Who Had the Worst Week?

So, who won the week?

  • The Denver Nuggets‘ sweep of the L.A. Lakers meant they had nine days off before starting the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat. Fortunately for Denver, the Nuggets showed no rust and now lead the series 1-0.
  • Celebrities, they’re just like us! Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez bought a $61 million L.A. mansion that has 12 bedrooms, 24 bathrooms and a 12-car garage. Not to be outdone, Beyoncé and Jay-Z dropped $200 million on a 30,000-square-foot home in Malibu. They paid cash.
  • “Sex and the City” fans are abuzz about reports that Kim Cattrall will reprise her role as Samantha in a spin-off.

Who Had the Worst Week?

So, who won the week?

Who Had the Worst Week?

So, who won the week?

Who Had the Worst Week?

  • The coronation of King Charles III takes place tomorrow, but not all Englanders are feeling the spirit. What the New York Post described as “cocky pranksters” mowed a giant penis into the grass of the famous grounds of the Royal Crescent in Bath, where one of the coronation parties is scheduled to take place.
  • If you have any spare wolves, the State of Colorado would like to talk to you. Plans to re-introduce the predators by the end of 2023 have hit a snag because neighboring states aren’t very interested in supplying them. They fear the wolves will reproduce in Colorado and then head back to their states.
  • Two weeks ago, I included PERA Executive Director Ron Baker on this list because he had been placed on administrative leave and no one would explain why. Now he has been fired, and still no one is saying why.
  • Actor Jamie Foxx has been hospitalized for three weeks for unknown reasons, and reports are that he is not getting better.
  • Stop me if you have heard this before: The EPA says Denver‘s air quality has gotten worse.
  • Digital media company Vice could be just weeks away from filing for bankruptcy.
  • The University of Alabama is having a tough spring. The school has fired baseball coach Brad Bohannon less than a week after suspicious gambling wagers were placed on the team’s games. The firing also comes just months after men’s basketball team member Darius Miles was arrested for capital murder. Star teammate Brandon Miller, who is expected to be a first-round NBA draft pick next month, was allowed to continue playing for the Crimson Tide despite allegedly supplying the gun used in the shooting.
  • Mobile phone tracking data shows that Denver‘s downtown has only returned to about 62% of the pre-pandemic traffic.
  • Jackson Mahomes, the social-media gadfly brother of Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes, was arrested for aggravated sexual battery and held on a $100,000 bond.
  • Actress/talk-show host Drew Barrymore withdrew as host of MTV Movie & TV Awards just days before the event, citing the WGA writers’ strike.
  • Two student journalists from USC covering the NFL draft were arrested for stealing jerseys intended for first-round draft picks.

So, who won the week?

Who Had the Worst Week?

  • There’s a lot of pent-up anger at Winnie the Pooh, apparently. A studio is developing an R-rated live-action/animation hybrid series about Christopher Robin. Variety described the series: “Christopher Robin is a disillusioned New Yorker navigating his quarter-life crisis with the help of the weird talking animals who live beyond a drug-induced portal outside his derelict apartment complex.” Earlier this year, a low-budget indie film, “Winnie the Pooh: Blood & Honey,” had its one-night-only run extended. The plot: Winnie the Pooh and Piglet brutally murder 11 people.
  • The biggest drama in the Denver Nuggets-Minnesota Timberwolves playoff series occurred after game 5 when the Nuggets eliminated the Wolves. Frustrated by missing a last-second shot that would have sent the game to overtime, Timberwolves guard Anthony “Don’t Call Me Goose” Edwards went on a one-man tirade, running into a security official as he ran off the court and then allegedly swinging a folding chair that struck two women. Denver Police held up the Wolves’ bus to the airport to cite Edwards for third-degree assault.
  • It was a tough week for media scoundrels. Fox News’ Tucker Carlson and CNN’s Don Lemon were both fired for, well, a multitude of sins. And NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell was fired for having an inappropriate relationship with a colleague.
  • The Riverside County (Calif.) Sheriff’s Department lost 60 pounds of meth when the target of a sting operation quickly fled in his car after the buy. The chef’s kiss: Sheriff’s Department officials criticized the drug dealer, saying his high-speed escape exhibited a “disregard for public safety.”
  • There is nothing worse than a self-inflicted PR crisis, but that is exactly what Bud Light did when it first engaged with a transgender social media influencer and then quickly backed away from that decision. It is the same three-act play I have written about countless times before: Act 1: Tweet something controversial about a 50-50 issue. Act 2: Feel the withering backlash from 50% of the people; try to quickly back away from the issue. Act 3: Incur the wrath of the 50% of people on the other side of the issue for trying to back away from it; slowly realize that you have now pissed off approximately 100% of people.
  • New CU Buffs football coach Deion Sanders told the world in his introductory press conference what he planned to do – completely turn over the team’s roster, encouraging players who went 1-11 last year to transfer other places. But seeing the sheer number of CU athletes in the transfer portal has sparked some soul-searching about the real-life impact on players.
  • A bipartisan group of county treasurers are warning metro Denver homeowners that they should expect their property taxes to increase as much as 50%.
  • Financial realities have sidelined RTD‘s plans to purchase 17 electric buses. The transit system cancelled its order when it realized it does not have the funds to expand its maintenance and operations facilities to accommodate the buses. 
  • A German magazine editor was fired for publishing an AI-generated “interview” with racing legend Michael Schumacher. The magazine promoted the interview as Schumacher’s first since he became incapacitated after a 2013 skiing incident in which he hit his head on a rock.
  • Singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran has been in a New York City courthouse this week defending himself against a lawsuit brought by the heirs of Marvin Gaye. They allege Sheeran’s song “Thinking Out Loud” stole the musical composition of Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On.”
  • New York Times v. Sullivan strikes again. Chad Burmeister, a Colorado businessman suing 9News and Kyle Clark, reportedly wound up paying a $30,000 settlement to cover the media outlet’s legal fees just to extricate himself from his own lawsuit and subsequent appeal.

So, who won the week?

IABC Colorado Hosts Corporate Communications Workshop

IABC Colorado is offering a half-day workshop focused on corporate communications on May 4. It starts with lunch and a case study from Ball Corporation Director of Internal Communications, Renee Robinson and then moves into a Communication Playbook workshop with Steve and Cindy Crescenzo of Crescenzo Communications. 

IABC Colorado Communications Workshop
Thursday, May 4 from 11:30 am – 4:30 pm
Ball Corporate Headquarters
9200 West 108th Circle
Westminster, CO 80021
Register

Who Had the Worst Week?

So, who won the week?

Who Had the Worst Week?

  • Denver’s Regis University has seen a 51% decline in undergraduate enrollment over the past decade, causing concerns about the long-term viability of the school.
  • The Wells Fargo “cash register” building downtown is a bird-killing machine.
  • Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: the Suncor refinery in Commerce City is accused of releasing harmful air pollutants. This week it was sulfur dioxide.
  • The new MLB pitch clock has shaved about 30 minutes off the length of the average baseball game, but it has had one unintended consequence: fewer beer sales. The Colorado Rockies announced they are extending last call from the end of 7th inning to the end of the 8th to combat the decline that could cost the team millions of dollars.
  • HBO is synonymous with prestigious programming (“The Sopranos,” “The Wire,” “Succession,” “Veep,” “Euphoria,” etc.), so naturally the marketing geniuses at Warner Bros. Discovery have decided to rebrand the company’s HBO Max streaming service simply Max.
  • NPR dealt a high-profile blow to Twitter when it announced it would suspend its activity on the platform due to Elon Musk’s decision to label NPR first as “state-affiliated media” and then “government-funded.” NPR said, “We are not putting our journalism on platforms that have demonstrated an interest in undermining our credibility,” which is not going to help Musk’s efforts to bring back wary advertisers.
    • PBS announced it will follow NPR’s lead, as did local NPR affiliates CPR and KUNC.
  • Much of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is underwater after a storm dumped more than two feet of rain on the city in 24 hours.
  • Likely the last time you heard about the Boeing 737 Max, it was related to the FAA’s 18-month grounding in 2019-2020 due to problem with, well, crashing. The 737 Max has reappeared in the news this week because Boeing announced it would reduce deliveries of the aircraft due to a “non-standard” manufacturing process used on parts in the planes’ fuselages. Bon voyage!
  • Fox News and AM radio host Sean Hannity is accusing car manufacturers such as Ford, Volkswagen, BMW, Mazda, Volvo and Tesla of conspiring against conservative talk radio by eliminating AM frequencies from their car stereos. The car manufacturers say that interference from electromagnetic frequencies from electric car motors causes a buzzing noise and a weak signal.
  • In an announcement that will surprise absolutely no one, promoters say that “fraudulent activity” was found during ticket sales to an upcoming concert at Red Rocks.
  • Portland edged out Denver to take the title of the nation’s top city for marijuana. You can decide for yourself whether Portland or Denver had the worst week in that scenario.

So, who won the week?

Who Had the Worst Week?

So, who won the week?

Who Had the Worst Week?

  • It’s not exactly “Ocean’s Eleven,” but the Monarch Casino in Blackhawk is out $500,000 after someone allegedly tricked a cashier into delivering them the money. You can read the details of the crime yourself, but suffice it to say that if they made a movie about this heist, a Don Knotts-type actor would play the cashier.
  • A Florida school principal resigned after she wrote a $100,000 check from the school to an online scammer posing as Elon Musk. The scammer promised millions in exchange for a $100,000 upfront “investment.”
  • Japan is on the verge of “societal collapse” due to its alarming drop in birth rates, so much so that lawmakers have introduced a host of bills – compulsory paternity leave, cancelling student debt for young parents, cash payouts for a third baby, for example – to combat the country’s population decline.
  • As expected, DIA CEO Phil Washington withdrew his nomination to lead the FAA after shaky support from Democrats.
  • The U.S. Army had to pause what had to be a multi-million dollar recruitment campaign after its star – “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” and “Creed III” actor Jonathan Majors – was arrested for domestic violence.
  • Amsterdam is awash in young, male British tourists, to the point that it is running digital ads discouraging any more from visiting
  • Xcel Energy, under fire from media and ratepayers for high prices, revealed in court documents that it could spend as much as $31 million to clean-up contaminants in the Elitch Gardens area downtown. Xcel’s predecessor, Public Service Company, operated a plant there 100 years ago. Xcel’s media relations team should be prepared for a phone call from Marshall Zelinger to determine whether ratepayers or investors will pay the $31 million.
  • Coloradans vying for a spot at a state university may find more competition in the future. A bill under consideration at the statehouse would allow Colorado universities to admit more students from out of state (who pay almost twice as much in tuition) in exchange for offering more financial aid to in-state students.
  • Sixteen candidates are vying to be Denver’s next mayor. The election is four days away, and no one has any clue who is in the lead. Is this an unintended consequence of Denver’s Fair Election Fund?
  • American Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was arrested in Moscow after Russian authorities accused him of being a spy. The WSJ “vehemently denies the allegations from the FSB and seeks the immediate release of our trusted and dedicated reporter.”

