Recent months have been profitable and uncomfortable for Apple Computer.

In the shadow of record iPhone and iPad sales, fair labor and human rights groups have taken aim at the company and its suppliers for how it treats those who manufacture the works of art.

The critics successfully hurled accusations of low wages, unsafe working conditions and issues with some workers committing suicide at the China factories.  They made Apple flinch.

Facing pressure from its customers, the media and elected leaders, Apple opted to move towards transparency, opening the doors to ABC News Nightline Anchor Bill Weir.

The “unprecedented” tour of the Foxconn factory where the Apple iPads and iPhones are created was very interesting.  Though 20 minutes hardly seemed long enough to really “tell” the story, the show provided a glimpse into the factories that have generated so many products and so much controversy.

Would this kind of tour have seen the light of day if Steve Jobs was still alive? That is a question that has been debated at many levels.  My guess is, probably not.

Three key takeaways to how Apple handled this simmering crisis:

1)   While it was a difficult program to watch, Apple was able to position itself as the owner of the intellectual property while introducing FoxConn as the manufacturer.

2)   Apple did well by inviting a respected program to tour its facility “no holds barred”; having a gaggle of media would not have been easily controlled.

3)   Apple was available for this piece, their PR move of not granting any on camera interviews for the story (referring Bill Weir to statements made at an investors meeting) was risky but smart.

The news media story and third party audit of its Foxconn supplier is a good transparent move.

Billy The Kid is one of those iconic figures.

Most people have heard of him, first year students of the old west know him by William H. Bonney.  A small number of people know about either his connections with Pat Garrett or Lew Wallace, the person who would go on to write the classic Ben Hur.

In the words of Billy Joel “his daring life of crime made him a legend in his time, east and west of the Rio Grande.”

Tonight, PBS’s American Experience will debut Billy The Kid to its national audience.  From a PR Perspective, Billy’s fame wasn’t generated by 60 Minutes, Twitter, FaceBook or a YouTube video.  Billy got his fame through the ultimate in viral messaging: word of mouth.

In the old west, people talked about Billy and his exploits.  Some were eyewitnesses, others had second hand information… the power of story.

While I was familiar about Billy the Kid through high school history classes and the Billy Joel song referenced earlier, I really didn’t appreciate the “legend” until I covered a story for KOAT-TV in the early 1990’s when I went to the old Dona Ana County Courthouse where some old warrants from Pat Garrett were found behind a false wall in a basement storage area. Speaking with some of the clerks and other “old timers” I was hooked.

The Garrity Group is helping to sponsor PBS’s American Experience Billy The Kid broadcast, and other similar programs, to raise a awareness of the people and events that shaped a portion of New Mexico and the West.  The other programs will focus on Jesse James, Geronimo, Little Annie Oakley, Wyatt Earp and Custer’s Last Stand.

In the “Old West” and even in the “New West” word of mouth is the ultimate viral messaging.  These programs give us a chance to see how it was done before Twitter and a 140 characters.

Billy The Kid Photo Credit: Robert McCubbin

Today we will be finishing our Different December outreach in great fashion but hosting the residents and house parents of the Albuquerque Christian Children’s Home.

The ACCH is dedicated to providing God’s love and care to school-aged children who are neglected, abused, or in need of  a home and family through long-term and short-term residential care.

The Garrity Group’s Christina Grant identified the ACCH for her own unique reasons.

“The ACCH opens their doors to kids that most people walk away from and do an amazing job that makes a real, positive, tangible impact. I know, because there was a time in my life that I was one of their residents.

When I was 13 years old, my life took a difficult turn that resulted in me living at the ACCH. I was thankful to have had a safe place to live that not only provided shelter, food and clothing, but also a supportive, family-oriented environment.

Many of the children there have struggled their entire lives just to survive and have never had a safe and healthy place to call home. I was luckier than most, I had family members in the area and did not grow up in the same harsh environment as many of my friends.

Many of these children have never had a place to call home or even a place where they were provided the basic necessities. During my two years as a resident there, I learned how to face my own personal challenges and experienced the true meaning of grace.

I have selected the ACCH as my Different December charity because I know they make a difference.”

The Garrity Group will be hosting 12 residents and the respective house parents from the Albuquerque Christian Children’s Home for dinner and dessert at Lumpy’s Hamburgers.  In addition, because of your gracious gifts, each child will receive a gift from their wish list.

If you’d like to help, just click on this link and donate as a part of the “Garrity Group Fund”.

Thank you for helping us make this a Different December!

