
Archive for January, 2009|Monthly archive page
Government Webcasting and Blogging
In Uncategorized on January 26, 2009 at 11:49 pm
When Winning is Lost
In Uncategorized on January 24, 2009 at 11:47 pmOne of those spectacles in sport transpired on a Texas basketball court recently in a game between two independent schools. Dallas Academy was playing on the road at Covenant-Dallas. The home team won, Covenant-Dallas “100” and Dallas Academy “0”.
It was the largest margin of victory in girls high school basketball where both teams lost.
One wonders, as many have wondered about this situation, at what point does winning by 30 points or 100 points matter… a win is a win.
Even the ruthless Bill Belichick, legendary head coach of the New England Patriots, has a heart (though there are some Jets fans who would disagree).
Covenant-Dallas’ head coach Micah Grimes wasn’t heartless, he was headless! Leading 35-0 after the first quarter, 59-0 after the second quarter and 88-0 after the third quarter provided enough signs that this game was well in hand during the first five minutes of the game.
Nine days after the blow-out, Covenant-Dallas posted a statement on its website. It concluded with “a victory without honor is a great loss.”
Across the way at Dallas Academy, the team was unified. The school received some major props for character, class and poise (which is like gold in the world of independent schools). They even received some assistance from Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.
However, the headmaster was quoted as saying “the hell with it” and, according to news reports, canceled the balance of the season. If that is true, it is lost opportunity.
I can see the headmaster’s reasoning. Dallas Academy is first and foremost focused on education, the competitive sports program became a distraction. But by canceling the balance of the season, instead of finishing and canceling the program with graduation, a different message is sent indicating that winning and losing does matter regardless of the character on the court.
All of the teams/schools lost in so many ways. The only victor were the Dallas Academy players. One spoke to a reporter: “Even if you are losing, you might as well keep playing,” said Shelby Hyatt, a freshman on the team. “Keep trying, and it’s going to be OK.
An E-mail Worth Sharing
In Uncategorized on January 22, 2009 at 11:44 pm
First of all, I would like to thank you for your business. It was a pleasure working for you. Secondly, in regards to our conversation today I found the check. It was stuck to my tire. Unfortunately when I pulled it off it ripped into three pieces. I have two of them and one is still attached to my tire.

A New Look At Safety
In Uncategorized on January 18, 2009 at 4:16 am
Transparency & Accessibility
In Uncategorized on January 5, 2009 at 4:13 amA powerful politico is faced with an image problem.
What can the “accused” and “named” do to clear their own name – which is a challenge when there are only verbal accusations and innuendos.
Let’s touch on three key items…
- You need to understand that there is a courtroom of law and a courtroom of public opinion. The two arenas tend to use vastly different strategies when addressing issues like this.
- Mega-stars and regular Joe’s appear to have two sets of rules. This is a fallacy. Mega-stars have a quicker “public rebound” cycle because of their access to the spotlight.
- If the media inquires and you ignore the question the issue/topic will somehow go away. This is another fallacy.
In a crisis, the entity/person showing compassion to the victim will have an easier time of recovering their reputation and/or getting things back on track.
In this particular case, some would argue, truth is an apparent victim.
When truth is a victim, respond with transparency.
If your attorney won’t allow full transparency, then ensure you provide accessibility. Take the calls and provide a “vetted” response to any and all who ask or inquire.
Transparency and accessibility are two strong approaches to safeguarding/defending your reputation. However, there is a lot more to both strategies – just as there is more to making pizza than just having dough and sauce.