So, who won the week?

  • Longtime CBS4 anchor Jim Benemann officially retired.
  • New Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton purchased a $4.55 million home in a gated section of the Belcaro neighborhood.
  • The Colorado Rockies won their Opening Day game 7-2 against the San Diego Padres.
  • A Utah jury ruled actress Gwyneth Paltrow was not responsible for a ski accident that left a man with broken ribs and brain damage. She did, however, have to spend two weeks in a Utah courtroom, so maybe she belongs on the list above.
  • Ken Griffey Jr. has not played for the Cincinnati Reds for more than 15 years, but the deferred compensation provision in his Reds contract means he will receive $3.5 million from the team this year – making him the team’s fourth-highest-paid “player.

Auon’tai Anderson Walks into the Lion’s Den, Is Promptly Eaten

You may find 9News anchor Kyle Clark arrogant, snarky or self-aggrandizing, but he’s not a man to be trifled with. He’s created a nightly news show – “Next with Kyle Clark” –that is light years’ more informative and entertaining than the competition’s, and his Norman Rockwellian presence belies an incredibly sharp mind and a masterful approach to both television news and social media.

The latest victim to underestimate Clark is Denver Public Schools board member Auon’tai Anderson. The recent East High School shooting has put Anderson under intense scrutiny due to his leadership role in kicking police officers out of district schools two years ago. Public pressure forced the school board to reverse its position last week, and Anderson chose to accept an invitation from Clark to discuss the issue.

To put it mildly, Clark was salivating at the opportunity. First, Clark boxed Anderson into a dialectic corner that forced him to say he believes that kids who have been charged with gun violence crimes should remain in regular classrooms as long as their crimes occurred off-campus. And, then when Anderson tried to minimize his conflict with police officers, Clark went for the jugular with this epic question: “In the 2020 social justice protests, you described police officers as ‘motherf*ckers’ and said they were all corrupt. Do you still believe that police officers are ‘motherf*ckers’ and they are all corrupt?”

To Anderson’s credit, he didn’t wilt, but I’d imagine his hopes for re-election this coming November are essentially gone.

Who Had the Worst Week?

So, who won the week?

  • A lonely, three-year-old zebra at a Seoul zoo lived his best life for a few hours when he escaped and took to the city’s streets.
  • The value of the Colorado Rockies grew 6% last year to $1.475 billion. Imagine what they would be worth if they could win just half of their games. If you are keeping track, the New York Yankees ranked first at $7.1 billion and the Miami Marlins ranked last at an even $1 billion.
  • Heavy March snow has pushed Colorado‘s snowpack to 136% of its 30-year-normal.

Who Had the Worst Week?

So, who won the week?

Who Had the Worst Week?

So, who won the week?

Who Had the Worst Week?

So, who won the week?

Denver Post Low-Keys Decision to Drop ‘Dilbert’ Following Racist Comments from Creator Scott Adams

The Denver Post announced it would drop the comic strip Dilbert after creator Scott Adams made racist comments about Black people last week. The Denver Post’s decision follows similar moves by other publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the USA Today Network, The Boston Globe and others. Dilbert’s distributor also announced this weekend that it would no longer work with Adams due to his comments.

While many of those other publications issued formal statements announcing their decisions and the rationales, The Denver Post’s announcement came in the form of two sentences added to the end of a 10-paragraph Associated Press article on page A4 of Sunday’s edition: “The Denver Post is in the process of ending its publication of Dilbert. Today’s comics section was printed in advance.” I would link to it, but that article is not available on The Denver Post’s website.

Who Had the Worst Week?

  • NPR announced it will lay off 10% of its staff after experiencing a $30 million budget shortfall.
  • Expect a flurry of chaos as the Denver mayoral election approaches. Ballots will be mailed in less than three weeks and a recent bipartisan poll found that 59% of voters are undecided and that only three of the 17 candidates – Kelly Brough, Leslie Herod and Mike Johnston – are polling higher than the 4.8% margin of error.
  • A gunman shot and killed a woman in Florida, fled, then returned to the scene of his crime and killed a TV reporter covering the first death.
  • Coaches and the director of the University of Denver Junior Pioneers youth hockey team withdrew from a local tournament after one of its 12-year-old players was threatened by an opposing team member’s parent. That player, the son of Denver PR professional Margaret Fogarty, scored the winning goal in the game.
  • Several weeks after Michael Roberts announced he was leaving Westword, Conor McCormick-Cavanagh made a similar announcement.
  • Facing a recommendation from the superintendent to close three schools due to budget shortfalls and low enrollment, the Denver Public Schools board tabled a separate motion that would have raised their pay by 366%.
  • The Mormon Church has agreed to pay a $5 million fine after the SEC accused it of hiding $32 billion in assets.
  • DIA led the nation in delayed and cancelled flights in January, the result of unusually cold and snowy weather.
  • Florida beach communities are preparing for an invasion of seawood this summer that one official likened to “a Stephen King movie.” The seawood washes ashore, covering beaches and making swimming next to impossible.
  • Officials at Vanderbilt University apologized for for using OpenAI’s ChatGPT to write an email to students in the aftermath of the shooting at Michigan State University.
  • The superintendent of a Texas school district resigned after a third grader found his gun unattended in a school bathroom.
  • More Americans than ever distrust news media.
  • Passengers aboard an Air New Zealand flight from Auckland to New York City traveled 16 hours to reach … Auckland. A power outage shut down JFK and there wasn’t enough space at other airports to accommodate all the inbound international flights, so the Air New Zealand jet turned around eight hours into its flight.
  • A woman at a Miami art exhibit couldn’t believe how much a Jeff Koons porcelain sculpture looked like the kind of twisted balloon animal you’d get at a kid’s birthday party, so she tapped on it, causing the $42,000 piece to fall and shatter.
  • A passenger on a Ryanair flight who ate a full rack of ribs while occupying a middle seat has divided the internet as to whether he is a hero or villain.
  • Looking for a good vacation home? A mobile home in a trailer park in the Hamptons just sold for $3.75 million.

So, who won the week?

Aiello PR, Novitas ‘clashed on politics, clients as merger soured’

Justin Wingerter at BusinessDen: “Two prominent Denver public relations firms are entangled in a public dispute over their relations. At issue are bold claims of incompetence, bad faith and disparaging political remarks. At stake are hard-earned reputations and hundreds of thousands of dollars. … Details of their doomed plan to merge are spelled out in Denver District Court documents.”

“In late 2020, (Novitas’ Michelle) Lyng and Wendy Aiello met to discuss the idea of Novitas buying Aiello PR, so Aiello could retire. Novitas claims that a purchase agreement was approved verbally; Aiello PR denies that. Regardless, the two began working together as a joint venture. … After Southlands Mall, an Aiello client, was transferred to the new joint venture, Aiello PR didn’t receive the 10-percent cut it was supposed to. The same happened after another Aiello client, Celebration Chevrolet in Aurora, was transferred to the joint venture.”

“Worse yet, Novitas’ ‘poor work, lack of resources and lack of experienced employees’ led the car dealership to fire them both, according to Aiello PR. For its part, Novitas claims it was Aiello PR that ‘missed calls with clients and, when attending calls, was unprepared for the call, leaning on Novitas to perform all work.’ … At times, the differing social views of Lyng and Aiello were on display, according to court documents. Aiello claims that Lyng said she ‘hated Black Lives Matter’ at a business dinner, leading Aiello to admonish her for a perceived lack of professionalism. A Novitas attorney says Lyng’s criticisms of BLM were fair and made at an internal Novitas holiday party.”

“Novitas wants a Denver jury to make Aiello PR pay $330,000, plus interest and attorney fees, for breach of contract. Aiello PR wants a jury to make Novitas pay an undetermined amount for breach of an agreement, unjust enrichment, fraudulent inducement and bad faith dealing.”

Who Had the Worst Week?

  • The indie horror movie “Winnie the Pooh: Blood & Honey” had its one-night-only run extended, much to the dismay of Pooh fans. The plot: Winnie the Pooh and Piglet brutally murder 11 people.
  • Denver-based Alterra Mountain Co. has agreed to pay $17.5 million to Ikon pass holders who were not able to use them during the COVID-shortened 2020 ski season.
  • CNN morning show anchor Don Lemon was conspicuously absent from his show after he said that Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley was “not in her prime” because she isn’t in “her 20s and 30s and maybe 40s.” If you are keeping track, President Joe Biden is 80 and Republican front-runner former President Donald Trump is 76. Haley is 51.
  • DIA CEO Phil Washington, President Joe Biden’s nominee to head the FAA, has been named in a discrimination lawsuit by a former DIA employee, further complicating his efforts to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
  • Barney is back. Mattel plans to reintroduce a TV show featuring the purple dinosaur next year.
  • Michigan State University students were the latest to experience a mass shooting event. It was the nation’s 71st mass shooting event of 2023, and it occurred on just the 44th day of the year.
  • France’s defense minister apparently does not go to movie theaters but does subscribe to Disney+. We know this because this week he formally protested the depiction of French soldiers in the hit film “Wakanda Forever.” The film hit theaters last November but started streaming on Disney+ just this month.
  • Xcel Energy, which is being hammered by customers, media and now elected officials for high rates, has backed off plans to ask the PUC for another rate hike.
  • Vermont’s Islands Ice Fishing Derby was cancelled after three competitors fell through thin ice and died.
  • Microsoft’s new AI-powered chatbot is giving us a glimpse into the hell our lives may become.
  • Staffers at a Miami child care provider are accused of dressing toddlers in black face paint to celebrate … wait for it … Black History Month.
  • The Oscar Mayer Weinermobile was sidelined in Las Vegas when its catalytic converter was stolen.

So, who won the week?

Who Had the Worst Week?

So, who won the week?

Who Had the Worst Week?

So, who won the week?

Who Had the Worst Week?

