Jumping off the cliff

I'm a big movie fan so I often resort to great scenes or lines from movies to define moments in time.  So it's only fitting that as I launch my blog (finally) I can only think of Paul Newman and Robert Redford in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid."  The posse is closing in on them and they are standing on a cliff and the only place to go is to take a hundred foot jump into a river.  The Kid tells Butch he can't swim and Butch laughs and says "Hell kid, it's the fall that will kill you."  So let's jump.  It's time.

My intention with this blog is that it be representative of who I am both personally and professionally.  I run a public relations firm by day (and night sometimes) but I'm also a husband, father, stepfather, grandfather, golfer, music, and movie lover, a political junkie, a rabid Kansas Jayhawk and sometimes I even find time to finish a book.  My challenge will be to find some common threads between all this and what is important to me in my profession now.

After 30 years in journalism, politics and public relations I believe the most important thing any of us as individuals or as representatives of our various organizations can do is give back.  And today that can take so many forms and can happen in so many different kinds of venues.  It is exciting.  Technology has made the world a small place and yet it can also put electronic barriers up between us.  The antidote to that is to take action and get involved and make a difference.

At my company we talk about helping organizations to become Citizen Brands.  A Citizen Brand is an organization that is ethical and responsible in its actions and is active in giving back to the society that is supporting it.  It can be a for profit company dependent on consumers to buy its products and services or it can be a not for profit organization dependent on donors to support its mission.  Either way, any organization is made up of its people and it can only be a Citizen Brand if each person is in their own way - a Citizen Brand.

So that is what I hope to explore here and hope that my view of the world is one that triggers ideas and opinions from those that read this.  We can only truly each be a Citizen Brand if we are open to learning from each other and from the world around us and everything that is in it.

There, I jumped off the cliff and the water is fine.  Fortunately, unlike the Sundance Kid, I can swim.

Comments

[Jeff Risley]

Excellent post. I'm glad your voice is now in the blogosphere.

[Andy Woolard]

Here's to the start of a great conversation.

[Michael Carter]

Mike - Glad you are out in cyberspace. You do have a lot to say that needs to be available. However, I have to say, Risley and Woolard are complete suck ups. How do these guys live with themselves! ;-). - Carter

[Mike Swenson]

Since they helped push me off the cliff, I don't view their comments as sucking up as much as relief that I jumped in the river.

[Marty McDonald]

I appreciate the interest in the Friedman article and your apparent sensitivity to Fair Trade.

As far as what you call "Citizen Brands", I'm curious to know how more succinctly you define that? I see Hostess on your client list. Is that what you would consider a "Citizen Brand"? Or Sonic? I can see you have some non-profits on your list of clients, which is great. These seem likely to be "Citizen Brands". But what determines who is a "Citizen Brand"? You say they are ethical--does giving back to the community alone define a "Citizen Brand?" And how is this relevant to what you do--does Barkley partly pursue Citizen brands, or do they just come into your airspace by chance?

Perhaps I just need more clarification--a company that gives back to its community is surely a good thing, but oughtn't every company consider what it makes as well, and how that impacts its stakeholders?

[Bill Fromm]

Very interesting? How do I start one of these? Who do I call?

[Bill Fromm]

Very interesting? How do I start one of these? Who do I call?

[renaissance costumes]

Hey.. Congratulations on your new blog. I wish you all the best. :)