Wall Street Journalist

The Smalley's 'Cruise America' Forgets Lessons of Customer Service

Brothers Randall and Robert Smalley Jr. run Cruise America, the largest RV rental company in the United States.

Founded in 1972 by their father, Robert Smalley Sr., a one-time president of car rental giant Hertz, Cruise America should know customer service better than most companies.  But somewhere along their path to success, it seems the Smalley's have taken a detour down the road of permitting their agents to treat customers poorly.

Theirs is a case study of business owners forgetting who they serve and what niche they occupy.  You can find my full report at Examiner.com.

Hitch a ride with 2 Washington Post journalists as they drive the recession

Washington Post journalists Theresa Vargas and Michael Williamson have spent three months driving North and South, East and West, reporting on the impact of the recession on America and Americans. They've logged tens of thousands of miles and hundreds of interviews.

Their series, Half-a-Tank, provides some surprising insights into the resiliency and resourcefulness of the American people.

I met with Theresa and Michael last week when they were passing through Colorado.  You can read my profile of them and their series at Examiner.com.

Spotlight on Oral Mucositis Newswire in Wake of Senator Kennedy's Death

A new website providing news and resources to the Oral Mucositis community is in the spotlight in the wake of Senator Edward M. Kennedy's death on August 25, 2009.  The senator died after a year-plus battle with a malignant brain tumor.

The Oral Mucositis Newswire, launched earlier this month, surmises that prior to his death the senator suffered from oral mucositis, a side effect that impacts virtually all head and neck cancer patients who receive radiation and chemotherapy.

"I've undergone many rounds of chemotherapy and continue to receive treatment," Senator Kennedy wrote in a first-person article published in the July 27th edition of Newsweek magazine.  The Massachusetts Democrat further disclosed that he had undergone proton-beam radiation therapy at Massachusetts General Hospital.

In a post titled, "In all probability, Senator Kennedy also suffered from Oral Mucositis," the Oral Mucositis Newswire notes "While Kennedy's illness calls attention to brain cancer and advances in its treatment, the degree to which the senator was impacted by oral mucositis remains a mystery."

The Oral Mucositis Newswire goes on to say that the annual incidents of oral mucositis in all cancer patients vastly outnumbers the number of brain cancer victims."

Oral Mucositis Newswire is written and published by TJFR Consulting Company, which provides strategic media relations consulting and related editorial services.  One of TJFR's clients in the health field is Access Pharmaceuticals, a maker of an FDA-approved treatment for oral mucositis marketed as MuGard.

A Politically Conservative Journalism School? Calling Rush Limbaugh

This story originally ran at Examiner.com

This is an open letter, asking that my favorite radio talk show host, Rush Limbaugh, untie the ‘other half of his brain’ and let it loose upon America and the world.

Limbaugh, at once the most loved and reviled radio personality in the world, is also unquestionably the most listened to commentator – be it on radio, television or in print.  Since last January when he openly expressed his wish that President Barack Hussein Obama fail in his effort to remake America as a socialist-leaning government, Limbaugh’s already huge audience has overrun its banks with fresh listeners.

For three hours each weekday, unless he is off golfing, the self-proclaimed founder of the Limbaugh Institute for Advanced Conservative Studies, brings reason, logic and a wicked sense of humor to some of the most heated political topics of our day. 

Rush is a master at tweaking the political elite – especially liberals, and doubly especially Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Barney Frank and President Obama.  Rush revels at goading Democratic Party members into hate-filled rants against him and his beliefs.  Often, in fact, I cringe, at how literally his critics take his comments, when they should be wise enough to understand he is just baiting them.

But bash Rush they do and with each taunt, like the old children’s ditty, it bounces off of Rush and sticks to them.

One constant tune uttered by Rush over the years has been about the poor state of journalism in our nation.  Rush coined the phrase “Drive-By Media,” to describe agenda-driven journalists who, like drive-by shooters, only visit and investigate a story long enough to do prodigious damage. 

Of late, Rush has come to describe the national news media, especially CNN, The New York Times, The Associated Press and Reuters, as the ‘State Run’ media, because rather than bring objectivity to their news dispatches, the preponderance of national news organizations are behaving like extensions of the Obama administration’s public relations/propaganda ministries.