  • Westword reporter extraordinaire Michael Roberts announced he is leaving, in a move that is a huge blow to the media outlet. He has spent more than 32 years at Westword, and is its most prolific reporter. His last day is today.
  • Seven western states including Colorado are days away from having the federal government unilaterally implement cuts to their allotment of water from the Colorado River. As one public policy advocate said, “Think of the Colorado River Basin as a slow-motion disaster. We’re really at a moment of reckoning.”
  • Coban Porter, the younger brother of Denver Nuggets star Michael Porter, Jr. and a member of the University of Denver basketball team, was arrested on vehicular homicide charges after a fatal accident near the DU campus.
  • M&M’s is trolling America by placing its “spokescandies” mascots on an “indefinite pause” and replacing them with comedienne/actress Maya Rudolph. While conservatives criticized the “woke” characters and liberals then criticized M&M’s “overreaction,” the fact is everyone is talking about M&M’s. We’ll wait for parent company Mars, Inc.’s Q1 earnings report before we decide whether M&M’s marketers are geniuses or idiots.
  • Meanwhile, A&W Restaurants – yes, there are still A&W Restaurants apparently – sought to steal a little of the M&M’s spotlight by announcing that its previously pants-less mascot “Rooty” would now wear them because of the current “polarizing” political environment. Winnie the Pooh, the Geico Gecko and Chester Cheetah had no comment.
  • Former Colorado Rockies star Todd Helton barely missed election the Baseball Hall of Fame, receiving 72.2% of the necessary 75% of votes. Early predictions had him making it.
  • There has been a lot of concern recently over alleged air quality issues caused by the Suncor refinery in Commerce City. To show they are responsive to community concerns, the company’s latest environmental accident was water based – releasing 40-80% more benzene than legally allowed in Sand Creek.
  • Two months after being seriously burned in a garage fire, comedian Jay Leno was involved in a motorcycle accident that left him with multiple broken bones.
  • A Kansas hunter was killed when his dog stepped on and fired a rifle in the back of the pickup he was in. I guess animals stick together.
  • Denver mayoral candidate Lisa Calderon’s official website is being held as part of a ransomware scheme. In her defense, IT security is not listed as part of her campaign platform.
  • Scientists have moved the “Doomsday Clock” to 90 seconds to midnight, the closest it has ever been to the midnight metaphor for Armageddon. Presumably the war in Ukraine is responsible for the change, but I’m not sure how that is worse than the cold war and the Cuban Missile Crisis, for example. Nevertheless, you’ve got 90 seconds, people. Use that time wisely.
  • Former Denver Broncos player Shannon Sharpe has apologized for his ridiculous behavior at a recent L.A. Lakers game. It turns out years of being a screaming voice on a hack sports TV show may actually be detrimental to your mental health.
  • Richard Steadman, the groundbreaking orthopedic surgeon and namesake of Vail Health’s famed Steadman Clinic, passed away at the age of 85.

So, who won the week?

Who Had the Worst Week?

  • The University of Texas and Texas A&M are the latest universities to ban TikTok due to privacy and security concerns. The two universities join others in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Oklahoma and South Dakota that have banned the app.
  • Gun seizures at both DIA and in Denver Public Schools hit new records in 2022.
  • Denver ranks 17th-worst for for traffic in the U.S., and drivers waste an average of 54 hours in traffic jams.
  • Philadelphia Flyers player Ivan Provorov created a public backlash when he refused to participate in a pre-game warm-up wearing a Pride Night jersey, saying it violated his religious beliefs.
  • It’s been a tough week at JFK Airport. Just days after two Delta and American Airlines planes almost collided at high-speed on a runway, a JetBlue plane hit a second JetBlue plane in the gate area .
  • Less than a week after winning the college football national championship, University of Georgia offensive lineman Devin Willock was killed in a single-car accident. He was not wearing a seat belt.
  • Harvard Medical School, perhaps you’ve heard of it, is the latest to withdraw from U.S. News & World Report’s ranking of best medical schools. Harvard’s dean said the “rankings cannot meaningfully reflect the high aspirations for educational excellence, graduate preparedness, and compassionate and equitable patient care.” 
  • Boston’s new statue honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. is not exactly winning fans. “Awkward” may be the nicest adjective that has been used to describe it.
  • A San Francisco art gallery owner has been arrested after spraying a homeless woman with a water hose to make her move away from his gallery. Video of the incident went viral on social media.
  • Twitter has seen a 40% drop in revenue as more than 500 advertisers have paused spending since Elon Musk took over.
  • Microsoft and Google are the latest tech companies to announce massive layoffs – a combined 22,000. Microsoft gets extra credit for hosting an executive event in Davos that featured singer Sting just hours before announcing the layoffs.

So, who won the week?

Who Had the Worst Week?

  • Amtrak passengers called police claiming they were held hostage when what was supposed to be a 17-hour trip from Virginia to Florida turned into 37 hours due to freight train derailment. “Stale air, dwindling food supplies, trash piling up in the aisles and a lack of timely information from the crew” contributed to what passengers called the “train ride from hell.”
  • Peloton will pay a $19 million fine for failing to “promptly report treadmill hazards and for distributing recalled treadmills.”
  • Former Cleveland Browns QB Bernie Kosar learned about the NFL’s ambivalent relationship with sports betting the hard way. Kosar was fired by the Browns from its radio broadcast team after he placed a bet on the team to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers. This item was brought to you by Caesars Entertainment, DraftKings, FanDuel, FOX Bet, BetMGM, PointsBet, and WynnBET, all of whom are official NFL partners.
  • LSU is providing star gymnast and TikTok sensation Olivia Dunne with additional security at competitions after unruly fans overran the team’s season opener against Utah.
  • West Virginia Public Broadcasting reporter Amelia Ferrell Knisely had her position eliminated after defying threats to stop reporting on the state’s Department of Health and Human Resources. Gov. Jim Justice has appointed “partisan operatives” to WVPB’s board of directors.
  • You wouldn’t think there would be much new in the world of bowling, but newfangled bowling pins have caused a (7-10) split in that community. The new “string pins” are regular bowling pins “with long cords attached to the top and tethered to string pinsetters. The string pinsetters hoist fallen pins like marionettes and lower them into place.” A study found the new pins yield 7% fewer strikes than traditional pins.
  • Police arrested a top executive of the Indian subsidiary of Wells Fargo for allegedly urinating on another passenger on a flight from New York to New Delhi.
  • Meanwhile, six journalists in South Sudan were arrested after circulating footage of President Salva Kiir wetting his pants at an official event.
  • TCU’s 65-7 drubbing by Georgia in the National Championship game was bad enough, but TCU fans endured the added insult of being rained on inside a “domed” stadium. SoFi Stadium in L.A. has a covered roof but no side walls, and heavy winds drove rain onto the upper decks that contained TCU fans.
  • Closer to home, the Colorado State Rams finished the college football season at #123 in The Athletic’s end-of-season rankings, one spot ahead of #124 University of Colorado. The Air Force Falcons led the state at #40.

So, who won the week?

‘Is PR Too Liberal for it’s Own Good?’

Chris Daniels at PR Week: “It’s not surprising to learn that PR pros, as a profession, are statistically more progressive than the U.S. population. Many communicators are also more liberal than the general population on issues of politics, society, economics and safety. That difference is massive, especially when it comes to political ideology.”

“Practitioners overwhelmingly self-identified as ‘progressive’ (68%), followed by ‘centrist’ (25%). Only 7% identified as ‘conservative’ when it comes to their politics. That’s a stark difference from the U.S. population. Only 26% of the general populace identifies as ‘progressive.’ More of them self-identify as ‘conservative’ (34%), 27 percentage points higher than PR practitioners.”

“’That measure on political ideology indicates the most risk for PR professionals and campaigns,’ says … Jennifer Scott, a clinical assistant professor for PR and corporate communication at NYU’s School of Professional Studies. Scott spent 17 years at Ogilvy, including in thought leadership, comms counsel and research and insights roles, and three years at Edelman. She says PR pros understand they’re operating in a politically polarized environment in the U.S., and audience research can lead them down a dangerous path.”

“’The danger is they see that Gen Z and Millennials, in particular, want brands to take a stand, and so even research into target audiences isn’t necessarily likely to temper the tendency to go very progressive,’ says Scott. ‘It may take a brand to a place that seems mainstream, but that, in fact, triggers a momentum of polarization. Then the brand is in trouble.’” 

Who Had the Worst Week?

  • Actor Jeremy Renner was airlifted to a hospital after suffering “a traumatic injury” while plowing snow at his home near Lake Tahoe. Renner reportedly lost a significant amount of blood when his 14,000 lb. Sno-Cat ran over him.
  • An American Airlines ground crew worker died when he was “ingested into the engine” of an Embraer 170 aircraft at the Montgomery, Ala., airport.
  • Rolling Stone ranked the best 200 singers of all time and Celine Dion was notably not included, much to her fans’ outrage.
  • Slip-and-fall attorney Frank Azar has “settled” a 20-month-old $716,000 IRS tax bill for $769,270. Fun fact: Azar’s 2017 taxable income was $3.9 million.
  • Tennis legend Martina Navratilova announced that she has been diagnosed with both throat and breast cancer.
  • Former Denver Broncos running back Peyton Hillis is in the ICU after a Florida swimming accident where he saved his children from drowning.
  • Radio conglomerate Bonneville International, which owns KKFN 104.3 The Fan and KEPN 1600 ESPN Denver, introduced a new “Denver Sports” brand this week whose name and logo are suspiciously similar to the existing DNVR Sports brand. Not surprisingly, DNVR Sports is threatening a lawsuit. Fun fact: Bonneville International is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Mormon Church.
  • A Park City, Utah, resort employee died when he was ejected from a chairlift whose line was severed by a fallen tree.
  • The Texas A&M-University of Florida men’s basketball game was delayed when the Aggies forgot to bring their game jerseys to the arena. Trainers retrieved the jerseys from the team’s hotel, but not before the officials assessed a technical foul against A&M for delaying the start of the game.
  • One of the largest personal injury firms in Colorado, the Sawaya Law Firm, is now the Wilhite Law Firm. A spokeswoman said the name change was unrelated to allegations that founder Michael Sawaya sexually assaulted and sexually battered a client in his office.
  • Southwest Airlines is offering passengers whose flights were cancelled or delayed during the holidays 25,000 frequent flyer points. The move represents the airlines’ first tangible step toward trying to repair its reputation.
  • If you have a 20%-off coupon from Bed, Bath & Beyond, you might want to use it this weekend. The retailer warned that it is running out of cash and may file for bankruptcy soon.

So, who won the week?

The Week the Mystique of Southwest Airlines Died

Southwest Airlines was founded 52 years ago with the idea of democratizing air travel. It combined high reliability, low fares and a kitschy attitude to become the nation’s favorite airline. With taglines like, “You are now free to move about the country,” and its unique open seating model, Southwest projected a sense that it was different, that it had cracked the code on how to run an airline that was both fun and competent.

There have been cracks in that mystique for several years – the last fatality on a major airline was on a Southwest flight in 2018 and there has been grumbling for some time from FAA employees about the airline’s safety practices – but this is the week that Southwest was exposed as just another airline. The company’s incompetence managing its network of flights during a brutal cold snap, combined with the resulting abysmal customer service, showed that Southwest has been coasting on its reputation for some time now.

Photo credit: CNN

Who Had the Worst Week?

So, who won the week?

  • Linhart PR promoted Kelly Brown to Account Director, and Shannon Hughes and Libby Pinkerton to Management Supervisors.
  • The Denver Business Journal has named Keith Dennis as its new publisher.
  • Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck Chief Culture & Communications Officer Lara Day has joined the Denver Fire Department Foundation board of directors.
  • Denver Public Schools superintendent Alex Marrero was named a “2022 Superintendent to Watch” by the National School Public Relations Association.
  • Cherry Creek High School head football coach and KOA NewsRadio Denver Broncos announcer Dave Logan won his fourth straight 5A state championship, giving him his 11th state title. That makes him the most accomplished high school football coach in Colorado history.
  • Empower Field is getting a $100 million renovation that includes a jumbo-tron that is 70% larger than the current one. That will allow fans in the stadium to see replays of all the Russell Wilson sacks with far greater clarity.
  • Casa Bonita announced it plans to re-open in May 2023.
  • This is the last edition of “Who Had the Worst Week” for 2022. Wishing everyone peaceful holidays and a wonderful 2023. See you next year.

