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A few things have changed since I first weighed in on the “transgressions” of Tiger Woods and the PR aspect of the public’s minute-by-minute hunger for every sordid detail about the “truth” about his “accident” in his front yard.

When I wrote this on Dec. 3, I assumed – like you – that he had an affair, not affairs.

Had the truth been about an affair – about one woman – I still stand by my take that Tiger could have legitimately given the media the Heisman Trophy-stiff arm and had every right to say “…personal sins should not require press releases…” and he could have repaired his family on his timetable and terms.

I would have applauded him for that, as a way to send a message to the tabloid crap that passes for “media” that he wouldn’t play it out the way it’s “supposed” to be played.

Of course, that’s if this was all about one woman.

But what we’ve learned since obviously changed the game. And the PR strategy for Woods.

Obviously.

Now he just looks like an idiot for insisting that his personal sins didn’t affect anyone beyond his front yard. Now he just looks like an idiot for essentially lying about Elin’s heroics to “save” him in that front yard.

Now he’s just another idiot athlete who thinks he can live without any accountability to his wife and family.

This is a guy who spent a few minutes of his Thanksgiving day texting at least one of his who-knows-how-many mistresses, to wish her Happy Thanksgiving.

Not exactly dealing with a full deck here.

So where does Tiger go from here? Golf’s on hold. And reports, as I write this, suggest addictions of several kinds might need to be addressed before his marriage can be repaired.

Can his marriage be saved? Sure. If he truly and sincerely seeks redemption for his decisions. And if Elin chooses to forgive Tiger’s ridiculous choices.

But that’s quite an uphill climb for any wife to make. Whether she’s the wife of your neighbor, or the wife of the most prolific professional golfer the world may ever know.

If not for their kids, Elin would have already divorced Tiger for mocking their marriage in ways we probably don’t even know yet.

Sure, he’ll golf again. He’ll get his endorsement dollars back. He’ll win more tournaments. He’ll make millions more. We’ll likely see him golf his way through the Senior Tour someday.

But he can’t change what he did. And what he had – a pristine public image as a business and sports professional who prepared diligently every day to be a champion to cheer for in his craft. And as a dedicated family man, we thought.

As Gary D’Amato says in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “…It will be impossible for him to get back everything he once had. He will have to deal with the fallout from this sordid mess for the rest of his career. But if Woods can save his marriage and keep his family together, it will be the biggest victory of his life.”

That’s the only tournament trophy Tiger doesn’t have on his mantle right now.

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In my neck of the woods in Minnesota, Mayo gets all the social media street cred. 

S&W deserves kudos for how it communicated – especially just a few weeks after even getting its social media presence up and running, via Twitter, a blog and YouTube. 

S&W is one of the hospitals which provide services to Fort Hood, and treated 10 victims of the shooting in their ER. Ed Bennett’s Found in Cache blog has an interview with Steven Widmann, director of Web Services at S&W, which lays out the hospital’s crisis communications performance. 

Widmann sums up his thoughts in the interview by saying: “I’m finding the use of social media is really no different than what crisis communications have been in years past. Only the tools have changed. With social media tools we have the capability to get information out quicker and to a larger audience. Ultimately it’s all about communication. Having social media tools and understanding how they work will allow hospitals to create that ’source of truth’ that will better serve the community.” 

He’s right. But “quicker” is quicker than it used to be. 

On the FIR podcast, Shel Holtz smartly points out it’s not just the tools that have changed: “I think the appetite for news has grown tremendously from what it was before social media – the expectation that you can get information – and I think that Scott & White accommodated that…” said Holtz. 

The always-intense information landscape of people wanting to know, now, requires organizations to respond online to that hunger for news when it makes sense to do so, as in the Fort Hood situation. And to do it respectfully – as in the case of a hospital – and also to do it in a way that assists the media in its reporting of factual information and hunger for more updates. 

More information on S&W’s crisis communications effort is here on Crisisblogger and at Mac’s Safety Space. 

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It doesn’t change what he did.

Ask me for my quick take, though, and I submit that Tiger has a point in his statement today.

Personal sins should not require press releases and problems within a family shouldn’t have to mean public confessions.

Whether he wrote that or not is not the point. It’s the message. And I agree with it.

And Tiger’s just about the only person in the world who can pull that off.

Just because “the media” likes the story – and every juicy detail – it doesn’t mean the person at the center of the scrutiny has to play ball.

In this case, Tiger could have shortened his statement down to two sentences, saying it was a private family matter, etc… and let that be that. He’s under no expectation – other than to fulfill the desires of the media – to do anymore than that.

Really. We’ve all got bigger things to worry about, don’t we?

Still, as I think about all this, my world is basically colored by the questions I get from my kids.

Simple questions, really. “What did Tiger do, Dad?”

