This morning was beautiful beyond description.  My colleague said that Central Park looked like a Currier and Ives print.  I think it was better.  Santa Clause brought my daughter a new sled so she had to spend time this morning in the semi-steep backyard trying for distance records.  She made the fence that keeps little children and balls from spilling onto the business roadway bordering our property.

There is something to say for a white Christmas.  But they aren't just like the ones I used to know.  Having grown up in California, I never saw snow on Christmas or any other time, for that matter, unless we drove to the high Sierra mountains. 

I'm taking a day off tomorrow.  I'll write on Monday.
 

 12/25

12/24

Charlatans know this trick as well and long ago adopted it as a first step in scamming the public. 

The Washington Post yesterday had a must-read story on how the CEO of U.S. Technologies, C. Gregory Earls,  used his reputation and the reputation of well-known names like William Webster, former head of  the FBI, to lure investors into his Internet company.  The Federal Government alleges that Earls engaged in a Ponzi scheme -- that is, paying initial investors with money collected from later investors. 

The mystery is how people like this get into position in the first place so others trust them.  But masters of the game know the tricks and play them well.  They show at the right places, name-drop the right names, befriend the right people.  After punching the correct buttons long enough, they are silently inducted into a  "trusted" group of individuals the wealthy deal with. 

It would be nice if in PR we could gain credibility as easily, but it never seems we can.  On the other hand, some  PR practitioners rise quite high because they are good at insinuating themselves.

I would like to say I could see a fellow like Earls coming, but I don't think so.  He was too good. 
 

 12/23

Seton Hall University in South Orange, NJ, just a few blocks from here, has three of them.  Actually, it now has two.  It just changed the name of its Brennen Recreation Center, which was named after Robert Brennen who is in Federal Prison for fraud.  Two other buildings on campus are named after Tyco donors.  Kozlowski Hall, named after Dennis Kozlowski, is the business school.   Walsh Hall is named after a Tyco director who just pled guilty to securities fraud.   Kozlowski hasn't gone to trial yet, but the case against him looks strong.

So what is a school to do when it suffers such a PR black eye?  There is not much it can do at first because much donor money is given on the condition that the building carry the donor's name.  It's a legal obligation.  Unfortunately, this did not sit well with students who were, it was reported, unhappy, that the names were not changed immediately.

The real PR shame is that the school accepted money in the first place from individuals skirting the law.  It smacks of days when the Catholic Church accepted money from known mobsters.  In Seton Hall's defense, it  did not know that Kozlowski or Walsh were skating on the edge.  It was, however, clearer that Brennen was not ethical.  The government chased him for 10 years before it put him in jail. 

Most institutions cannot take money from just anyone, but fund raising departments do not always remember that.  For example, could U.S. political parties take donations from organizations affiliated with terrorists?  Any organization that takes money from groups or individuals who do not represent the values of the organization puts itself at risk. 

I suspect other Catholic Universities consider Seton Hall's situation a valuable lesson and are breathing a sigh of relief.