The Biggest PR Disasters of 2022

Pandemics may come and go, but there is one thing we can all count on year after year: dumb decisions that result in PR disasters.

Usually, we have to count on bureaucratic corporations to lead the way, but this year we had a number of individuals rise up to show us how to truly ruin reputations. Kanye West looked at Uber and said, “Not so fast.” Elon Musk told Facebook to hold his beer. And Will Smith, well, few corporations ever managed to ruin 35 years’ worth of hard work in five, globally televised seconds.

So, who had the biggest PR disasters in 2022?


UVALDE POLICE DEPARTMENT/TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY/U.S. BORDER PATROL
The response to the Club Q shooting in Colorado Springs reminded us of the life-saving impact one or two heroic people can have. That makes the situation at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, that much more heart-wrenching. In Uvalde, 376 Uvalde Police Department, Texas Department of Public Safety and U.S. Border Patrol officers descended on the school, and for 76 minutes not one of them did a damn thing to put an end to a shooting spree that killed 19 elementary school kids and two teachers.


KANYE ‘YE’ WEST
Kanye spent most of the year proving that you don’t have to be a big corporation like Uber or Facebook to set the standard for PR disasters. Since uttering and then doubling down on his antisemitic rants, Ye has been kicked off Instagram, dropped by Adidasescorted out of the offices of Skechersdumped by Footlocker and Gap, and lost representation by CAA, United Talent Agency, and his law firm. The financial hit to Kanye now exceeds $1 billion, according to economists.


ELON MUSK
Riding a string of successful companies including PayPal, SpaceX and Tesla, Elon Musk was considered one of the world’s smartest business executives. Then his ego tricked him into buying Twitter for $44 billion, a price he later acknowledged was far too high. Once backed into that corner, you’d expect him to slash headcount and try to improve profitability at Twitter for a few quarters and then flip it. 

Well, he did half of that. Musk cut headcount but then he took about every step he could to alienate advertisers – who provide about 90% of Twitter’s revenue – by eliminating the verified “blue-check” program and offering amnesty to hate-speech purveyors. Musk may have offered the best perspective on his Twitter strategy when he Tweeted, “How do you make a small fortune in social media? Start with a large one.


FIFA WORLD CUP 2022
The FIFA Men’s World Cup is the largest, most-watched sporting event in the world, and the month-long tournament will deliver an estimated $7.5 billion in revenue to FIFA. It is a juggernaut, and you might expect that it would be run by savvy executives. Alas, the 2022 World Cup has been known more for self-inflicted wounds than any of the action on the pitch. 

Whether it was picking the repressive regime in Qatar to host in the first place, banning European countries from wearing rainbow armbands to support LGBTQ+ rights, not protecting the thousands of migrant workers who died constructing stadiums in Qatar, or blindsiding mega-sponsor Budweiser days before the start of the tournament by not allowing beer sales in stadiums, FIFA has set a new standard for corruption and complicity.


ALTITUDE SPORTS
It has now been 40 months since Comcast– and DISH-subscribing fans could watch the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche in our local market. Someone needs to tell Stan Kroenke and Altitude Sports to stop the madness.


DENVER BRONCOS
The 2022 Denver Broncos were a slow-motion trainwreck, and a reminder of the power of setting expectations. With a new head coach, a new offensive coordinator, a new offensive system and a new quarterback, the Broncos could have easily tried to get people excited about the progress they would make in year two. Instead, they raised fans’ hopes for year one and saw the backlash start at about minute 59 of their first game (an inexplicable 64-yard field goal attempt that missed).

No one carried the weight of the miserable season more than QB Russell Wilson, head coach Nathaniel Hackett and GM George Paton. Wilson has always been an odd duck, but that personality trait gets amplified (and mocked) when you are losing. Whether it was an oddly timed “Let’s Ride” or bragging about working out on the plane ride to London, 2022 was the year that Wilson was exposed as an average quarterback and a below-average teammate.

As bad as Wilson’s year was, it was worse for Nathaniel Hackett. The first-year head coach made so many unforced errors in his NFL debut that he may never be able to recover. Conventional wisdom quickly became that he was in over his head and rumors swirled that he would be the fifth NFL coach in history to be fired midway through his first season. Even former Denver Nuggets coach George Karl wanted him gone

And as bad as Hackett’s season was, the Bronco who had the worst year was GM George Paton. He was the man who hired Hackett and not only traded two first round and two second round draft picks to acquire Wilson, but then signed him to a five-year, $245 million extension before he had even thrown a pass for the Broncos. That decision looks worse and worse each week. 


FRANK AZAR
Slip-and-fall attorney Frank Azar had quite the year. In January, he sued an accountant that he hired to correct tax returns created by a different accountant whom he had also sued. He alleged negligence in both cases. In March, Azar sued an Alabama-based law firm alleging it was stealing clients through a deceptive Google ads campaign. 

And in May, Azar sued his insurance company, claiming that it wasn’t covering legal costs associated with defending him against a lawsuit by a former employee. In that suit, the former employee alleged that the Azar’s firm’s “culture of heavy drinking and drug use” during work hours forced her to leave.


DANIEL SNYDER/WASHINGTON COMMANDERS
Dumpster fires would take offense at being compared to the NFL’s Washington Commanders. Since owner Daniel Snyder bought the team in 1999, it has endured losing season after losing season, but it has been a recent string of allegations related to workplace harassment, financial improprieties and targeting his fellow owners that have kept the team in the headlines.

Snyder was forced to relinquish operational control of team after a Washington Post investigation included allegations from 40 women who had been harassed or discriminated against by Snyder or other male executives. Other headlines focused on allegations that he had cheated the NFL and the IRS by underreporting ticket sales so he could keep a larger portion of the team’s money. 

It was an ESPN report in October, though, that sent the future of Snyder’s ownership into a tailspin. That report said that Snyder had used private investigators to dig up dirt on his fellow owners to use against them if they tried to force him to sell the team. Confident the scheme would protect him, he reportedly told a colleague, “They can’t f— with me.”


WILL SMITH
Legendary investor Warren Buffet famously said, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it,” and no one proved that adage correct more than actor Will Smith. Smith spent a career building a reputation as a charming, likeable actor who could deliver audiences to anything he starred in. Like Tom Hanks, Smith recalled the era of Jimmy Stewart, a beloved actor who had a way of playing everyman characters in compelling ways. And then the 2022 Oscars happened.

In the slap heard ‘round the world, Smith inexplicably climbed on-stage and struck host Chris Rock. It was a surreal moment that instantly redefined Smith’s image, undoing 35 years’ worth of reputation-building. Smith immediately had two projects tabled, “Fast & Loose” and “Bad Boys 4,” and the summer release of his already-completed film “Emancipation” was delayed. Meanwhile, Smith’s Q Score, – an industry metric of likeability among the general public – dropped from 39 to 24, a nearly 40% decline.


CNN+
CNN invested $300 million to launch CNN+, a subscriber-based streaming news service? Thirty-five days later, they shut it down.


BILL MURRAY
Rumors of the actor’s bullying and harassing behavior have circulated for years, but it hit a tipping point in 2022 when production of the film “Being Mortal” was suspended following reports of Murray’s sexual assault against a female production assistant. That news opened a floodgate, and actors including Geena DavisSeth GreenLucy LiuAnjelica HustonRichard Dreyfuss and Sean Young all shared stories of Murray’s bullying behavior. His troubled personality hasn’t done much to slow his film career to this point, but his legacy ultimately may not be exclusively what he put on film.


BRETT FAVRE
Given that Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre’s NFL playing career ended with a “d— pic” scandal, it’s hardly surprising that he’d find himself in a tough spot again. And, unfortunately for Favre, he violated Crisis Communications 101, which is to get all the bad news out at once as quickly as possible. 

Instead, a scandal that started with Favre fraudulently receiving funds from Mississippi earmarked for an anti-poverty program in exchange for no-show speeches has slowly blossomed into a deeper investigation into his actions to use $5 million in similar funds to pay for a volleyball arena at his alma mater, where, coincidently I’m sure, his daughter plays … volleyball. Leaked text messages show Favre and the state’s former governor conspiring to make the deal happen.


FTX/SAM BANKMAN-FRIED
Crypto-bro and FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was a late addition to the list, but he definitely earned his spot by losing more than $8 billion in customer funds, tanking his personal net worth from an estimated $20 billion last year to $100,000, and finally being arrested for fraud. Bankman-Fried claimed the company was the victim of changing economic conditions, but FTX’s interim CEO told lawmakers that the company collapsed because of “old fashioned embezzlement.” Either way, everyone can agree on Bankman-Fried’s general assessment: “I f—— up.


Photo Credits

Kanye West Image: 
Image Link:https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kanye_West_at_the_Met_Gala_in_2019.png
Image Attribution: Cosmopolitan UK, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>;, via Wikimedia Commons

Brett Favre Image: 
Image Link: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brett_Favre_Super_Bowl_50.jpg
Image Attribution: Arnie Papp, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>;, via Wikimedia Commons

Bill Murray Image: 
Image Link: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bill_Murray_2014_Berlinale.jpg
Image Attribution: Siebbi, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>;, via Wikimedia Commons

Will Smith Image:
Image Link: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bright_Japan_Premiere_Red_Carpet-_Will_Smith_(39493076712).jpg
Image Attribution: Dick Thomas Johnson from Tokyo, Japan, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>;, via Wikimedia Commons

Elon Musk Image:
Image Link: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elon_Musk_Brazil_2022.png
Image Attribution: Ministério Das Comunicações, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>;, via Wikimedia Commons

This post also appears online at https://groundfloormedia.com/blog/2022/12/12/the-biggest-pr-disasters-of-2022/

Who Had the Worst Week?

So, who won the week?

RTD Names New Chief Comms Officer

RTD has named Stuart Summers, an executive from Idaho State University, as its new Chief Communications Officer. Prior to his role with Idaho State, Summers was a television reporter in Idaho.

Who Had the Worst Week?

So, who won the week?

Who Had the Worst Week?

