Last November, on a quiet Sunday morning spent watching CBS Sunday Morning, I heard Ken Burns say something that stopped me cold. Sitting across from John Dickerson, Burns was previewing his new PBS documentary, “The American Revolution” a six-part, 12-hour epic nearly a decade in the making. He called the American Revolution the most significant event since the birth of Jesus Christ. And then he observed that the second…
Okay, I’ll admit it: I can’t help myself. Show me any story about modern life and my brain immediately cross-references it with the Seinfeld episode it most closely resembles. It’s a reflex, a curse, and apparently the unavoidable fate of anyone who came of age in the 1990s. My wife rolls her eyes. My colleagues have learned to live with it. So when “The Journal.” podcast featured a small…
Let me be clear up front: I’m not an artificial intelligence engineer. I don’t build models. I build visibility. Generative AI is the newest – and most consequential – environment where visibility plays out. There was a time when every leadership team obsessed over one question: “Where do we rank on Google?” Search engine optimization (SEO) became a business imperative because organizations understood something fundamental: If you didn’t show up in search, you effectively didn’t exist. We are standing…
If you ask CEOs what’s standing between their company and growth, they’ll talk about capital, competition, maybe technology. But ask what keeps them up at night—it’s people. In North Carolina, we’re living in one of the fastest-growing economies in the country. According to the North Carolina Department of Commerce, the state is projected to add more than 445,000 new jobs by 2030—nearly double the national…
The U.S. men’s hockey team should be riding a massive high. An Olympic gold in overtime against our Canadian hockey rivals: That’s the kind of brand momentum that sells tickets, strengthens sponsorship deals, and builds the next generation of fans. Instead, the U.S. men’s hockey team is dealing with a completely avoidable PR mess –…
In public relations, staying ahead means anticipating how people want to receive and engage with information. For years, “new media” reshaped our field as blogs, social platforms, and influencers opened doors beyond traditional gatekeepers. But within this digital transformation, one medium has surged ahead: the podcast. What started as a niche audio format has become a mainstream…
Public Engagement Isn’t About Getting People to Agree In my years of experience working with organizations on complex projects – regulatory approvals, rezonings, and economic-development incentives – one truth has become clear: public engagement isn’t about getting people to agree with you. It’s about making them feel heard. That distinction matters. Fundamentally, public engagement…
Earlier this year, CNBC once again named North Carolina the No. 1 state for business. As a lifelong North Carolinian, I can tell you there’s more to that ranking than tax incentives and talent pipelines. We are blessed with genuine people, world-class education institutions, innovative businesses, affordable energy, abundant natural resources, and first-class infrastructure, from…
Trust is at a tipping point – and for businesses looking to grow, it’s the ultimate competitive advantage. Here’s what we know: according to the 2024 Edelman Trust Barometer, business is now the most trusted institution globally, surpassing government, media, and nongovernmental organizations. At the same time, traditional news sources are losing credibility, creating a…
It’s 2 p.m. on a Tuesday. An employee posts allegations about discriminatory treatment at your company on social media. Within the first few minutes, the post has 100 likes and 10 shares. By 2:30 p.m., the post has 450 likes and 30 shares, and a local reporter is calling for comment. By 3 p.m., the…
At 11:30 pm on a February Saturday, a spark in a second-floor office ignited a crisis that would test House of Raeford Farms to its core. Within minutes, flames consumed their Wallace, NC processing plant. As dawn broke, 600 rural employees faced unemployment, a community stood in shock, and company leadership confronted the most challenging moment in their history.
Engaging local concerns directly — whether through town halls, direct outreach, or social media — allows businesses to demonstrate they are partners in progress, not outsiders imposing change.
