“Let the father answer his daughter’s question as to why her favourite cat has been taken away,” Dalenergo Director Nikolai Tkachyov told Russian TV station First Channel.
A Russian electricity company, Dalenergo, which operated in Vladivostok, is planning to confiscate pets to get customers to pay their arrears – which total 300 million roubles (10 million dollars).
Now there’s a challenging excecise in press release writing. [Yahoo]
At a time when sport around the world is plagued with drug scandals and overpaid child-like competitors, it’s good to see a real, honest global sporting championship.
Ken Young is a UK freelancer writing a feature for PC Advisor on blogs. He’s looking for:
– Any self confessed bloggers
– PRs for blogging software
– Anyone with a passion for or against blogging
If you’re interested in contacting Ken, drop me a line and I’ll pass on his details.
So Scott McNealy’s antics are finally catching up on him. An open letter to Sun’s board from Merrill Lynch analyst Steven Milunovich which tackles Sun’s business, makes particular reference to Scott’s personality:
“Unfortunately the (Scott’s) act is getting old…. Sending
a clear message with a more pragmatic tone could help. More (some) respect for the competition and for different viewpoints is needed.”
I’ve never been a great fan of the Scott act. Where Larry Ellison comes across as witty and entertaining, Scott fails to make a connection and his ranting has become predicatable. A review and refresh would be worthwhile.
You can download the entire letter from the Merrill Lynch website (sign up for trial access)
Sad news. Michael O’Connor Clarke is the latest victim of the current economic difficulties. Michael was lost in the latest round of job cuts at Weber Shandwick Canada, where he was Senior Vice President of their technology group. A highly capable, well qualified PR professional is in the field.
Meanwhile, Phil Gomes tackles Microsoft’s increasing usage of sponsored research reports that (amazingly) find their products are better than the competition. Phil suggests that these reports are now subject to the law of diminishing returns and I’d have to agree.
Microsoft is facing into interesting times. Let’s not be naive, Microsoft is still in good shape, still making good numbers and is admired by millions of people – just look at the number of people who visit their website and buy their products (Note: please no rants about their “monopoly” – a lot of people buy their stuff by choice). But the company faces a number of serious issues that might impact their company in the longer term. Managing Microsoft over the next five years could be an even harder excercise than it was getting them to the pre-eminent position they hold today.
PR is going to be a core asset over those five years.
PS: The latest issue of G2B Group’s Newsletter is out.
Vocus has released a new version of it’s PR management software, entitled “Professional Edition” the new version is designed as a budget-priced option.
Murphy's Law 