  • Former Denver Bronco Ed McCaffrey has been fired as head football coach at the University of Northern Colorado after posting a 6-16 record over two years.
  • The Brown Palace had to cancel its Thanksgiving reservations due to a fire at the historic hotel.
  • The Denver Broncos waived running back Melvin Gordon following the team’s loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. Gordon was the Broncos’ leader in carries and rushing yards, but also fumbles.
  • A Business Insider investigation found that Amazon’s Alexa is a “colossal failure” that is on pace to lose $10 billion this year. Perhaps relatedly, Amazon recently announced plans to eliminate 10,000 jobs.
  • Luxury fashion house Balenciaga SA has apologized for a “holiday” ad campaign that featured little kids holding teddy bears dressed in bondage gear.
  • Elon Musk says he plans to reinstate accounts that previously violated Twitter’s terms of service. The shift in policy has stoked fears that hate speech will increase on the platform.
  • The Associated Press’ James LaPorta, the journalist who incorrectly reported that Russian missiles crossed into Poland killing two civilians, has been terminated. An AP spokeswomen said, “When our standards are violated, we must take the steps necessary to protect the integrity of the news report.”
  • A professional wrestler who travels Appalachia and southern states as “The Progressive Liberal” is shocked – SHOCKED – to find that conservative audience members try to hurt him.
  • Theranos founder and former CEO Elizabeth Holmes has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for her role in defrauding investors. The good news for Holmes? She has a chance of running into reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, both of whom received prison sentences this week for fraud and tax evasion charges.
  • The FIFA World Cup started this week and there have been some shocking results on the pitch (Saudi Arabia defeating Argentina, Japan beating Germany). However, much of the news has been about FIFA’s heavy-handed tactics to prevent host country Qatar from be embarrassed by its abysmal human rights record.
  • The NFL sent the Arizona Cardinals to Mexico City for its Monday night game against the San Francisco 49ers as part of the league’s efforts to export the game and its culture. The plan may have worked too well: the Cardinals fired one of its coaches, Sean Kugler, before the game for allegedly groping a woman in the Mexican capitol.
  • Gutless administrators at the University of Arizona have allowed students and others to attack student journalists at the school.

So, who won the week?

  • Richard Fierro and Thomas James are being credited for stopping the mass shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs. The pair acted quickly to disarm the shooter.
  • Could Deion Sanders be the next head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes?
  • Former Disney CEO Bob Iger, a legend who guided the company through some of its most successful years, has returned after his hand-picked successor had some high-profile missteps.

Who Had the Worst Week?

  • Ticketmaster and Taylor Swift. Good luck!
  • NBC News national correspondent Miguel Almaguer appears to be suspended. He has not appeared on-air since the network retracted his story that shared false information about the attack on U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s husband.
  • Twitter offices had to be shut down late this week amid a mass exodus of workers. Elon Musk may be proving that employees will only put up with asshole, narcissistic CEOs if there are pre-IPO stock options involved. Alas, Twitter isn’t a start-up.
  • The answer to the clue “This TV show is under fire for cavalierly using a recent murder as a trivia question” is Jeopardy.
  • Comedian and noted car enthusiast Jay Leno suffered third-degree burns on his face and hands when a vintage car he was working on caught fire. As a result, his appearance this weekend at the Bellco Theatre in Denver has been cancelled.
  • Being fired as a reporter is tough enough, but having your news director invite you to a Hardees so he can fire you just adds insult to injury.
  • Have you ever wanted to be a police chief? Apply now with the City of Aurora and you might get it. They currently have zero applications for the position. Meanwhile, it turns out the city’s new interim police chief, Art Acevedo, “has a history of misconduct and was a frequent guest on InfoWars, founded by conspiracist Alex Jones.” This should end well.
  • The University of Virginia football team cancelled its final home game after three of its players were shot and killed. A former UVA teammate was arrested for the shooting.
  • Denver-area Uber and Lyft drivers are only netting about $5.50 an hour, according to a new report from Colorado Jobs With Justice. That is about one-third of what they would make if they earned minimum wage in the city.
  • Denver Broncos linebacker Aaron Patrick has sued the NFL, ESPN, Kroenke Sports and Entertainment and the L.A. Chargers after he tore his ACL in a sideline collision at the Chargers’ stadium. He landed awkwardly on a mat covering wiring.
  • FIFA selected Qatar to host the World Cup 12 years ago, and today – two days before the 2022 FIFA World Cup starts – Qatar announced that it is going back on its agreement and will ban alcohol sales at stadiums. Budweiser has to be thrilled about its $75 million sponsorship of the tournament.
  • A truck in which actress Denise Richards was a passenger sustained bullet holes following a road rage incident in L.A. Monday.
  • The Great American Family network, a start-up competitor to the Hallmark Channel, announced it will not feature gay and lesbian couples as part of its line-up of Christmas movies. I’m guessing you can expect a lot of Hobby Lobby and Chick-fil-A commercials, and not many others.

So, who won the week?

Who Had the Worst Week?

So, who won the week?

  • GroundFloor Media | CenterTable, Turner PR, TDA_Boulder, Fortnight Collective and Booyah Advertising led the list of Colorado companies on Outside Magazine’s Top 50 Best Places to Work.
  • Marina Salais-Robbins and Haley Henning have joined Linhart PR as account executives. 
  • KALC-FM (Alice 105.9) was the highest-rated radio station in the Denver market in the latest Nielsen rankings.
  • Lisa Cutter, the only public relations executive running for a Colorado State Senate seat, was elected.
  • The Denver Broncos haven’t lost a game in two weeks (a bye week helped).
  • Pete Webb has come out of retirement to rep former Colorado Parks and Wildlife director Dan Prenzlow.”
  • Pie Insurance named Joshua Brost VP of Marketing.

Lisa Cutter Elected to Colorado Senate District 20

Lisa Cutter, a longtime member of Denver’s PR community, defeated developer Tim Walsh last night in the race for the Colorado Senate District 20. Cutter previously represented Colorado House District 25 until redistricting shuffled the legislative map. During her tenure in the House, one of her signature causes was media literacy, and she was successful in funding a Media Literacy Advisory Committee to help schools better educate students on policies and curriculum.

8 Colorado Marketing Firms Named to Outside Magazine’s 50 Best Places to Work

Outside Magazine is out with its 2022 list of the 50 Best Places to Work, and once again Colorado has dominated the list. Twenty-five businesses based in Colorado made the top 50, while California was next with just six. Interestingly, Boulder-based companies represented 12 of the 50 winners (clearly, cost of living wasn’t one of the criteria)

The Colorado communications, digital marketing and advertising companies that made Outside’s 2022 list were:

#2 GroundFloor Media | CenterTable
#3 Turner PR
#12 TDA_Boulder
#13 Fortnight Collective
#16 Booyah Advertising
#31 Choozle
#46 Backbone Media
#48 Cactus

Who Had the Worst Week?

So, who won the week?

Who Had the Worst Week?

So, who won the week?

Who Had the Worst Week?

So, who won the week?

Who Had the Worst Week?

  • Comedian Amy Schumer created a mock “Colorado” ad to promote her upcoming shows that leans heavily into our state’s abortion rights, and it is making executives at the Colorado Tourism Office uneasy.
  • University of Colorado Regent Glen Gallegos is facing an unprecedented censure for violating policies barring the mistreatment of university employees. Gallegos thoughtfully responded to the threat by saying, “A censure, it’s not good,” while also noting that he “can burn a little hot at times.”
  • The owners of a Richard Crowther-designed house in Cherry Creek are trying to stop efforts to “Tom’s Diner” them by securing landmark status on the house they want to tear down. Among those leading the effort to secure historic status is Tom Hart, the husband of DeeDee LeGrand Hart, the founder of the eponymous PR firm that has since shut down.
  • The feds say Liberty Global owes $284 million in back taxes and penalties because a scheme the company used – code named Project Soy – was not legitimate. Liberty’s accountants at Deloitte first approached the company about exploiting what it said was a loophole in the tax code.
  • Rosenberg’s Deli has closed its Boulder location, citing the lingering effects of the pandemic, inflation and an inability to get traction on The Hill.
  • The union representing RTD operators blames poor design for the recent derailment on the R Line. Video of the incident indicates that speeding and inattentiveness might have had something to do with it.
  • Sandy Hook-denier Alex Jones was ordered to pay $965 million for his lies and conspiracy theories that harmed families of the children who were murdered.
  • Fox Business News contributor Scott Martin tried to illustrate the impact of inflation by sharing that his recent Taco Bell lunch order cost $28. That claim sent the Twitterverse scrambling to research how anyone could spend that much at Taco Bell and even caused Fox host Neil Cavuto to ask in disbelief, “Wait a minute, you spent $28 at Taco Bell for just yourself?”
  • Mike Chambers, The Denver Post hockey reporter, quietly left the paper shortly after a photo appeared on social media of him hoisting the Stanley Cup while celebrating with Colorado Avalanche players. At the time, the photo raised questions as to whether he could cover the team objectively. Chambers says his departure is unrelated to the photo.
  • Stop me if you’ve heard this one before – Kanye West was suspended from Instagram and Twitter for violating the platforms’ policies. This time, it was antisemitism.
  • The hits to Gannett publications keep coming. The largest newspaper publisher in the country and the publisher of the Fort Collins Coloradoan and the Pueblo Chieftain, announced widespread cost-cutting efforts that will affect newsrooms, including mandatory unpaid vacations and voluntary buyouts. The move follows 400 layoffs the company made two months ago.

So, who won the week?

  • Children’s Hospital Colorado and GroundFloor Media won PR News‘ Healthcare Campaign of the Year for the hospital system’s “Youth Mental Health State of Emergency” campaign.
  • Colorado resorts have enjoyed an unexpected late summer/early fall jump in bookings, which is giving them optimism for a successful 2022-2023 ski season.
  • Six Colorado towns are on the list of Country Living’s “40 Prettiest Towns in America to Visit in Winter:” Glenwood Springs (5), Dunton (7), Telluride (18), Crested Butte (25), Steamboat Springs (31) and Ouray (39). All of them are beautiful, but there is no way that is the correct order.

Who Had the Worst Week?

So, who won the week?

Who Had the Worst Week?

  • Hurricane Ian has caused a once-in-500-years flooding event in Florida, and officials estimate at least 21 Floridians are dead.
  • The body of Colorado’s Hilaree Nelson, a legend in the ski climber community, was found by Nepalese searchers on Mount Manaslu. She apparently was caught in an avalanche as she scaled the mountain in an attempt to then ski down it.
  • Rent in Denver is among the most expensive in the country, driven by a 45% increase since August 2021. And in what may be a leading indicator that benefits renters in the future, Colorado home prices saw some of the steepest price drops in the nation this summer.
  • Former NFL QB Brett Favre‘s troubles continue. After reports surfaced that he helped steer $5 million in welfare funds to build a volleyball stadium at his alma mater, he has now been dropped by SiriusXM and ESPN Milwaukee as they seek to distance themselves from him.
  • Speaking of the NFL, the Miami Dolphins are under intense scrutiny for letting QB Tua Tagovailoa play Thursday night after he appeared to suffer a concussion four days earlier in last Sunday’s game. In Thursday’s game, Tagovailoa was again slammed to the ground and this time he had to be carted off the field on a stretcher.
  • You will no doubt be shocked to learn that Shotgun Willie’s has been accused of unethical behavior related to a wrongful death lawsuit.
  • Air Force is the best college football program in the state, and now we may know why. The NCAA has put the school on probation for recruiting violations.
  • Pop star Shakira has been ordered to stand trial in Spain on tax fraud charges that could net her an eight-year prison sentence.
  • Satellite images show a 10-mile-long traffic jam to leave Russia following Vladimir Putin’s efforts to conscript and mobilize 300,000 additional troops to fight in Ukraine.
  • Fast Company had to shut down its website after it was hacked and used to send obscene and racist messages through its Apple News feed.
  • Here’s hoping Coolio has a Fantastic Voyage to a Gangsta’s Paradise.
  • The CEO of Clearwater, Fla.-based PostcardMania held a staff meeting to encourage employees to defy Hurricane Ian evacuation orders and instead remain at work because, “It’s not going to be that bad.” Following a social media backlash, the company said the CEO’s remarks – delivered at a staff meeting – were “personal opinions” that did not reflect “an official PostcardMania position in any way.”