Well…

Why, Tiger?

Why?

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Would a realistic person, driving by, actually think the real-time Twitter update headline of “3 Accused of Gang Rape in Monroeville” pertained to the smiling faces of the WPMI anchors and weather guy on the billboard?

Give me a break.

In “Twitter Billboard Leads to Epic Fail” on Mashable, there’s a link to a story by Rob Holbert on Lagniappe that says the WPMI general manager and news director were both suspended for the unfortunate billboard Tweet.

Again, how stupid do you have to be to think the headline was about the WPMI talent?

Amusing? Sure. A “fail” that’s worth getting suspended over?

Hardly.

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Elizabeth Lambert might be a nice person. She might genuinely feel bad about what she did in a soccer game that now lives online for all the world to see. Again and again. (ESPN has more of the video, and analysis, here).

But thanks to letting her emotions “get the best” of her, she’s now forever the “angry soccer player” from the University of New Mexico. With the evidence prominently on display on YouTube for who knows how long.

You want her coaching your daughter on a youth soccer team in 10 years or so?

Aside from the obvious idiocy of her actions – calling it “poor sportsmanship” doesn’t seem to cut it – Lambert’s 15 minutes of fame provides yet another study in how a university’s media relations/communications team has to put together an apology for an athlete who decided to play dirty.

While New Mexico’s damage police at least used the “uncalled for” phrase in the statement below – No, I don’t think Lambert wrote this – I don’t think it goes far enough:

“I am deeply and wholeheartedly regretful for my actions. My actions were uncalled for. I let my emotions get the best of me in a heated situation. I take full responsibility for my actions and accept any punishment felt necessary from the coaching staff and UNM administration. This is in no way indicative of my character or the soccer player that I am. I am sorry to my coaches and teammates for any and all damages I have brought upon them. I am especially sorry to BYU and the BYU women’s soccer players that were personally affected by my actions. I have the utmost respect for the BYU women’s soccer program and its players.”

A “heated situation”?

It was a soccer game.

I also like how Mario Trujillo puts it on the Daily Lobo, that “She let her emotions get the best of her on a second, third and fourth occasion before she was finished.”

I think this line from Lambert’s statement is a bunch of crap too: “… accept any punishment felt necessary…”

Liz, you don’t think something, anything… is necessary?

For the moment Lambert is suspended, but still on the New Mexico team. At least New Mexico’s VP for Athletics, Paul Krebs, used stronger language in his statement to the media:

“Liz’s conduct on the field against BYU was completely inappropriate… …There is no way to defend her actions.”

Exactly, so do something about it.

I know there are aggressive women’s soccer players across the country. But I highly doubt Lambert’s ponytail pull and punch to the nose is common practice on the playing field. Play the game. It’s not football. That crap would get her kicked out in basketball in a heartbeat.

What’s most surprising in this entire episode is that the BYU players didn’t fight back. Kudos to them for not taking the bait. And to those who say the BYU players may have engaged in pulling of shorts and tripping too… the answer is to snap a neck and smack someone on the nose?

The lack of fists used by the BYU players in retaliation is the real lesson for soccer players like my daughter, who watched the Lambert clip with me and just said, “Why did she do that?”

It was a “heated situation,” honey.

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If a Chicago-area pastor’s goal was to create a little buzz, it has certainly worked.

But will that buzz around his church’s cash weekly giveaway lead people to a meaningful, personal relationship with Jesus?

Only time will tell. Maybe the real goal is to raise awareness of the church itself and its impact on its community. In any case, not unlike many PR and marketing campaigns, you can’t always measure it and judge it while it’s still in play.

I read about Rev. Dan Willis and his Lighthouse Church of All Nations in Alsip, Illinois on the PR Junkie blog, as well as a story in the Chicago Tribune.

The Tribune explained the premise:

At each of the three Sunday services, the Rev. Dan Willis pulls a number of one seat from a bag and the worshiper in that seat wins a cash prize. Two of the churchgoers win $250 and the third gets $500. The church gives away $1,000 each Sunday, Willis said.

The tactic is working, according to Willis, as he focuses his messages on what the Bible says about certain aspects of money and debt-free living:

Willis concedes the cash prize is a gimmick to fill the pews. But he’s unapologetic about the plan, because it’s working. On a typical Sunday, his church draws about 1,600 people to its three Sunday services. But since the money giveaway started, about five weeks ago, the congregation has grown to about 2,500 each week, he said.

But besides increased attendance, a story in the Southtown Star says Lighthouse is actually seeing an increase in the weekly offering too. And it’s giving him a chance to teach financial discipline.

I have no problem with the premise. I’m actually surprised though that attendance at the services has jumped during the giveaways. I’m guessing more of the “regulars” are choosing to make sure they make it to church each Sunday rather than them getting many new faces into their building.

