By Dennis Culloton, President and CEO The most painful media and public relations crisis is the self-inflicted wound.  It happens all the time, as my colleagues have been discussing here on Checkmate. Just about any day in the news you’ll find an example of someone who has put themselves in the hole and thinks the

By Jodie Shpritz, Vice President of Media Relations and Branding As a graduate of Adlai E. Stevenson High School, I’ve been paying close attention to the recent story about drug raids at the high school.  In particular, parents and students outraged that the school is using student’s cell phones in a drug probe.  See the

By Angela Benander, Vice President of Advocacy and Corporate Responsibility Last evening, my Twitter feed blew up with news that one of the nation’s leading breast cancer research charities, The Susan G. Komen Foundationhad pulled hundreds of thousands in annual grant funding to Planned Parenthood. The grants had paid for breast cancer screenings and education

By Kirsten Kamerman, Account Executive and New Media Director Last night, President Barack Obama delivered the State of the Union Address and today you will be reading lots of stories on how well President Obama did. However, if you were on Twitter last night, your feed was likely abuzz with tweets about the address. Twitter

By Ezra McCann, Senior Account Executive I know the title of this blog may throw people off, so allow me to preface by saying I am a huge fan of social media.  I post on Facebook and check my Twitter feed constantly throughout the day. It’s a great tool for reconnecting with old friends, networking

By DeRondal Bevly, Community Outreach Executive At the start of each calendar year, most people sit down vigorously sketching out resolutions to improve their lives.  Some resolutions include more time in the gym, spending more time with family, eating better, and other habits meant to help us lead healthier, more productive lives.  As I plotted

By Patrick Skarr, Account Supervisor Thanks to the political calendar, small businesses will once again find themselves in the hot seat and at the center of a feverish debate across our country premised on how we are going to get our economy growing again. Everyday our news broadcasts are filled with a cutthroat messaging war

By Jeanne Atkinson On New Year’s Day 1976, the public relations director of Michigan-based Lake Superior State University (LSSU) and a handful of friends decided to have some fun, PR style, so they created a list of words they believed should be excised from the English language. Thirty-seven years later, the “List of Words Banished

By Tracey Mendrek, Senior Consultant                                                              Driving home during the first snow event of 2012, I pondered two forecasts. Top of mind was the prediction of 2 to 4 inches of snow on one station, 6 to 8 inches on another, and of course, more than 12 inches from the weather forecaster who went to

By Angela Benander, Vice President of Advocacy and Corporate Responsibility “Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made” – Otto von Bismarck Since making the switch from national politics to the private sector five years ago, I continue to be surprised by clients and contacts who express their, well, surprise