Today, for a Different December, The Garrity Group’s Ariel White provides a different look at charity providing assistance to participants in the New Day Youth and Family Services.

In 1976, the founders of New Day discovered that homeless and runaway youth in Albuquerque had no safe home or shelter facility to turn to for help. New Day is Albuquerque’s first and only runaway house.

The objective of the program is to protect runaway and homeless youth, ranging from 11 to 17 years of age, in a residential setting with the ultimate goal of reuniting youth to their families, or locating a safe alternative. Over the years New Day has developed many new services according to requests by the community to full fill the needs of struggling at-risk youth and families.

The Garrity Group will be visiting New Day on December 13 to teach a class on work skills for the residents. The class will include how to interview, resume writing and workplace communication.

Ariel says “I think that we forget about the kids who have gotten in to trouble, and write them off. We hear so many times that someone is just “a bad kid,” and I think that is wildly incorrect. These aren’t bad kids, and being labeled as one is not a lifelong mantle that they have to bear. The work that New Day embarks on is providing these teenagers with the support that they are not getting in other areas of their lives by teaching them life skills and how to reshape their futures. What The Garrity Group can offer is insight in to the process of writing a resume, interviewing well, and working with other people so they can keep a job in the long run.”

Other ways you can is by purchasing a $50 School Survival Kit that includes: 3 ring binder, daily planner, divider, pens, #2 pencils, loose-leaf college ruled paper, college lined spirals, highlighters, graphing calculator, thumb drive.

You can also purchase a $150 Apartment Ready Kit that includes: Mac and Cheese, ramen, set of silverware, plate, bowl, laundry detergent, all purpose cleaner, rags, can opener, set of cooking utensils, roll of quarters.

For more information visit http://www.ndnm.org/get-involved/intro.

The second week of The Garrity Group Different December outreach will focus on Casa Esperanza.  Members of our team will cook its guests an authentic New Mexican dinner with the help of the generous donations of Bueno Foods.

Founded in 1987, Casa Esperanza provides a home away from home for families facing cancer. Casa Esperanza serves families who are referred to Albuquerque for cancer treatment, regardless of their financial situation. Today the 18,000 square-foot residence can accommodate 28 families at a time. In addition to housing, Casa Esperanza also provides clinical counseling as well as patient navigation and survivor services to support cancer patients.

Amanda Molina, Director of Public Relations for The Garrity Group, selected Casa Esperanza as her charity of choice for a Different December.  “I choose Casa Esperanza as an organization for our team to work with because being away from  home is hard and being away from home while ill or tending to an ill family member is harder, especially during the holiday season. The comfort that Casa Esperanza provides to patients and their families is invaluable and a true gift to our community and state, I am thrilled that our team can be a part of such a great program.”

There are multiple ways you can help by donating your time cooking a meal, volunteering at a special fundraising event or providing administrative support. Casa Esperanza is also in need of a variety of kitchen, office and house supplies. Please visit http://www.casaesperanzanm.org/getinvolved.html to learn more about how you can help.

The Garrity Group’s Different December outreach focuses today on the Roadrunner Food Bank.

Founded in 1980 Roadrunner Food Bank is the largest in New Mexico, distributing more than 26 million pounds of food every year to a network of hundreds of partner agencies and five regional food banks.

The agencies Roadrunner serves includes food pantries, shelters, group homes, soup kitchens, low-income senior housing sites, and regional food banks. In addition to distributing food through partner agencies, Roadrunner Food Bank runs several direct service programs to help end hunger in New Mexico.

Vince Murphy, The Garrity Group’s Director of Government Relations, selected Roadrunner as his Different December outreach. “I selected the Roadrunner Food Bank as my charity of choice because of the critical need they fill in our community. When we consider our needs as humans nothing is more basic than the need for nourishment. It saddens me to hear about the high number of children who are being raised not being assured where their next meal is coming from. In the US and here in Albuquerque we can do more to assist those trying to address basic human needs.”

Today, the Garrity team will be collecting peanut butter and other canned goods then packing boxes of food for delivery.

You can help Roadrunner Food Bank by being an advocate and writing a simple email or by volunteering at one of the many locations throughout New Mexico. To find more information on ways to help visit http://www.rrfb.org/take-action/

Today, A Different December will focus on a program that’s been serving Albuquerque for the past 25 years, the Barrett Foundation.