As a life-long journalist and journalism junkie, I was not predisposed to accept Rush’s vitriol against my profession and my colleagues.  I went into journalism idealistically, hoping in the post-Watergate era that I might expose government and corporate malfeasance in the style of The Washington Post’s Woodward and Bernstein.

But as much as I fought Rush’s branding most journalism in our country as defective, I’ve come begrudgingly to acknowledge that he is fundamentally correct.  Our nation’s news media, when it comes to reporting on many of the most important topics of our times, are derelict in their duties.

Rather than serving as the Fourth Estate, as our founding founders envisioned, a preponderance of news outlets have left the dog house – where they are supposed to remain vigilant and unwelcome critics of entrenched power – and have moved into the cozy confines of the White House.  Oh, but to have President Obama bestow upon you the favor of asking a question at a Presidential news conference or giving you a pat on the back for your coverage!

For anyone who doesn’t listen to Rush (even if you hide in the closet while doing so), he always remarks that he ties half his brain behind his back just to keep fair his battles with those political leftists who aren’t as intellectually gifted.  His talent, after all, is “on loan from God.” 

I write this today hoping that Rush will at last let loose his brain’s other half.  Specifically, I want him – as the true patriot that he is – to see that without an independent, potent, news media our nation and freedom cannot flourish.  His three hours a day, paired with powerful allies in the likes of Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, Hugh Hewitt, Dennis Prager, Monica Crowley, Mike Gallagher, and in Denver, Mike Rosen, aren’t enough to offset the hundreds of weekly broadcast hours and giga-tons of newsprint dedicated to espousing the shallow, march-along reporting of the liberal drive-by, state-run media.

So I plead with Rush, who is anything but an ‘organization’ man by nature, to help me and other like-minded conservatives fund, build and operate The Rush Limbaugh School of Journalism, an actual, online-based journalism school where a fresh generation of American patriots can train to engage the liberal media with all its biases.

This is not a joke.  I really would like to build such a school and I have the credentials to make it so.  Our nation's well being demands this.

By offering courses online, the Limbaugh School would not be geographically constrained.  Indeed, non-Americans who love liberty, self-reliance, capitalism and truth would be welcome to enroll as well.  With no bricks-and-mortar campus to maintain, tuition would be quite reasonable, a necessity due to the Obama Recession.

Like any good capitalistic enterprise, the Limbaugh School will be for-profit and for the public good simultaneously.  It will draw upon conservative thought leaders and the tiny minority of clear-thinking reporters and opinon writers at news organizations such as The Wall  Street Journal, The Washington Times and Fox News to serve as adjunct faculty.  We will offer accredited graduate degrees in journalism and most students should be able to complete their studies in under two years.

This is an idea whose time is here.  I am willing to be the catalyst to move this from a concept to reality.  But I’ll need lots of help and Rush is just the man to lend his voice and his connections to this project.

So Maha Rushie, I’m appealing to you publicly to help give birth to a new kind of news media, i.e. the old kind of news media.

In addition to your own prodigious radio legacy, the Limbaugh School of Journalism will be a fitting testament to your life’s higher beliefs and best efforts.  Please call!

'World's Dumbest PR Blunders' Welcomes Whole Foods to the Fold

This story originally ran at Examiner.com

Set aside for a moment, if you will, the question of whether or not you agree with the views of John Mackey, co-founder of Whole Foods Market Inc., concerning health care reform.

Clearly the nation is deeply divided on the topic and Mackay has both ardent allies and determined detractors.

What I think is the more enduring question for other businesses, senior executives and their public relations consultants is the wisdom – or lack thereof – of any prominent company executive voicing a conservative public opinion on a topic that is certain to rub his or her liberal customers the wrong way.

Before addressing the wisdom or stupidity of Mackay’s decision to express his beliefs, a brief recap of last week’s events is in order.

On Wednesday, August 12th, The Wall Street Journal ran an Op-Ed submission from Mackey in which he opined “the last thing our country needs is a massive new health-care entitlement that will create hundreds of billions of dollars of new unfunded deficits and move us much closer to a government takeover of our health-care system.”

Rather, Mackay urged “less government control and more individual empowerment” and offered eight ideas of his own that he believes will work much better than those being touted by the Democrats in Congress and President Obama.

