparently.

The educators at Rutgers learned some valuable lessons this week. The test will be seeing if they take those lessons to heart

Ask any Denver public relations pro to list the five things their clients need most and you’re bound to see social media services at the top of most lists. They might also identify strategic communications planning, community relations, crisis communications, brand awareness and message development as key ingredients of an integrated communications program.

But as much as the PR profession likes to focus on social media channels and technologies as the future, at Pushkin PR, many of our clients continue to equate media relations with public relations. Because what most clients really want is a good story told by traditional media. That’s not to say that they would be unhappy with a huge following on Facebook or Twitter. It’s just that media relations remains the heart of what they expect us to produce. Blogs are cool but a good story on local TV or in the daily paper is better.

As much as we love the future, the tools of our trade remain rooted in the fundamentals. We still need to build relationships and we still need to tell a good story. While social media is great for encouraging conversation and engagement, effective communication often requires the sort of depth and credibility that mainstream media can provide. Clients still crave the ink and they still expect us to deliver.

As Paul Simon said, “After changes upon changes we are more or less the same.” So while we are all busy making sure our teams learn the latest skills and master the newest tools, let’s make sure they also have good understanding of the basics. Let’s make sure that media relations maintains an important position near the top of our list.

Sports fans know all too well that it’s hard to trust anyone. Just when you fall in love with a player he gets traded. Just when you get attached to your team they hold a fire sale. Billionaire owners squabble with millionaire players and the NHL even cancels half the season regardless of the impact on fans, employees or business that depend on the games for survival.


This month we learned that Lance doped and Te’o was duped. While Mantai’s fans felt mostly mystified, Lance’s story stirred up feelings of anger and betrayal. Both are also good examples of the difference between crisis communication and reputation management.

A crisis is immediate. It needs an immediate response. Penn State, Newtown, Aurora, BP, and Hurricane Sandy make headlines, but everyday, crisis communications pros are managing serious situations at banks, hospitals, schools or businesses that call for a rapid response. If a crisis plan is in place, the organization should be ready to handle nearly any situation confidently and quickly. The crisis team follows the plan, communicates clearly to stakeholders, minimizes the damage, restores public safety and gets things under control as soon as possible.

Reputation management is different. Solid reputations are built over long periods of time but they can be damaged in an instant. Once damaged, repairing them is a long, difficult process. It takes time to rebuild trust and restore credibility. It can be done, but it’s not easy. Whether the reputation in question is personal or corporate, the process is the same. Own up to the mistake. Respond sincerely and honestly. Take steps to restore public trust. Be committed to change. Give stakeholders a reason to give you a second chance.

As we have seen many times recently, public sentiment can turn quickly. Yesterday’s hero is today’s demon. Attacks can get personal and the damage can linger for weeks or months. Repairing the damage can take years. Can Te’o repair his reputation? Probably. Can Lance? Maybe. The media can be harsh, but public can be forgiving if someone is sincerely trying to make amends. We’ve seen it with Kobe Bryant, Tiger Woods, Bill Clinton and others.

Pushkin PR and other reputation management pros help clients understand that nothing is more valuable than their reputation. We help clients manage a crisis but we also help them develop a long-term plan to enhance, protect and if necessary, to repair a damaged reputation. Whether your business involves herding cats or cattle, you can be sure that the value of your brand depends on the strength of your reputation. That’s a lesson that we hope you don’t have to learn the hard way.

It’s been another long year. We’ve seen a bitter election fight, an economy struggling to recover in stops and starts, and a series of horrific mass murders committed by unbalanced people with easy access to assault weapons. In 2012, to quote Jack Kerouac, “smart went crazy.” Was it a tipping point? We can only hope.

We heard a lot of talk about uncertainty in 2012. It was uncertainty about the election, uncertainty about health reform, uncertainty about the economy. All of it used as a rationale to sit on the sidelines waiting to see how things turned out. Now the election is over, health reform is here to stay, and the economy is beginning to recover. We even survived the Mayan apocalypse. But still nobody is moving.

Now we have a new reason to hesitate. The fiscal cliff is looming. We can’t plan, we can’t hire, we can’t move. The children in Congress remain in their corner pouting and once more, uncertainty keeps us frozen in place.