But the lure might not just be about the money.

At a time like this, we all need to hear the message Willis is preaching on. Relevant, biblical lessons on our finances and debt hit home… hard. Maybe that’s what people are connecting with. Not necessarily the cash.

Yes, many churches are into marketing. Yes, they’re using tactics traditional churches are scoffing at.

But I’d argue the critics of these kinds of tactics should renew their own efforts to strengthen the faith of their flock and make better efforts to lead more people to Christ. It doesn’t have to be flashy or gimmicky.

Just be relevant to the daily lives of the people who walk through your doors every weekend.

Relevance goes a long way, whether you’re marketing a product or a message.

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(Photo courtesy: Star Tribune/Time)

Before I tackle some PR-related points about Brett Favre’s return to Lambeau Field this Sunday, let’s make something clear right off the bat:

I bleed Viking purple.

And I’m not thrilled Brett Favre is on the Vikes right now. I’m just not big on one-year fixes with 40-year-old quarterbacks. But that’s just me. While I’m pleased the Vikings are winning, and I realize they wouldn’t be 6-1 with any other quarterback on the roster at the helm, I’m also preparing for a playoff collapse like any good pessimistic Minnesotan.

If you’re one of those goofballs who went out and bought a Favre #4 Vikings jersey, you and I couldn’t have more opposite takes on his place on the team.

That said, I do think Brett Favre has a will to win, and an ability to win, unlike any other quarterback in NFL history. He’s fun to watch. Win or lose.

So it puzzles me why the Green Bay mayor felt the need to spend his and the city’s time on a photo-op campaign dubbed “4 Days to Victory.”

Seriously?

Okay, I lived in Green Bay for a year. I get that the people and news media there have a problem prioritizing what’s really important in life. But if you’re really pissed about Favre playing for the Vikings why bother with the small town PR stunts? Why not just let your team try to beat him up on Sunday?

The best PR approach to Favre’s return, by the Packers and any politician in the city, is to ignore him. Take the high road. The guy is a legend and he’s going into the NFL Hall of Fame as a Packer. Get over it!

No, instead, mayor Jim Schmitt thought it would be cute to play up things like “Flip Flop Friday” to encourage people to wear their flip flops to work. And, he had a city employee put up a new temporary sign to rename Minnesota Avenue, “Aaron Rodgers Drive.”

(Image courtesy: WBAY-TV)

Yikes.

And then there was the “Funeral-4-Favre” today, organized by WAPL Radio.

(Photo courtesy: Green Bay Press Gazette)

Really, a funeral? Nice touch.

KARE-11′s Boyd Huppert has a recap of that stunt here. I guess the beer bottles in the hands of the mourners explains it.

At least the Green Bay Press-Gazette strikes a reasonable tone about Favre’s return in this editorial. Too bad the rest of the city doesn’t get it.

Cheer him on Sunday, or boo him… just let the fans at Lambeau have their say, no need for the silly stunts.

Here’s another interesting take, from The New York Times.

I’ll end this post noting my three quick, up close and personal Brett Favre moments:

*During my TV stint at WEAU in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, I met Favre when a colleague did a one-on-one interview with him at the Packers training camp in the summer of 1993.

*There are photos and video to prove this – I just don’t have any of them – but I’m the idiot standing on the one yard line on the sidelines at County Stadium on Dec. 18, 1994 with my arms signaling Favre’s touchdown dive right in front of me to beat the Falcons. Hey, he was on my fantasy team that year! (I was on the sidelines for WEAU, if you find me in a photo let me know… I think it’s in the book, Favre by Brett and Bonita Favre)

*When I produced newscasts at WFRV-TV in Green Bay in the fall of 1994, Favre came into the newsroom once a week to do live interviews with our sports guy, former Packer Larry McCarren. Favre sat just a few feet away and I was tempted to trash talk him during Viking week, but I played nice.

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Dan Pink doesn’t think so.

I recently watched his TEDtalk titled “The surprising science of motivation” and found Pink’s argument pretty compelling, in terms of what it means for business and other areas of your life when motivation matters.

Put simply, Pink challenges traditional thought that incentives are necessary to get people to perform better. Not the case, Pinks says. He believes incentives can dull thinking and creativity. He says there’s “a mismatch between what science knows and what business does.”

Pink, who I first became aware of through A Whole New Mind (via a reading assignment from my boss for our external communications team) has built his latest book, Drive, around his take on motivation. That book comes out in late December. So, his TEDTalk is a bit of a preview.

Here are a few quotes from Pink to consider:

*”…too many organizations are making their decisions, their policies about talent and people, based on assumptions that are outdated, unexamined, and rooted more in folklore than in science. And if we really want to get out of this economic mess, and if we really want high performance on those definitional tasks of the 21st century, the solution is not to do more of the wrong things. To entice people with a sweeter carrot, or threaten them with a sharper stick. We need a whole new approach.”