Focusing on women and children, the foundation runs several programs including The Barrett House, an emergency shelter for women and children experiencing homelessness; Casa Milagro, a group home for women over 35 with psychiatric disabilities; Bridges to Self-Sufficiency, a transitional housing program offering single women with or without children a stepping stone to independent living; Casa Verde, a permanent housing facility for 13 women living with chronic mental illness and Casa Socorro, a permanent housing program for single women who have been chronically homeless.

The Garrity Group, partnering with the Barrett Foundation, is adopting one of the Bridges to Self-Sufficiency families for the holidays. Our team will be fulfilling the wish-lists for mom and her three children aged three weeks to nine years old.

The outreach was identified and set up by Senior Account Executive Julianne Horn.  “I chose the Barrett House because of their focus on helping vulnerable women and children in our community. The Bridges to Self Sufficiency program is a great resource for women, as it provides a stable environment while offering the life skills and support they need to transition into independent living. It’s very rewarding to offer one of these families a little extra cheer at Christmas by fulfilling the wish-lists of a mom and her three kids.”

Some of the items so graciously donated and secured for this family includes a crib, changing table, king-size bed frame and dresser.

You can help in a variety of ways all of which can be found in the get involved and donate sections of their website http://www.barrettfoundation.org

While touring potential universities with my oldest daughter, we had a chance one night to catch the movie “In Time” with Amanda Seyfried and Justin Timberlake.

The moving is based on replacing currency with time. In the PR world, we’ve been living with this reality that time is our currency.  The movie featured some implied and spoken clichés about time. It was fun to get a fresh look at an old concept.

Today, setting back my clocks an hour, I was reminded how a precious commodity time is.

Since September I’ve been engaged in client and company projects in Albuquerque and around the country.  The travel has been worthwhile and successful for our clients and the firm.  But at what cost?  It seems that the sporadic time I spent in the office or at home was spent more on catching up and “maintenance” rather than rest or productivity.

Moving the clocks back an hour, for me, signifies restoring normalcy needed impacts and quality time are the results instead of rushing off to the next project or destination.

This weekend I’ll embark on one of those crazy adventures, participating in the Colorado Relay.  It is a 195 mile endurance relay that starts at Breckenridge and ends in Snowmass.  I’ll be running with some new and old friends on two New Mexico teams Lost & Found and Buzzard Bait.

In the midst of altitude training, running at 10,678 feet, several public relation realities became apparent as I was running with our group.  The concepts that hold true for running and for public relations planning:

When the trail gets rocky or crowded, slow down – Even mountain goats take their time in the steep and uneven rock.  If things get tricky, don’t think you can fix the issue by blasting through it.  Take your time and understand the issue.

Beware of roots on the trail, they will trip you up – Be aware of where the bodies are buried and what has worked, hasn’t worked and why.  With roots, it’s best to just acknowledge and move on so they don’t trip you up too!

Look ahead don’t always focus on your feet – It is easy to be concerned with the real estate in front of you, don’t forget to do some planning to identify where you will be soon and what obstacles are in your way.

Enjoy the view – Sometimes you literally can’t see the forest through the trees.  But when an opening appears just slow down and take it all in.  Never take your accomplishments for granted. 

Run in the flat areas – When you have clear site of the trail and your direction, open it up and see what you can do on the open trail! Take advantage of the slower or less stressed times and use those periods to get more creative, touch base with those you work with and those you work for or just use that time to better yourself and get better at your craft.

Off road – Sometimes if your path is blocked you need to go off road for a brief time.  Try something new, just don’t let that obstacle consume you.

Run for a reason – What is your passion for what you do?  I run for my high school friend Pete Johnson who is in remission from a blood cancer… and PR is my passion.

There are power lunches, power ties and now… power parking meter kiosks!

Parking my truck curbside at the Gold Street Café, in downtown Albuquerque, I grabbed some change for the parking kiosk (you know the rectangular structures that are replacing the classic Duncan Parking Meters).

Walking towards the kiosk I recognize the person who appears to be getting a fight from the machine.  “It won’t read my card, we are looking for change,” he says. Adjacent to kiosk is an SUV with an unidentified person leaning into the vehicle appearing to be looking for change (you know the stance with both feet on the curb).

The person I know looks to me and asks “you got a nickel?” I said “sure thing.”  About that time, the unidentified person looking for change emerges from the passenger side.  It is none other than Richard Berry, the Mayor of Albuquerque!

I’ve been a fan of Mayor Berry since his days as a State Representative.  Today, he reinforced his already high standing.  After all, how many Mayors will spend time looking for spare change to feed their own city parking kiosk?