Cries of foul arose immediately from those on the Left, including many previously loyal Whole Foods customers whose interest in organic, environmentally friendly, health-conscious foods have been a large reason that the Austin, Texas-based food and drug chain has become the 10th largest supermarket outlet in the nation.

Instantaneously, the blogosphere began to buzz with complaints from angry Whole Foods customers.  The company’s own web site, which features customer forums, gave rise to dozens, then hundreds, and eventually thousands of unhappy and pointed comments.

By Saturday, August 15th, as Fox News noted on its web site: “Calls to boycott Whole Foods Market are growing louder and more sophisticated…” 

Whole Foods went into full damage control mode, which included a public mea culpa to its customers who were offended by Mackey’s opinion and ideas.  “John’s intent was to express his personal opinions – not those of Whole Food Market team members or our company as a whole,” the company noted.  “We offer you a sincere apology.”

Frankly, Whole Foods merits its own chapter in my voluminous book, “The World’s Dumbest PR Blunders.”

Let me note, for anyone who wonders, that I think Mackey is absolutely right and that his eight suggestions – including health-related tax and tort reforms – make a whole lot more sense than the 1,100-page incognito health care takeover that Congress is hawking.

But Mackey, whose customers tilt disproportionately toward the Left, fails to understand the very people whom he serves.  Worse, after showing some backbone – a dumb PR mistake, if not a noble one – his company throws both the man and his ideas under the bus – making Whole Foods look every bit the fool it is.

In America in the 21st century, you can’t be in business and express strong views on social or political issues unless they adhere to left-wing doctrine.

Keep in mind that the Left and the Right don’t think or act alike in America. 

The Left will boycott any business, any cause or any person who fails to march (publicly at least) to the drumbeat of their doctrine. 

The Right, in contrast – and in my opinion weakly – will continue to frequent movies that star Sean Penn, Susan Sarandon and other conservative bashers; the Right will buy the albums of Barbra Streisand, the Dixie Chicks, and other ‘America is always at fault’ promoters; the Right will shop in chain stores and restaurants that flaunt their ‘green’ records as a response to fictional man-made global warming; and the Right will continue to watch NBC, ABC and CBS, even as their network newscasts serve as propaganda organs for the Obama administration and left-wing dogma.

Summing up, here is how Whole Foods goofed and the PR lessons the company overlooked.

1.    It’s okay for company executives to speak out in sync with liberals, but never, ever on behalf of conservatives.

2.    If you have the courage (or stupidity) to ignore lesson #1, at least have the sense not to apologize for speaking the truth.

In some idealistic society, Whole Foods’ John Mackey would be a hero.  I think he is. In an effort to bring logic to a public issue that is sorely lacking in reason, he thought out and then wrote out his own ideas on how to help our country and those who lack proper medical insurance.  He should be lauded for his effort, even from those who don’t support his plan’s specifics.

But this isn’t that idealistic society.  Free speech and freedom itself are anything but free.  In 2009, to speak your mind – if you reside on the right of the political spectrum – is to invite public derision. 

Mackey and Whole Foods walked into a left-wing hornets nest from which they will feel the financial stings for years to come. 

The bottom line is this:  Business executives should stay away from public discourse unless they are liberals or unless they love their country and our way of life more than they love their income.

Patriots be warned!

Banning Flu Shots At All Denver Pharmacies? Ridiculous!

If it were safe and affordable, would you be willing to get a flu shot at your neighborhood Walgreens or Rite Aid?  How about a King Soopers or Safeway?

No doubt that seems like a silly question, given that millions of Coloradoans have done just that since flu vaccines became readily available in the early 1990s.

Indeed, my local Walgreens on East Colfax not only offers in-store flu vaccinations, my daughter (age 12) can get a Human Papillomavirus (cervical cancer) shot; my mother (age 81) can get immunized against pneumonia and shingles, my son (age 17) can get travel vaccines against Yellow Fever, Thyphoid Fever and Japanese Encephalitis, and my wife (age 29-plus) can get a Tetanus booster.

Getting poked while picking up beer and Rogaine is no longer a big deal.

