Archive for October, 2009
October 27, 2009 at 11:01 am · Filed under America, Australia
ABC Radio National has an all news station - located at 630 AM here in Sydney. (For my Yank readers, ABC means Australian Broadcasting Corporation and is a national, taxpayer funded broadcaster.) At 10:30 am I was on the Harbour Bridge crossing to a meeting when the half-hour news flash played. Headline three for the bulletin was, “Australian sheepdog beats New Zealand rival on its home turf - for the second year in a row.”
Now I’m sure this was one hell of a dog. Clearly a prize winner. But Australian radio is not so desperate for news that they broadcast nationally the results of state fair competitions. (”And Bill Chadd’s prize Angus took the blue ribbon at the Wagga Wagga Beef Invitational today!”)
Instead Australians were indulging in a bitter national rivalry. Australia versus New Zealand. It’s the Hatfields versus the McCoys all over again. (These West Virginian families entered American folklore with a multi-generational feud.)
New Zealand is to Australia as Canada is to the United States - a nearby neighbour that we pretend to embrace while saying disparaging things when they’re not in the room.
The fact a sheepdog trial got national radio play shows the depths we’ll go to to show Australians are better than New Zealanders. It’s a bi-national sport!
October 26, 2009 at 8:56 am · Filed under more on me, Social Media
Nothing says Happy Birthday better than a Facebook account.
I woke last Friday to three or four dozen congratulatory notes to mark the occasion. It was wonderful to be remembered by friends, cousins, high school peers and more. Over the course of the day I got virtual slices of cake, e-cards and lots and lots of comments. My sister sent two talking dogs who spoke through a script she’d written. (The terrier said “Dana” with a soft a in both spots – much like “Tada”!) My brother in Alaska made a Skype video call with the kids and sent a pre-recorded video card sent via Flip Cards. In an extraordinary gesture my Aunt Liz in Princeton sent me a long, personalized email. It was wonderfully overwhelming!
Of course I am pleased but a part of me remembers pre-social media birthdays. I’m one of those people who have a box with all his correspondence. I developed a close friendship with the late John Hoover when he lived in San Francisco and I was in New York. We used to write eight or nine page letters back and forth. While I didn’t keep every birthday card I kept the ones that mattered.
Maybe that’s the next digital application – a virtual treasure chest where you can permanently keep all your neat stuff. I have photos on Flickr and updates on Facebook and three years worth of blog postings. But nowhere do I have a consolidation of my life on-line.
Many say this is where social media is heading – a borderless world where we have one experience versus multitudinous accounts. And in that space I can have my Alaska video and my aunt’s email – and even the phonic-challenged dog (I worry his pronunciation will improve in the next upgrade and I want to save his current voice). I can limit which audiences have access to which parts. Current work colleagues are all joined in Linked In but none are invited into Facebook.
It won’t replace the mantelpiece full of Hallmark cards or the ribbon-tied bundle of letters. (And I’m not sure how the next generation’s Demi Moore will get misty-eyed as she spends a night going over her dead husband’s correspondence. Will that be on a Kindle?)
But what a Facebook birthday lacks in ever-lasting quality it sure makes up for in quantity. I miss the paper cards and letters. But I love the overwhelming number of people who made my birthday one to remember – even if I can’t put them in a box to linger over later.
October 19, 2009 at 2:14 pm · Filed under America, Media Industry
Last week the USA and anyone in the television viewing time zone stopped to track a silver weather balloon. Purportedly strapped to the base was a box with a small child inside. His parents raised the alarm when the anchor line wasn’t secured. Kid and balloon went off pursued by ambulances and authorities - and television helicopters.
Thankfully the child was found later asleep in a cardboard box in the crawl space above the garage. Sadly, his parents appear to have concocted the stunt to garner publicity. As parents Richard and Mayumi Heene dragged their son Faclon from talk show to talk show the stress caused the boy to vomit. Twice.
From 1999 to 2004 I ran communications at Ford Credit. One of the biggest business risks was the rising number of personal bankruptcies. Ford Credit undertook to raise the level of financial literacy among high school students so they would become better money managers. One year we conducted a poll and asked teens how they would fund their retirement. More than 50% said, “with the winnings of a reality television show.”
It appears that’s exactly what the Heene family was thinking. (If they were thinking at all.) Now police have swooped and the parents face six years in prison. The stunt was to bolster their own television ratings, as they’d already appeared on “Wife Swap” and were hoping to launch a show about their family. (Did I say launch?)
Sadly the stunt has backfired and now Falcon - America’s Balloon Boy - may spend a chunk of childhood without parents. That’s the worst reality possible.
October 15, 2009 at 8:39 am · Filed under Investor Relations, America
I never have buyer’s regret because when I think I want something I get it. Yes, that’s me - I am the consumer driving the economy back to life. I’m also a frustrated office worker who rips past shops on his way to meetings. So when I do have time retail therapy is great.
So imagine my upset having passed up an opportunity to buy a Dow Jones 10,000 baseball cap on eBay. (Not bought because my head looks deformed in a cap.) This was sold in the heady days of 1999 when the Dow Jones passed the 10,000 mark for the first time in March of that year.
(Do you remember those euphoric times? Our homes had equity…Circuit City was our weekend destination…our jobs were secure…we could eat and pay the bills simultaneously.)
Since then the Dow Jones has passed the 10,000 mark on decent, on ascent, on descent, on ascent. It’s been like a theme-park adventure ride. (The 10,000 barrier was broken upwards in March 1999, December 2003 and October 2009.)