*We need a “new operating system for our businesses [that] revolves around three elements: autonomy, mastery and purpose. Autonomy, the urge to direct our own lives. Mastery, the desire to get better and better at something that matters. Purpose, the yearning to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves.

*”…here is what science knows. One: Those 20th century rewards, those motivators we think are a natural part of business, do work, but only in a surprisingly narrow band of circumstances. Two: Those if-then rewards often destroy creativity. Three: The secret to high performance isn’t rewards and punishments, but that unseen intrinsic drive. The drive to do things for their own sake. The drive to do things cause they matter.

Will businesses listen to Pink? Is there truth to the concept that performance can go down when the reward goes up?

Maybe it explains why some youth basketball teams I’ve coached go in the tank after I reward them all with Gatorade for a good practice.

Okay, maybe that’s a motivation post for another day.

Again, check out Pink’s TEDTalk if this interests you, Great stuff.

By the way, Pink has a great blog and he’s on Twitter.

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Now there’s a blog headline that can’t be ignored, right?

With just four words it proves the case of the marketing effort I got a chance to learn more about at the annual workshop for the National Association of Bar Executives (NABE) Communication Section – in Las Vegas, appropriately enough.

In a session titled “Marketing Las Vegas in the Pasta Economy,” Terry Jicinsky, the senior vice president of operations for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, talked about the “What happens here, stays here” campaign.

Before I go into some details, I’ll explain the pasta reference. Jicinsky defined it as an indicator of the choices Americans are making in terms of discretionary income. That is, the number of people/families staying home on a Saturday night eating a cheap pasta meal versus going out for dinner.

Makes sense.

Las Vegas clearly is a discretionary destination. And that distinction requires a different approach to marketing and public relations.

Jicinsky outlined his case to the professional communicators in the room by considering the challenges we have in common:

-How do we get our message out?

-Where do we get our message out?

-How do we get people to care about our message?

-How do we get people over a certain perception?

Vegas certainly is perceived a certain way.

But it’s not by accident.

The “What happens here…” campaign actually began back in 2002. Only recently has Vegas gone back to it, as its marketing bread and butter.

But Jicinsky spent a lot of his time talking about the impact of the recession on the convention business in Vegas – and a bit of Vegas-bashing from President Obama – that forced Vegas to go on the offensive to and create a sub-campaign for 2009 – Vegas Means Business.

With 22,000 annual business events in Vegas and all the people who attend them, Jicinsky said the recession-fueled drop in convention business has been brutal for the efforts to fill the city’s 145,000 hotel rooms.

To try and increase the meeting business, Jicinsky highlighted the first of three points for communicators:

*Take on a cause

The cause, to combat “the anti-convention in Vegas” crowd, unified the hotels and politicians to get out in the media and tell the one story that companies with conventions to plan needed to hear – that Las Vegas has more hotels and more meeting rooms than anyone else… and is built for the convention business.

As part of that effort, and beyond it during the recession, Vegas turned to Jicinsky’s second piece of advice:

*Play the media

It’s the free publicity card… Give the media a story. With overall tourism to the city tailing off in the recession, the “Vegas Bound” campaign and Cranfills Gap, Texas came into the picture. Vegas offered all of the small town’s hard working citizens a free vacation. The campaign got huge play in the media, including several major media hits. Here’s a look at how Vegas packaged up part of the story on its YouTube channel:

Jicinsky said coverage of the exploits of the citizens of Cranfills Gap earned them more than 400 free mentions on TV, in print and online.

The playing of the media continued with the return of the “What happens here, stays here” theme. Ads like this were once again aimed at reminding the average American why Vegas is attractive, by offering a unique twist on life in their own home towns:

Jicinsky’s third point of advice for marketers and communicators was:

*Tell a story

Can’t get any simpler than that. Jicinsky said every business and organization can find their own way to tell their own stories, and make their content top of mind with their target audience.

One of the stories Jicinsky said that Vegas also has tried to tell through marketing is about its many restaurants, in an effort to remind would-be visitors that the city has many great places to eat. You may have seen that in its “Your Vegas is Showing” campaign.

I know I’ve rambled here a bit, but the session with Jicinsky was really interesting and hopefully this brought some of it to light for you.

Going into the session with Jicinsky, I would have argued that the “What happens here…”  campaign has become so entrenched in the U.S. that they could pull all the TV ads and other significant marketing and still not see a drop in tourism.

That may be true. But clearly Vegas still has a need to communicate and a strategy for staying a top business and discretionary income destination for people who like – and can put up with – the sinful nature of Sin City.

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