Blog

Analyzing Ryan Braun’s apology

I never believed Ryan Braun was telling the truth last year, and I certainly didn’t believe anything in his apology. I’ll admit, he did a few things that you’re supposed to do, which is say you’re sorry and take complete blame (e.g. “I have no one to blame but myself”). But from there,  you could tell he’s still lying. Here’s one example:

In paragraph four, he makes up an excuse, saying “I was dealing with a nagging injury and I turned to products for a short period of time that I shouldn’t have used.” However, his ex-friend Ralph Sasson alleges in a lawsuit that Braun has been doping since his college days.

At this point, I’m inclined to believe Sasson. Braun is trying to portray a “woe is me” reason for doping, as if there’s an acceptable reason for cheating, especially if it was just one time. No one dopes just one time. I’m sure Braun has been cheating for most, if not all, of his career.

I also was disappointed with Braun’s half-assed apology toward the sample collector Dino Laurenzi Jr., whom Braun threw under the bus. Braun says, “I sincerely apologize to everybody involved in the arbitration process, including the collector, Dino Laurenzi, Jr.” but then moves off the subject. Laurenzi should be allowed to punch Braun in the face.

Actually, everyone should.

Pointless press releases

A local company (name withheld) distributed a press release today indicating that it was a sponsor of an annual event that took place one month ago. Here are the first two paragraphs:

Madison Opera recently staged the 12th annual “Opera in the Park” for the city of Madison. This free annual event is a grand musical celebration that presents highlights from the upcoming Madison Opera season, opera classics and Broadway show tunes. “Opera in the Park” is performed at Garner Park, a Madison city park that features a natural hillside amphitheater. The event is an accessible and inviting experience for everyone from first-time opera goers to long-time opera enthusiasts.
XYZ Company has been a major sponsor of “Opera in the Park” since its inception in 2001. Sustaining financial contributions are given to help make the event possible each year. Donated equipment rentals and many hours of audio expertise perfect the awe-inspiring sound and romantic atmosphere that “Opera in the Park” audiences love.

What is the news value of this press release? I can’t imagine any editor, reporter or blogger would read beyond the headline, let alone decide to do a story on this. Plus, as a sponsor, this company already received recognition.

I caution clients to avoid distributing press releases unless there is obvious and significant news value. Otherwise, all you’re doing is conditioning the media outlet to ignore you, and that will hurt you when you do have something important to say.

If you have to pat yourself on the back, like this company did, then do so in a blog post for your company website and add some personal thoughts. That’s where this “story” belongs.

Finally, don’t get me started on how bad the lede is.

Use Toggl for time tracking

I admit, I used to have employees send me their billable hours via email, then I would aggregate their time into Excel spreadsheets. It was an inefficient process, to say the least.

Now our office is using Toggl. The free version is pretty good, while the paid version is just $5/person/month. [Update March 1, 2016: the fee is now $10/person/month billed monthly, or $9/person/month billed yearly.] Continue reading “Use Toggl for time tracking”