So, who won the week?

Who Had the Worst Week?

  • The University of Oregon apologized to BYU after students chanted “F— the Mormons” at last week’s football game, And in one of the swiftest examples of karma, Oregon was hosting one of its top QB recruits at the game, a Mormon who left at halftime because of the chants.
  • Phil Washington, the CEO of DIA and President Biden’s nominee to lead the FAA, was the subject of a search warrant related to alleged corruption at the L.A. Metropolitan Transportation Authority when he led that organization. I’d expect Washington to quietly withdraw from consideration for the FAA position in the coming weeks (Friday afternoon news dump?).
  • Apple completed filming a $120 million Will Smith movie just weeks before the star slapped Oscars host Chris Rock. Now the company doesn’t know what to do with the film.
  • Denver Public Schools is in a dispute with four students about who owns the rights to a podcast created by the students using school resources.
  • Barney Fife apparently transferred from Mayberry to Platteville. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation is investigating a Platteville Police officer who placed a woman under arrest in the back of his cruiser that he parked on top of railroad tracks. As he helped other officers search her car, a freight train hit his cruiser, seriously injuring the woman.
  • The Wall Street Journal wrote about growth in Colorado Springs, but many readers couldn’t get past the third paragraph when the Portland-based reporter described the city as a “bedroom community of Denver.
  • A city audit found that the Denver Police Department left nearly $400,000 in grant money for mental health support unused. The department was forced to return the money to be redistributed elsewhere.
  • I don’t know what the problem is with ants, but they are underperforming. A report this week estimates there are 20 quadrillion ants in the world – that’s 20,000 trillion, or 2.5 million ants for each human on earth. And yet they haven’t taken over anything but the occasional picnic.
  • It was a tough week for Denver radio. Four popular KUVO radio hosts have been fired or pushed out as the station and its listeners engage in a debate about what the jazz station should be. And sports radio station 104.3 The Fan cut a number of hosts this week, including longtime favorite Sandy Clough.
  • Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka was suspended for the upcoming season after having “an inappropriate relationship” with a female team employee.
  • College graduates who majored in the English Lit, foreign languages, communications, philosophy and religious studies have the highest unemployment rate. Education, health, transportation and agriculture majors have the lowest rate of unemployment.

So, who won the week?

Who Had the Worst Week?

So, who won the week?

PRWeek, Boston U. Survey Finds PR ‘Has the Ear of the C-Suite but Faces New Expectations to Deliver Value’

Chris Daniels at PRWeek: “The PR function has never been in a better position to flex its influence across multiple facets of an organization. That’s the big headline from the most comprehensive annual review of the industry, back for its fifth year. The 2022 PRWeek/Boston University Communications Bellwether Survey offers a wealth of data-supported insights to inform this hypothesis, from in-house comms functions, PR agencies, educators and tech suppliers.” …

“PR pros report feeling valued, both by their organization and executive leadership (4.03 and 4.04, respectively, on a 5-point scale). Two out of three participants agreed the comms function is involved in important business decisions. An almost equal amount, 65%, said their advice was valued in making these decisions.”

“’The function capitalized on the pivotal moment the pandemic provided in 2020,’ says Arunima Krishna, assistant professor of PR at Boston University’s College of Communication. ‘The latest results show comms has continued to grow in importance, and this gives a strong indication that its influence is here to stay.’”

Who Had the Worst Week?

  • Denver Public Schools board member Auon’tai “Tay” Anderson was ticketed for speeding in a DPS school zone when he was running late to greet students on the first day of classes.
  • Speaking of DPS, Denver students have enjoyed snow days forever, but now they are getting “heat days.” This week, 31 DPS schools were put on alert to close early due to temperatures approaching 100 degrees. Forty-eight DPS schools still do not have air conditioning.Juul
  • E-cigarette manufacturer Juul has agreed to pay nearly $440 million to settle allegations it marketed its products to minors.
  • Rocky’s Autos, which perfected, if not pioneered, the art of the campy car commercial, will close its doors after 40 years. Pour one out for the “Shagman.”
  • Miles Robinson, a member of the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team that will compete in the FIFA World Cup in a few months, was arrested at an Atlanta bar when he swiped a shot off of a drink tray and refused multiple times to pay $5 for it.
  • The Pentagon has halted deliveries of the F-35 fighter jet because Lockheed Martin sourced a part from China, violating federal defense acquisition rules.
  • It was a tough week for journalists – former CNN anchor Bernard Shaw and NPR correspondent Anne Garrels both died, and Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative reporter Jeff German was murdered, allegedly by a county administrator who had been the subject of several of German’s articles.
  • An analysis of NFL teams finds that 28% are using some variation of former Denver Broncos head coach Vic Fangio’s innovative defense, yet Fangio remains out of work this season.
  • Carnegie Mellon University is dealing with a backlash after one of its professors shared on Twitter that she hoped Queen Elizabeth II’s death was “excruciatingly painful.”

So, who won the week?

Irony Alert: DPS School Board Member Tay Anderson Ticketed for Speeding in a DPS School Zone

Denver Public Schools board member Tay Anderson didn’t even make it to the start of the first day of classes in the 2022-2023 school year before creating a new controversy – he was ticketed for speeding outside Montbello High School on his way to welcome students on their first day of school.

Credit to Tay – the guy knows how to stick to his messaging. Instead of accepting blame for speeding and quietly paying the $285 ticket, his statement to media focused on police brutality and criticism of the police for “being visible outside the school building on the first day of school.”

Ukraine Enlists Support of PR Firms to Encourage Investment

Caitlin Oprysko at Politico: “Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture and Information Policy has enlisted the help of several American and European PR firms to launch a campaign aimed at attracting businesses and investors to the war-torn country, according to an outline of the effort filed with the Justice Department this week. Although the British conglomerate WPP announced the partnership with Ukraine’s ministry of culture in June, the DOJ filings this week offer more insight into who will be involved in the initiative as well as its general scope. GroupM Poland is coordinating the effort, but the firm’s U.S. arm as well as several other WPP subsidiaries including Ogilvy, Hill + Knowlton Strategies and Hogarth, will work on the multi-pronged and global initiative to signal that ‘Ukraine is still open for business and has the potential to be a key cultural and digital technology European hub,’ according to the documents.”

Who Had the Worst Week?

So, who won the week?

Who Had the Worst Week?

So, who won the week?

  • John Dakin, the Vail public relations executive who handled media for three World Alpine Ski Championships, was inducted into the Colorado Snowsports Museum’s Hall of Fame.
  • Andrew Hudson is celebrating the 25th anniversary of his influential Jobs List. I have no data to back it up, but I would guess it is the most-used jobs site in Denver.
  • Kate Stabrawa, a proud alumna of Ohio State, has launched her own consulting firm, Horseshoe Communications. Football fans will understand how her firm’s name and her alma mater are connected.
  • Allison Gerdes was promoted to Director of Internal Communications at UCHealth.
  • Kelly Collins was promoted to Employee Communications Manager at Lockheed Martin.
  • Ivan Popov has been named Digital Media Associate at the ACLU of Colorado.
  • A “triple-dip La Niña” may bring higher-than-normal snowfall to Colorado’s ski resorts this winter.

Who Had the Worst Week?

So, who won the week?

‘People Over Prime’ TikTok Campaign Targets Amazon

Taylor Lorenz and Caroline O’Donovan at The Washington Post: “A coalition of top TikTok stars is pledging to cease all work with Amazon — including shutting down storefronts and halting new partnerships with the e-commerce platform — until the company meets the demands of the Amazon Labor Union.”

“Boasting a combined following of over 51 million, the group of 70 TikTok creators says that the campaign, called the ‘People Over Prime Pledge,’ is designed to pressure Amazon to meet the requests of its workers, which include a $30 minimum wage, increased paid time off and halting activities the group considers ‘union busting.’ “

Who Had the Worst Week?

So, who won the week?

Who Had the Worst Week?

  • No doubt the venerable Denver strip club Diamond Cabaret has been the source of many a communicable disease outbreak, and this time it might be monkeypox.
  • Denver Public Schools paid $2.1 million to settle allegations that it misused AmeriCorps funds.
  • Verizon is scrambling to upgrade its 911 call-routing technology in Denver after media reported that its system routed 911 calls to dispatchers in Aurora during a recent high-profile shooting.
  • What’s to blame for downtown Denver’s increased violence? Food trucks!
  • The U.S. Forest Service halted construction on a Keystone chairlift that would access a new 555-acre, 16-trail expansion. That action was in response to the resort mistakenly building a temporary construction road in protected alpine tundra.
  • Glass windows on the exterior of a downtown Denver apartment complex have been shattering due to heat.
  • An airline passenger who brought two McDonald’s sausage McMuffins on a flight from Indonesia to Australia was fined the equivalent of more than $1,800 for failing to declare “potential high biosecurity risk items.
  • Jeff Bezos’ $500 million unfinished yacht was towed from its Rotterdam shipyard in the middle of the night because officials refused to allow him to partially disassemble a bridge that it would be too tall to clear once finished. Outraged at the request, locals had threatened to pelt the yacht with eggs and tomatoes when it passed the historic bridge.
  • Warner Bros. spent $90 million to make the movie “Batgirl,” but the result was so bad that the studio has completely shelved it – it won’t appear in theaters or on streaming services.
  • After more than 14,000 episodes, NBC has relegated “Days of Our Lives” to its Peacock streaming service, ending the soap opera’s 57-year run on broadcast TV.
  • Restaurants are tough businesses to start with, and now a review scam is making life even more difficult. Scammers are leaving one-star reviews and then demanding a ransom to remove them.
  • WNBA star Brittney Griner was found guilty of drug charges in a Russian show trial. The best odds of her being released are a prisoner swap.

So, who won the week?

Who Had the Worst Week?