The Dow Jones Index is a portfolio of shares in America’s leading companies. Their composite value is the Dow Jones Index. This was designed to showcase the relative health of a representative sample of America’s top companies. Over the years some major companies have been struck from the Index, while newcomers have taken their place. It’s a PR nightmare to deal with a CEO whose firm is being de-listed from the Dow Jones Index. They’re rarely as upbeat as the newcomers.
So break out the home equity line of credit applications - the Dow Jones is back up, glod is strong and economists predict The Great Recession is over.
Me? I’m going to keep scouring eBay and try to find my historical souvenir - that baseball cap from March 1999 is mine!
Trivia Challenge (scroll past cartoon for answers)
- Name the company in today’s Dow Jones Industrial Average with the longest tenure?
- Which company is the newest kid on the block?
- When was it founded?
- Name the founder.
- When did the Dow Jones close above the 1,000 barrier for the first time?
- How many years did it take to go from 1,000 to 10,000?
- During the dot.com boom, a book predicted the Dow Jones would ascend higher - what was the forecast projected high?
- What was the highest close for the Dow Jones Index?
Courtesy of The Huffington Post
Trivia Answers - Thanks to Wikipedia
- General Electric was one of the original 12 companies listed in the average
- Travelers - the insurance giant - added on 8 June 2009
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average was founded May 26, 1896
- Founded by Charles Dow
- On November 14, 1972 the average closed above the 1,000 mark (1,003.16) for the first time
- On March 29, 1999, the average closed above the 10,000 mark - 26 years, 4 months and 2 weeks later.
- Authors James K. Glassman and Kevin A. Hassett went so far as to publish a book entitled Dow 36,000.
- On October 9, 2007, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at the record level of 14,164.53.
Your Score
-
- 0-3 - Don’t worry you’re job at Treasury is safe
- 4-6 - An average American with a Schwab account - go day trading!
- 7-8 - Thanks for reading WallyDownUndy Mr. Buffet!
- Still debating accuracy of answers - The 24 year prison sentence for Enron does give you time, right Mr. Skilling?
October 14, 2009 at 8:47 am · Filed under more on me, Public Relations
You can tell I’m a child of the 1970’s when I immediately think of David Bowie as a way to chart the changes in my life. His lyrics immediately pop to mind - especially as I’ve made a major change in my career. (Dear Gen Y’ers and Millennials - do watch this historic footage below.)
On Monday, 12 October I started a new role here in Sydney with Fleishman-Hillard, one of the largest global public relations consultancies. I’ll manage the Sydney office and have a triple-barrel title (SVP & Partner, GM - Sydney). I’ll have to get a longer business card.
For two years I managed my own consultancy, Perception Counsel. It was coincidental to launch a new business in the lead-up to The Great Recession. (Cool to see it with capital letters like 1930’s The Great Depression.) The upside - as all business owners know - is the flexibility and freedom that comes from reporting to yourself. Yet what I missed most was the interaction with like-minded colleagues. And in a single stroke I entered a wide and varied network. FH has 80 offices and I’ve had welcome notes from Atlanta, Seoul, Tokyo, Dallas, New York and St Louis (Global HQ firmly in the Midwest).
In addition, FH is part of Omnicom Group - one of the world’s leading diversified communications companies. Partner firms are in advertising, branding, direct mail, social media, etc. It’s exciting to have an insider’s pass to such an extensive network, especially as I love design but make an awful Pictionary partner (”It’s Lassie. No! It’s Liza!”).
The upside of the new job is there wasn’t that much surprise on Day One. Fleishman was exhaustive in the recruitment process. And while most candidates assume the inquisition is one-way, the firm wanted to ensure I knew what I was getting myself into. I walked in with my eyes wide open.
What have I found?
Fleishman-Hillard has been in Sydney since 2001 and has been a quiet achiever. There’s a considerable track record of high-profile clients and assignments. Today the office has a solid quartet of practices - Healthcare, Consumer Marketing, Technology and Corporate-Finance. The team today is solid and experienced. And like most firms there’s room to grow and time to trial new tactics.
So wish me luck as I adjust my new computer to all my favourite settings, import my contacts, find where the files are stored and adjust to a new routine.
October 8, 2009 at 10:02 am · Filed under Globalisation, Australia
Classic film fans will recall the Peter Sellers comedy classic, “The Mouse That Roared.” In it, a backwater country long overlooked decides to enter the global stage by declaring war on the United States. This Duchy quickly becomes the centre of attention – and adventure. And of course because Peter Sellers is centre stage – in roles as diverse as a senior Minister to the Dowager Empress – the laughs are plentiful. (Trivia Note: This is Peter Sellers’ first film role and was released in 1959.)
Australia pulled off a global roar this week – it was the first developed country to raise interest rates, with a 0.25% increase by the Reserve Bank on Tuesday. The news sent stocks, gold and the Australian dollar soaring. More than $260 billion of wealth was returned to the Australian Stock Exchange on Wednesday.
Like many proud nationals, Australians love it when their country makes global news. Today’s “The Australian” features a front page from America inspired by our rate move. “The Wall Street Journal” led with the story, ‘Recovery Hopes Stir Markets’.
All this good news makes many nervous. The Reserve Bank signalled this was the first rate rise – and not the last. Forecasts call for three more similar rises in the coming months. What concerns some is the rises could be too soon in the recovery cycle – and in the midst of continued government incentives. (Note to self: Buy a new car before 31 December for the business and claim 50% tax deduction for the purchase.)
Whether the rate rises are early or well-timed, it does signal that, for Australia, the worst of the economic shocks are over. This country never entered recession and kept unemployment figures low. The government is credited with smart and quick market interventions. And of the ten most secure banks in the world, four are located in Australia.
So it’s time to dust off the “Money Come Kitty” and return to work – and hopefully the lucky cat will wave in lots more business.
