Rob Biesenbach 
Far too many companies couldn’t make the customer service experience more aggravating if they tried. It makes you wonder if they actually are trying. Here are a few of my biggest customer service peeves. They may be small, but it’s the little daily aggravations that tend to add up to life’s major frustrations. And so … Read more
So there I was, watching Game of Thrones on the iPad, checking out the “interactive features” for a richer viewing experience, when it hits me right in the face: one of my major grammar/usage pet peeves. I trust anyone who’s studied my 10 Everyday Words You’re Misusing post either on this blog or in its … Read more
The reason most peoples’ stories are hard to listen to is that they have trouble divorcing themselves from the facts of their everyday lives. They’re slavishly devoted to chronology and detail. Sometimes, to tell a good story, you have to tell a lie or two. Not big ones. You shouldn’t make up events and characters … Read more
This election year, as in election years past, you will see one glaring error repeated over and over and over again. And it’s all a matter of simple math. This morning I had CBS on in the background and they were reporting on the numbers for and against gay marriage. They said 38% of Americans … Read more
President Obama did something very important and powerful in his announcement yesterday about gay marriage. He talked about his family and, specifically, his children: “There have been times where Michelle and I have been sitting around the dinner table and we’re talking about their friends and their parents and Malia and Sasha, it wouldn’t dawn on … Read more
Certain word pairs that look or sound alike cause a lot of confusion. I’m not talking about the ones you hear about all the time, like there and their, it’s and its and to and too. Or even the more recently problematic (and inexplicable to me) lose and loose. That’s all remedial stuff. Here’s an advanced … Read more
Much has been written about the PR business being such a stressful occupation. Lots of reasons are cited, from slashed budgets to demanding clients to cranky reporters. And while I tend to believe that much of this stress is exaggerated (these are, after all, PR people talking), there’s one major source of stress that’s often overlooked. Many PR people — especially … Read more
More than half of American workers hate their jobs, according to one study. And that may well be an underestimate, based on my own anecdotal observation any time I find myself on the train during morning rush hour. The misery hanging over those commuters is absolutely palpable. There are lots of theories for why people feel … Read more
I was meeting with a law firm the other day, trying to figure out what set them apart from the competition — their “key differentiators.” As we went over their various strengths, someone observed that “everybody else can say the same things.” And that may be true. Go to any law firm website and you’ll … Read more
In the best fiction, great characters are revealed through their actions, mannerisms and appearance. In the opening scene of The Godfather, Don Vito Corleone, dressed in a tuxedo, sits in a darkened office behind a big desk. Across from him sits a man pleading for his help in correcting an injustice. What do we learn? … Read more