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Company sued for also calling conference room a fishbowl

Posted on by Brian Lee

Fishbowl(AUSTIN, Texas)–Rose, Furman & Associates (RFA) has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Ninja Marketing Gurus, Inc., for also using the term “fishbowl” to name its glass-walled conference room.

According to court documents published Monday, RFA claims that Ninja Marketing Gurus had posted on its Instagram account a photo of six staff members “having an on fleek creative meeting for a new client in our fishbowl. #ThatsHowNinjasDoIt”

RFA opened May 1, 1998 and named its conference room shortly thereafter. Ninja Marketing Gurus was founded in 2015 in a coworking space and moved to its current office in October 2016.

The lawsuit states that Ninja Marketing Gurus must immediately rename its conference room and remove other infringing elements, including a whiteboard with Post-It notes, a mini-fridge with bottled water from Costco and a “Chive On” poster.

“Whether it’s to figure out how to make our clients seem like they know cool slang on social media, go over individual staff wins for the past week or frantically fill out industry award applications last-minute, the Fishbowl(R) has always been a unique component of our agency,” RFA Co-Founder and Chief Idea Officer Jeff Rose said in a written statement. “Any other company thinking to make the walls of their conference room see-through and cleverly naming it a ‘fishbowl’ is obviously stealing our IP.”

Rose also noted the ability to see who’s in the fishbowl and spontaneously join in meetings has helped RFA attract “rock-star talent in our industry.”

Attempts to reach Ninja Marketing Gurus for comment were unsuccessful.

How to Communicate to Staff During M&A

Posted on by Brian Lee

INTRODUCTION

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) among health systems and IDNs seem to be a regular occurrence. In fact, PwC called 2016 the year of “merger mania.” While it’s a must to explain the benefits of consolidation to patients, stakeholders and the community, employee and volunteer communication is arguably more important. In other words, position internal communications as a priority over external communications.

Reasons include reducing anxiety about layoffs, removing uncertainty and improving morale. A Northwestern University study said “high quality communication has a positive relationship with employee outcomes, such as satisfaction, commitment and decision to stay in the organization.”

HOW YOU SHOULD COMMUNICATE TO STAFF DURING A MERGER OR ACQUISITION

  • Set goals. What do you want to accomplish from your communication efforts with physicians, nurses, PAs, volunteers, etc? You’re likely looking to kill the rumor mill, reinforce desired behaviors, have staff parrot your messages, keep staff from bolting and ensure staff feel like their needs are being met/heard.
  • Have senior leadership budget time for internal communications. Your IDN’s senior leadership is probably extra busy during the time of an M&A, but they need to devote time to staff. Write talking points for the senior leaders, and perform “media training” with them.
  • Communicate frequently. Hospital leadership may be restricted from revealing many details, but pass along what you can via email, intranet, etc., and do so on a regular basis, preferably no less than weekly. In addition, give talking points to department heads and team leaders to disseminate to their staffs and volunteers.
  • Communicate alongside the other provider. Whether you’re the acquiring health system or the health system being acquired, the leaders of both organizations need to participate in the communication process. The aforementioned Northwestern study said staff found this participation to be important. In addition, both communication departments should coordinate their efforts.
  • Plan for leaks. You may already have a contingency plan in place for external communications in case of a leak, but you need to have one for internal communications, too. Figure out what to do and what to say from pre-deal to closing day.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

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