  • What do you not do when you are smuggling 29 pounds of cocaine through Mesa County? Drive 110 mph on I-70.
  • Mike Willis, the director of Colorado’s Office of Emergency Management, looks like a dead man walking after a Denver Post profile of his threatening and bullying behavior. There’s no way Gov. Jared Polis wants this guy on the payroll as he campaigns for re-election.
  • Want to take a leisurely stroll through a former Superfund clean-up site? Good news! An appeals court gave its approval to continue constructing trails at the site of the former Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant.
  • Anglers 1, Fish 1: A 100-pound sailfish that was being reeled in lunged onto a fishing boat, impaling a 73-year-old woman.
  • A chess-playing robot broke a 7-year-old opponent’s finger during the “Moscow Open.” In understated fashion, the president of the Moscow Chess Federation noted, “The robot broke the child’s finger. This is, of course, bad.”
  • Deranged-billionaire-mad-scientist-frenemy Elon Musk made headlines this week for an alleged affair with the wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin that ended their friendship and led to Brin’s divorce.
  • Residents of Yamaguchi, Japan, have come under attack from monkeys “that are trying to snatch babies, biting and clawing at flesh, and sneaking into nursery schools.”
  • A jury ordered cable company Charter Communications to pay $7 billion in damages to the family of a woman who was brutally murdered by one of its installers.
  • Your boss won’t give you a $1.6 million annual bonus? Just give it to yourself! That line of reasoning led to a guilty plea by Weber Shandwick’s now-former CFO. He embezzled $16 million over a decade from the PR firm.
  • Coyotes ate six of Martha Stewart’s pet peacocks. Celebrities … they’re just like you and me!

So, who won the week?

PRSA Colorado Announces ‘Gold Pick’ Special Award Winners

PRSA Colorado announced the Special Award Winners it will honor at its 2022 Gold Pick event in August:

  • Dawn Doty, University of Colorado Boulder, Swede Johnson Lifetime Achievement Award
  • Jackie Clark, HolcimUS, Public Relations Person of the Year
  • Joelle Martinez, Latino Leadership Institute, Business Person of the Year
  • Anusha Roy, 9News, Newsperson of the Year
  • Nora Thomas, Nora Thomas Ltd., Joe Fuentes Rookie of the Year
  • Cori Pope, Keeton Public Relations, Mentor of the Year
  • Shannon Hughes, Linhart Public Relations, Chapter Service Award
  • Denver Water Public Affairs, Public Relations Team of the Year

2022 Gold Pick Awards Event Details

Thursday, August 25, 2022
Denver Water
1600 W 12th Ave
Denver, CO 80204
4:30-6:00 pm Networking Reception
6:00-8:00 pm Awards Presentation 
Register to Attend

‘Is 18 Minutes Enough Time for a Subject to Comment?’

Erik Wemple at The Washington Post: “One line in Bloomberg News’ Wednesday story about the ongoing lawsuit Dominion Voting Systems v. Fox News was unimpeachable: ‘Fox … didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment on the filing. ‘Immediately,’ in this case, meant 18 minutes, according to a Fox News spokesperson.”

“That’s how long Bloomberg News reporter Erik Larson gave Fox News to comment for an article alleging that Dominion ‘said some executives and hosts at the network still haven’t handed over any records related to its coverage.’ The headline: ‘Fox Executives in $1.6 Billion Lawsuit Haven’t Handed Over Records, Dominion Says.’ Larson cited a July 18 court filing for the scoop.”

“As it turned out, that July 18 filing was actually the public version of a document filed a month earlier on June 17 relating to a discovery dispute between the two parties. Fox News secured an extension until July 1 to turn over certain documents. After Larson’s initial story was published, Fox News told Bloomberg News that it had met that deadline. Had Bloomberg waited for that comment, it would have avoided some trouble. ‘Eighteen minutes doesn’t sound like fair to me even in this day and age,’ says Leonard Downie Jr., a former executive editor of The Post.”

Who Had the Worst Week?

So, who won the week?

Great Moments in Media Relations

Don’t kill me, I’m just the messenger.

Saudi government media consultant Nicolla Hewitt explaining to representatives of The Washington Post that the Saudis would not allow the paper to attend a government briefing following President Biden’s visit. The background: Washington Post journalist James Khashoggi was murdered and dismembered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul at the order of Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman. Hewitt works for Qorvis Communications.

Who Had the Worst Week?

  • Denver is the third most expensive city in the country for Uber passengers, behind only New York City and Nashville. The average cost of a six-mile ride in Denver is about $33.
  • How bad have travel delays and cancellations been in Europe this summer? Delta added a flight from Heathrow to Detroit with no passengers just to deliver 1,000 pieces of stranded luggage.
  • Colorado has the fourth-most lightning deaths in the nation, and Coors Field and Rocky Mountain National Park have been identified as “hot spots.
  • Average monthly car payments in the U.S. have hit an all-time high, and 13% of them are more than $1,000 per month.
  • Meanwhile, car manufacturers are looking at subscription services offered by tech companies like Microsoft and Adobe with quite a bit of jealousy. How do I know? BMW has just put heated seats on a subscription plan that costs $17/month.
  • A second round of mediation between Comcast and Altitude Sports failed to end the stalemate that has prevented a vast majority of Coloradans from watching the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche over the past three years. So what have you missed? In those three years, the Nuggets have made the playoffs three times and seen center Nikola Jokić win the NBA MVP award twice. And the Avs, you may have heard, won the Stanley Cup.
  • If you are tired of listening to people talk about their Wordle wins, it could get worse. Hasbro is launching Wordle: The Board Game.
  • The Timberline Steaks & Grille restaurant at DIA is the highest-grossing restaurant in all of Colorado, but competitors will have a chance to take its crown – if only briefly – while it has its liquor license suspended for 30 days (it served a minor). The restaurant has appealed the decision that could cost it hundreds of thousands of dollars. Records show that 35-40% of the restaurant’s $6.3 million in sales are alcohol.
  • ABC News published an obituary for Ivana Trump without removing its “Do Not Pub” warning for editors. It’s common practice for news organizations to pre-draft obituaries of notable people and store them in the system for when they are needed.

So, who won the week?

Denver7 Planning Move to RiNo

Thomas Gounley at BusinessDen: “After selling its real estate at the corner of Speer and Lincoln last year, television station Denver7 is eyeing a move about three miles north. The ABC affiliate with the call sign KMGH, which brands itself ‘The Denver Channel,’ hopes to move its operations to the existing building at 2323 Delgany St., although the deal isn’t completely done, station general manager Dean Littleton told BusinessDen this week.” …

“The two-story 2323 Delgany St. building is about 85,000 square feet, according to property records. It was originally built as a warehouse, but repositioned as an office building several years ago. The property is in the Denargo Market area of Five Points and the RiNo Arts District.” …

“The move will represent the first major real estate shake-up in two decades among Denver’s primary TV stations, which are all clustered within a mile of each other south of downtown. The last change occurred in 2000, when KDVR/Fox31 moved into its building at 100 Speer, across the street from Denver7.”

Uber Spokeswoman Who Joined in 2015 Blames Pre-2017 Uber Employees for Being Unethical, Potentially Criminal Hacks Who Harmed Company’s Reputation

Associated Press: “As Uber aggressively pushed into markets around the world, the ride-sharing service lobbied political leaders to relax labor and taxi laws, used a ‘kill switch’ to thwart regulators and law enforcement, channeled money through Bermuda and other tax havens and considered portraying violence against its drivers as a way to gain public sympathy, according to a report released Sunday.

“The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, a nonprofit network of investigative reporters, scoured internal Uber texts, emails, invoices and other documents to deliver what it called ‘an unprecedented look into the ways Uber defied taxi laws and upended workers’ rights.'”

In a written statement, Uber spokesperson Jill Hazelbaker acknowledged ‘mistakes’ in the past and said CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, hired in 2017, had been ‘tasked with transforming every aspect of how Uber operates … When we say Uber is a different company today, we mean it literally: 90% of current Uber employees joined after Dara became CEO.'”

(Editor’s note: Uber Spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker joined Uber in 2015.)

Who Had the Worst Week?

So, who won the week?

Who Had the Worst Week?

  • A mountain lion continues to roam downtown Denver. On the bright side, maybe he will eat a scooter-rider or two.
  • If you are planning to fly out of DIA this holiday weekend, good luck! And if you have a shy bladder, you may not want to use the restrooms at the airport. Passengers on planes may be watching you.
  • Tyler Tysdal, husband of former Fox31 anchor Natalie Tysdal, was sentenced to six years in prison for defrauding investors in what prosecutors said was a Ponzi scheme. In June, Tysdal sold the family’s $3.1 million home to help pay back investors. The terms of his sentencing agreement shaved years off his prison sentence based on the amount of restitution he made.
  • For the second straight year, life expectancy in Colorado dropped. Experts say COVID-19 and drug overdose deaths are to blame.
  • The annual Investigative Reporters & Editors (IRE) conference was held in Denver last week, and things may not be going well for those who attended. Amid reports of a widespread COVID outbreak, the conference organizers issued a post-event alert suggesting attendees be vigilant about symptoms.
  • An employee at an Atlanta-area Subway was shot and killed after putting too much mayo on a customer’s sandwich.
  • The SEC fined Ernst & Young $100 million after hundreds of the accounting firm’s employees cheated on a … wait for it … ethics test.
  • The Pac-12 Conference is reeling after two of its most-historic schools, USC and UCLA, announced they are leaving to join the Big 10.
  • Independence Day marks roughly half way through the MLB baseball season, which is a good time to evaluate how the Colorado Rockies are doing. A quick check of the standings shows they currently are in last place in the NL West. Safe to say, the Monforts are not the Kroenkes.
  • A bar-hopping Japanese IT consultant overindulged and lost a flash drive that held the birth dates, addresses, bank account numbers and tax details of all 465,000 residents of the city of Amagasaki.
  • Ben Affleck’s 10-year-old son backed a $250,000 Lamborghini Urus into a $110,000 BMW SUV. Celebrities … they’re just like you and me!

So, who won the week?

  • The Colorado Avalanche won the Stanley Cup for the first time in 21 years. And Denver fans largely managed not to riot afterward.
    • A Denver couple had the Stanley Cup delivered to their home after a mix-up with Avs captain Gabe Landeskog’s address.
    • The Avs completed the 2022 championship sweep – the Denver East Angels won the high school national hockey championship and the University of Denver Pioneers won the NCAA hockey championship.
  • Windsor native Sophia Smith was triumphant in her return to Colorado as part of the U.S. women’s national soccer team. She scored two goals in the team’s 3-0 win over Colombia at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
  • Ketanji Brown Jackson was sworn in as the first Black woman in the history of the U.S. Supreme Court.

‘The Great Resignation is Over in PR’

Chris Daniels at PRWeek: “Employees have been calling the shots in the PR job market, as demand for talent escalated last year and maintained a furious pace. The all-out war to attract and keep talent led to double-digit pay raises, enhanced benefits packages, signing bonuses and staff dictating where and how they want to work. That was then. Now economic factors are turning the job market into one favoring employers. … According to industry recruiters, the PR job market is showing signs of, if not a downturn, at least the fear of one. 

“’Employment contracts are taking a little longer to get approved,’ notes Larry Brantley, president of executive search firm Chaloner. ‘Procurement and leadership are watching spending on new hires a lot more closely than last year. They are concerned a recession is around the corner, so organizations are being a lot more measured and cautious. They don’t want to hire too fast and have to make adjustments and downsize later.’” 

Avs Win Stanley Cup, Set New Record for Damaging It

The Colorado Avalanche could only post the second-highest post-season winning percentage (.800) on their way to winning the NHL championship last night, but they did set one new record: fastest team to damage the Stanley Cup. Phil Pritchard, the so-called “Keeper of the Cup” who works for the Hockey Hall of Fame, said the Avs managed to dent the trophy just five minutes after receiving it, which he said was “a new record.