Enough! No more excuses! It’s time we realized that the only thing keeping us from innovating and hiring again is the lame excuse that we have no idea what the future will bring. When did we become so afraid of risk? Financial institutions are sitting on huge piles of cash waiting for clarity. If they want clarity, let them try lending again. Let businesses try growing their companies and workforce again. Let educational institutions, nonprofits and local governments try investing in their communities again.

Denver public relations pros have a responsibility to encourage our clients, employers, colleagues and elected officials to get over their fear of uncertainty and take advantage of the fresh start that the New Year represents. Let’s resolve to look forward, not back. To stay positive and seize opportunities. To remember what is important in life and not worry about what we can’t control. To conduct our business ethically. To never stop learning. To add new clients, develop new strategic partnerships and continue to grow our business.

Here’s to a bright, happy, healthy and prosperous 2013.

Now that the election is behind us, can business owners finally look ahead? Health reform is here to stay. Will Congress embrace bipartisanship? Will certainty return to the markets? Will companies begin to hire and invest in their business again as the recovery continues and consumer confidence gains strength?

For Denver public relations pros, these steps would represent a welcome trend. In PR and in business, uncertainty leads to confusion, confusion leads to indecision, indecision leads to mixed messages, and mixed messages leads to poor communication. And there is nothing we hate more than poor communication.

Regardless of whether the election results in more certainty, it certainly taught us some valuable lessons about the importance of public relations.

Strategy matters: The Obama campaign knew exactly what it needed to accomplish and how to get there. The strategy was designed to deliver exactly the number of votes they needed from every county in every state. Nothing was left to chance.

Organization counts: Team Obama’s ground game will be studied and copied for years to come. They had offices where they needed them and a sophisticated get out the vote plan. They knew exactly how many times a volunteer needed to contact a prospective voter to make sure that every vote was counted. No gut feelings here. Everything down to the last detail was planned.

Facts don’t lie: There has been a lot of post-election analysis about why Nate Silver’s predictions were so accurate and why conservative media predictions were so far off. It’s simple really. One was based on scientific research and the other was based on wishful thinking. A good example to bring up the next time a client asks why do we need that research budget.

PR beats advertising: A combined $6 billion was spent on political ads in this campaign, but the outcome was determined by the Obama campaign’s relentless ground game. Grassroots tactics such as phone calls and knocking on doors proved to be the key to winning. Which proves what we’ve been saying for years: PR is more cost effective and more credible than paid advertising.

Get real: To undecided voters, Obama seemed more authentic than Romney. He seemed more able to understand and have compassion for the needs and concerns of ordinary Americans. This was especially true for women and minorities.

The important takeaway for public relations pros is that successful campaigns depend on the ability to educate and motivate target audiences. Our messages should ring true, sound authentic and be culturally relevant to the audiences we need to reach. Advertising is sexy but PR is build to last. Advertising is great for reaching a mass audience, but convincing them to trust you takes more than spending huge piles of money. It takes a well-organized, research-driven, strategic communications program. It takes solid grass-roots outreach. You can’t buy credibility. You have to earn it.

As a young musician, I was lucky enough to discover the Denver Folklore Center, where I studied the tools of my trade from established performers who were kind enough to share their wisdom. I learned how to put together a set list, how to work the mic, how to keep the audience engaged while you tune up or change a string, and how to book a tour.

A few years later I was performing at a club in Bethlehem, PA, called Godfrey Daniels. After the gig we sat around swapping songs until early the next morning with a talented wannabe songwriter who seemed eager to soak up whatever he could from everyone who came through the club. That songwriter turned out to be John Gorka, who went on to a very successful career of his own.

My next stop was the Denver Zephyrs, a minor league baseball team where I learned how to fill a stadium with no marketing budget, gleaned lessons in life from baseball legends, and understood that no matter how good you are there is always someone just as good or better.

As a nonprofit PR director I was inspired by committed, driven leaders who taught me that healthy communities thrive when everyone pitches in. And I never would have gained the chutzpah to start Pushkin Public Relations 15 years ago without the guidance and support of PRSA colleagues who had already taken the entrepreneurial leap.

I can think of no better way to honor our 15th anniversary than setting up a fund to help young Denver public relations professionals get started in their careers. By helping these young pros attend PRSA Colorado programs and become active chapter members, I hope that they will be able to speed their professional development by learning the tools of their trade from talented, experienced mentors.

It helps to be smart, but achieving success in your career does not require you to be a rocket scientist. It just means being eager to learn, determined to improve, and willing to listen. Rise and shine people. Your future is calling.