If on the other hand, I go to my family dentist and want to have my teeth cleaned using a mild sedative to calm my severe dental phobia, in Colorado I may soon face a serious obstacle. 

The link between in-store flu shots and in-office mild sedation dentistry may not be obvious.  But it is abundantly clear to anyone who understands that medicine, public health and profit-incentives are all inextricably linked. I have studied this dynamic for many years and actively consult companies and professional groups impacted by it.

The widespread availability of immunization shots at supermarkets, pharmacies, discount retailers and even department stores has been a boon to public health in the United States.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been a particularly strong advocate.

But originally the administration of vaccines anywhere other than hospitals and doctors’ offices was stoutly opposed by many physicians and health regulators.  Opponents insisted public health was at risk. Privately, no doubt, these same opponents realized the change threatened their ability to charge the public over-priced fees for administering such shots in their own offices.

Yet time and again, the dynamic duo of “convenience” and “access to care” has proven to be uppermost in the public interest.  The more barriers state and federal regulators can remove between people and health care – without compromising safety – the more people avail themselves of such care and the less they have to pay for it.

That lesson, however, seems entirely lost on the 13-member Colorado State Board of Dental Examiners  (CSBDE) – all appointees of Governor Bill Ritter -- who on July 9th will hold open hearings on proposed changes to state dental regulations that will make access to quality, safe, family dental care more difficult and far more expensive.

As did regulators in the early 1990s, the CSBDE promoters of this unnecessary and unwise change claim they are acting on behalf of public safety.  But the facts don’t support the need for any change to existing Colorado dental regulations, which one could fairly argue are already too restrictive to meet the standards of convenience and access to care.

Rather, the CSBDE, or more precisely a few key members of the dental board, are pushing for tougher regulations to combat the financial threat to their own practices posed by the increasingly popular method of treating adult dental phobics known as oral sedation dentistry.

Without using needles or IVs, family dentists in 39 states and all of Canada can administer a mild oral sedative – basically a time-tested pill, to adult dental patients who suffer from severe fear and anxiety and otherwise avoid seeking oral health care altogether.  These family dentists, already licensed in their respective states, typically receive extra training in oral sedation and equip their offices with extra safety equipment.

Indeed, the American Dental Association, the leading national arbiter of safe dental practices, extensively reviewed and recently updated its guidelines for oral sedation and ADA members voted overwhelmingly to support the procedure for everyday dentists with reasonable additional training.

As for public safety, oral sedation has been used to safely and effectively calm millions of Americans following ADA-generated guidelines and existing state regulations.  In fact, the oral sedative treatment is so much more popular than IV sedation for dental phobics, that it is one of the fastest growing specialty methods of adult dentistry.

And there is the rub. 

Members of the CSBDE have seen oral surgeons and other highly trained dental anesthesiologists losing business to general dentists who have passed weekend training courses in oral sedation.  And these dental specialists understand that soon, just like doctors who used to charge $50 or $75 a visit to administer a flu shot, the wider availability of oral sedation will cut into their bottom lines.

So the CSBDE members, led by Eve Bluestein, a Boulder MD and oral surgeon, trot out the old canard that public safety is at risk and tighter regulation of oral sedation is necessary to protect public health.

Bunk!

As with flu shots that protect the particularly susceptible from serious illness and death, the continued availability of oral sedation offered by Colorado’s general dentists means that much misery and even some lives will be saved by permitting Colorado residents to get help from their family dentist rather than having to seek out and pay up for self-interested dental specialists.

The Colorado dental board’s own statistics indicate that the number of dentists in the State is dwindling and is forecast to continue to decline.  For Dr. Bluestein and her allies on the CSBDE that is good news because it means more business and higher prices ahead for their individual practices. 

But for Colorado’s residents, it can only mean higher prices, longer waits and even less incentive to tend to oral health.

The answer is to trash these unnecessary and restrictive proposed changes to State regulations and pay attention to the very mission enunciated by the state’s Department of Regulatory Agencies:  “…what is good for consumers is good for business.”

What is good for Colorado consumers is to make going to a safe, licensed, oral sedation dentist as easy and convenient as running to Albertson’s for milk and a bottle of aspirin.

For more information:

Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies

HOLERADO: THE Mile-High Cry Against Self-Interested Colorado Dental Regulators