Rob’s blog
Viagra for graphs
Three minutes to deadline, and you've got a turkey of a story: an opinion poll that shows a minor difference - barely outside the margin of error - in the way Democrats see the Terri Schiavo issue, and the way Republicans see it. What to do... what to do... Well, if...
Learning from the bad guys
I love The Left Coaster. It's thought-provoking as well as irreverent (a balance I suspect we rarely quite get right here at ODTAA, despite our staff of 200 researchers, 16 writers and 24-hour TiVO tech support) (ah, you knew I was making that up - you can't get TiVO...
I Hate Huckabees
Jake at Community Guy has kindly extracted the top ten "I Hate (insert name of clod-like corporation here)" web sites from an article at Forbes. Here's a little background, for the curious: Back in 2001, Canadian Tire tried to separate Mick McFadden and his...
Jetsgone: a view from the inside
2016 Update: The website was deactivated quite a while ago. (Here's the announcement, via archive.org.) Here's what it looked like in its heyday. One aspect of the whole Jetsgo fiasco that this space has touched on (without adequately addressing) is the horrible...
JetsGone
Update: One of the things I love about the Net is the willingness of people to spring into action in times of crisis. Case in point: the spanking new site JetsGone that stakano plugs in the comments on this post. I've touched on JetsGo's problems in the past, and a...
Blogging disaster management
Heading off on a tangent from the pivotal issue - when does an employer get a say in an employee's off-hours life? - let's take a moment to consider ten pieces of sage advice from Robert Scoble on what to do when your blog goes horribly, horribly wrong (and how to...
Bloggers, post at your peril
Write a letter to the editor, and it's forgotten in a day. Call a phone-in show, and you're history in a minute and a half. But post to a blog, and - unless you delete them yourself - your words live on as long as your blog does. They can be read by anyone with an...
Darn good question.
Pete Shinbach over at The Bach Door asks an awfully good question in relation to this excerpt from a news story: "An aide to [someone the reporter was trying to contact] said the developer was traveling out of state Thursday and could not be reached for comment." In...
And the award for best, pithiest Oscar speech goes to…
Is it too jingoistic to award it to Chris Lambeth? I am here tonight because of the grace and humility of one guy watching from Montreal. Ryan Larkin, I dedicate this award to you. And I'm sharing this award with Steve Hoban for Copper Heart Entertainment. Steve, you...
Waaaay off-message
The big issue right now in U.S. federal politics is the future of social security. (Everything you want to know about how this is shaking down is covered diligently at Talking Points Memo.) The Republican mantra as they plan to privatize large swaths of the program...
Damage control: how to do it
Not 24 hours after a media spitstorm, Her Excellency comes out smelling like a rose... and shows the rest of us how to handle a bad-news day. Here's how: She responded immediately, and made herself available: "Hearing the story on CBC Radio Thursday morning, Gov. Gen....
The dreaded “send” button
By way of the transplanted (and much-missed) Erin, the tragic story of a spin doctor, a Blackberry and two naughty words.
Why, yes — I’d LOVE to speak at your event
Public speaking and speechwriting: the essential guides
Looking for advice on public speaking, speechwriting and leadership communications? Here are some of my most comprehensive posts, on topics that people ask me about most often.