Photo: Sportsnet

Who Had the Worst Week?

So, who won the week?

  • Tennis star Naomi Osaka has partnered with NBA star LeBron James to launch a media company that will create scripted and unscripted television series, documentaries, anime and branded content.
  • The Colorado Avalanche are one win away from clinching its third Stanley Cup championship. Meanwhile, the Colorado Mammoth defeated the Buffalo Bandits to win the National Lacrosse League championship.
  • Colorado State’s David Roddy was selected by the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the NBA draft.
  • Trumpet, a magnificently be-wrinkled and be-jowled bloodhound from Illinois,” won Best in Show at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

Who Had the Worst Week?

  • Denver Public Schools board member Tay Anderson has been accused of a lot of things by a lot of people – some legitimate, some not – but the latest is that school board President Xóchitl “Sochi” Gaytán is now accusing Anderson of intimidation and plotting a possible coup.
  • Denver was not selected by FIFA to host World Cup matches in 2026. An expert speculated that other cities’ willingness to offer city- and state-backed financial incentive packages when Denver’s bid had none likely hurt Denver’s chances.
  • Colorado kids are in crisis, according to a recent survey by the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment. The survey of middle- and high-school students found 40% experienced feelings of depression in the prior year, up from 35% since the last poll in 2019, and more than half of respondents said they experienced stress on a daily basis.
  • WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon has stepped down while the company’s board investigates whether he used $3 million in company money to cover up an alleged affair with a former employee.
  • Montana is reeling from devastating floods, and no one knows where its governor is.
  • Golfer Phil Mickelson recently played in his first Saudi-backed LIV golf tournament despite acknowledging that the Saudis are “scary sons of bitches” who killed Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. This week, he played in his first U.S. tournament since the comments, the U.S. Open, and shot an abysmal eight-over 78.
  • USA Today has removed 23 articles by journalist Gabriela Miranda that it said included “misattributed quotes and in some cases may have fabricated interviews and sources.

So, who won the week?

Profitability Survey Finds PR Firms Stage ‘Incredible Comeback’ Following the Pandemic

O’Dwyer’s: “Profitability was up last year for North American PR agencies, according to an annual industry survey conducted by PR merger and acquisition advisory firm Gould+Partners. Gould+Partners’ latest Benchmarking report, which analyzes key factors affecting PR firm profitability, found that North American PR agencies witnessed operating profits averaging 19.7 percent of net revenues (calculated as fee billings plus markups) in 2021, up from 18.2 percent in 2020 and a 2.3 percent increase from pre-COVID 2019’s 17.4 percent.

“ ‘19.7 percent average operating profit is an incredible comeback for the PR industry,’ Gould+Partners’ Managing Partner Rick Gould told O’Dwyer’s.”

“The survey’s findings discovered that profitability was especially high at the largest firms: PR agencies with revenues in excess of $25 million netted average operating profits of 21.3 percent in 2021—up from 20.2 percent in 2020—indicating both increased organic growth as well as growth via acquisition. Firms with between $10 million and $25 million in revenues netted 20.1 percent profitability last year, up from 17 percent in 2020. Firms accounting for between $3 million and $10 million in revenues netted profitability of 19.5 percent profitability, up from 18.1 percent, while the smallest firms—those with under $3 million in revenues—netted the smallest profitability, 15.8 percent, flat from 2020.”

In Memoriam

Brad Bawmann was a force of nature. Not like a tornado or a hurricane, but more like the tides – quiet, measured and calm, yet undeniably important and impactful. He built his firm, The Bawmann Group, into one of Denver’s most-respected, capturing a who’s who of clients, particularly in the healthcare and nonprofit industries.

But work was just a piece of Brad’s life. He was always concerned with issues bigger than himself, and that was demonstrated yet again when he traveled to Krakow, Poland, earlier this year to help refugees from Ukraine. And you couldn’t have drinks or lunch with him without seeing him beam with pride as he shared stories about his wife, Wendy, and his kids, Phoebe and Oliver.

Brad passed away unexpectedly this weekend from complications of pneumonia. He was 59.

‘Edelman Multicultural Practice Grows 68% in Less than Two Years’

Ewan Larkin at PRWeek: “Edelman’s multicultural practice has grown 68% since its launch in November 2020, executives at the firm said this week. Following the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery two years ago, Edelman felt the need to formalize and accelerate its involvement in multicultural communications. The agency began by establishing a racial justice comms taskforce, then expanded by building a U.S. multicultural practice that operates across its sectors.” The practice is on track to amass $8.2 million in revenue by the end of the fiscal year.

Who Had the Worst Week?

So, who won the week?

‘Wells Fargo Announces Pause of Policy That Led to Fake Job Interviews’

Emily Flitter with The New York Times: “Wells Fargo is temporarily suspending a hiring policy that led some managers to conduct sham interviews of nonwhite and female candidates following a report by The New York Times highlighting the practice, the bank’s chief executive, Charles W. Scharf, told employees in a letter on Monday. Instituted in 2020, the bank’s ‘diverse slate’ policy stipulated that at least half the candidates interviewed for open positions paying $100,000 or more in annual salary needed to be ‘diverse’ — a catchall term for racial minorities, women and members of other disadvantaged groups.” …

“The Times reported (recently) that a former employee in the bank’s wealth management business had complained that he was being forced by his bosses to interview people for jobs that had already been promised to others, just to meet the ‘diverse slate’ requirement.”

Wells Fargo has a history of diversity issues. You may recall that in 2020, Scharf apologized after blaming the bank’s lack of diversity on “a very limited pool of Black talent to recruit from.”

Linhart Hires Two, Promotes One

Linhart Public Relations hired Mallory West as a senior account executive and Josh Gaydos as an account executive. West joins Linhart from Golin in Chicago and she will will handle local and national media relations, content development and digital marketing, along with other communications activities, for several clients including the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, Graebel Companies; Know Labs; Safe Rx; and Spire Storage. Gaydos previously was Director of Principal Operations for the Jaime Harrison for U.S. Senate Campaign in South Carolina. He will support clients such as  Black Hills Energy, Graebel Companies and Transitional Energy.

Linhart also promoted Sari Winston to account executive. She will continue to support a variety of clients, including Chocolove and Safe Rx, with media relations, research, social media, digital marketing and graphic design services.

Scream Celebrates 25 Years

Congratulations to Laura Ledermann and the team at Denver’s Scream Agency, which is celebrating the agency’s 25th anniversary.

“Scream Agency could never have reached where we are today without our dedicated team and supportive clients who have helped us reach our goals and continue to push us to do better and be better,” says Ledermann, founder of Scream Agency. “It has been a privilege to work with a variety of brands to serve our communities and the planet through our core values.” 

Who Had the Worst Week?

  • Denver was named the nation’s 9th most-rat-infested city.
  • A lifeguard shortage means that five Denver city pools will not open this summer.
  • Colorado home values are inflated by 38.5% above the expected trend line, indicating that our housing market is the most overpriced it has been in three decades. For context, the housing bubble that burst in 2008 was only 20% above the expected trend line. Pop!
  • Denver landlords have no legal requirement to disclose lead pipes to their renters. Denver’s Department of Public Health & Environment requires landlords to inform renters about peeling or deteriorating lead paint, but not about lead pipes.
  • Southwest Airlines is suing the state of Colorado over the “Colorado Healthy Families and Workplace Act,” a move that could reduce sick leave benefits for all Coloradans. The Act establishes sick leave standards that are in conflict with what Southwest currently offers, and Southwest has already been fined more than $1 million for violations of the Act.
  • Two workers died when a coal pile collapsed at Xcel’s Comanche power plant in Pueblo.
  • Millions of miller moths will invade Colorado this month. If you find them irritating, you are “selfish” and lack “compassion,” according to CSU entomologist Maia Holmes.
  • Wild Animals 2, Humans 0: A woman was trampled by a moose in Breckenridge and a bison gored a woman in Yellowstone National Park.
  • Actress Amber Heard has been ordered to pay $10 million in damages for defaming actor Johnny Depp.
  • The U.N. says that a sand shortage is about to become a “global crisis.” You read that right: a global sand shortage.
  • Deranged-billionaire-genius-mad-scientist
  • Elon Musk has ordered Tesla employees to return to the office full-time immediately or face termination.
  • Swedish people were roasted this week after a Reddit post claimed that many refuse to feed guests. The post claimed that some Swedish families do not invite their children’s visiting friends to eat with them at mealtime, leaving them instead to play alone while the family eats.
  • ESPN basketball announcers Jeff Van Gundy and Mike Breen missed game one of the NBA Finals last night after testing positive for COVID-19.
  • JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon says that there is an economic “hurricane” on the horizon, caused in large part by shifting Federal Reserve policies and the war in Ukraine.

So, who won the week?

Acquisition of 9News Parent Company Would ‘Kill Journalism Jobs, Undermine Local News’

Jon Schleuss, the president of the largest union of journalists, is calling for the the Biden Administration to urge the FCC to reject an attempt by hedge funds Apollo Global Management and Standard General to acquire TEGNA, the parent company of 9News:

“I urge you to call on the Federal Communications Commission to block the takeover of TEGNA, one of the largest local broadcasting television station groups, by Wall Street mega-funds Apollo Global Management and Standard General. This proposed transaction would kill journalism jobs, undermine local news and raise prices for American families”

“Wall Street firms behind this transaction secured billions of dollars in financing by apparently planning to cut journalism jobs. In addition to forcing dedicated local reporters to take ‘the longest walk a parent has to make’ to tell their children that mom or dad lost their job, such brutal cuts also would undermine local news. With less local news, communities will suffer from lower voter participation, higher taxes, more corruption and increased partisanship.”

‘Why Fourteen Fox31/Channel 2 Stars Have Left the Stations Since Last Year’

Michael Roberts at Westword: “Denver TV stations have long experienced significant turnover, with reporters and anchors typically leaving one outlet in favor of another. But over the past year-plus, the pace of such departures has increased markedly, and many of those moving on have done so not to climb the broadcast-journalism ladder but to start over in entirely new careers. This phenomenon is epitomized by the action at affiliated stations Fox31 and KWGN/Channel 2.”

Who Had the Worst Week?

So, who won the week?

Who Had the Worst Week?

So, who won the week?

  • Esteban Hernandez left Denverite to join the Axios Denver team.
  • The possibly misnamed Rock & Roll Hall of Fame announced its 2022 class, and it includes Duran Duran, Eminem, Dolly Parton, Carly Simon, Lionel Richie, the Eurythmics and Pat Benatar.
  • The famous axe from the movie “The Shining” will soon take up residence at Estes Park’s Stanley Hotel, which was the inspiration for the Stephen King thriller. An anonymous donor purchased the axe at auction and has loaned it to the hotel’s new movie-memorabilia museum and film center.
  • Children’s Hospital Colorado is the first pediatric health care system in the country to provide free education and career training for its staff members.