Red Fan at SXSW: A History
You know things in Austin are back to normal when SXSW returns in full force. After canceling the festival in 2020, offering a virtual-only format in 2021, and a hybrid of in-person and virtual sessions last year, we’re excited to see the conference return to its former glory—and the benefits it provides to the Austin […]
From the start of the World Cup to Twitter, it’s been a wild couple of weeks
There have been so many baffling, befuddling, bewildering blunders in the comms world over the past few weeks that picking just one to write about was a bit like asking Elon Musk to tone down his “hardcoreness”: It’s impossible. So, in the interest of timeliness, I decided to tackle all of them. Join me on […]
Electronic Arts’ terrible, no-good, very bad social media day
Electronic Arts’ terrible, no-good, very bad social media day Video game publishers are at it again. You may remember that last year I wrote about the epic implosion of ActivisionBlizzard triggered by a systemic culture of misogyny, harassment and worker intimidation that lasted for years. It was just the latest in a string of reputational […]
You thought LEDs and 3D printers were cool now. Just wait.
If I were 20 years old (one can dream!), had a couple of a million dollars in spare change (one can dream big!) and a life expectancy of 100 or so (one can dream bigger!), there are two industries in which I’d invest heavily. LED lighting and 3D printing. Now, granted, I’m a hopeless sci-fi […]
Insights: Sustainability has an earth-sized branding problem
There’s a scene in the first season of the award-winning “Ted Lasso” in which the titular character repeats the same word so many times that it loses its meaning—a phenomenon known as semantic satiation—and is perceived as nothing more than a random collection of sounds. I’ve reached that point with “sustainability.” Sustainability, once the exclusive […]
Insights: How the war in Ukraine sets a new precedent for communications
Slava Ukraini. I’ve been waiting for the opportunity to write that lead for five weeks. After several documentaries about the Maidan Revolution, more than a few renditions of Ukraine’s national anthem and repeated viewings of our good friend Jacob Shapiro’s podcast, the opportunity for even a meager sense of catharsis has arrived. I wish Ukrainians—and Ethiopians, and the Rohingya […]
The heartbreaking lessons from the Astroworld tragedy
It’s hard to comprehend the depth of tragedy at Astroworld, the Houston music festival hosted by rapper Travis Scott and LiveNation earlier this month that ended in 10 deaths and hundreds of injuries from a massive crowd crush. For me and many others who make live music a lifestyle, it’s a visceral reminder of the […]