Effective, Messaging, Utility Communications, Utility Media Relations
How to Write a Press Release: Tips from Both Sides of the Laptop
Millennials are not easily frightened. When stumped by a question or assigned a task they don’t know how to perform, they Google it. I am sure members of the Boomer, Gen X or Gen Y generations would have done the same thing, had Google...
Blog, Utility Communications, PowerPoint Rules
PowerPoint & Video Conference Calls: The Rules Haven’t Changed
Someday (hopefully soon) life under COVID-19 will end. When that day comes, many of us will be able to leave our home offices and return to our company’s corporate offices. We will swap video conference calls for real face-to-face inte...
Blog, Customer, Utility Communications, Utility Customer Satisfaction, Customer Satisfaction
Customer Satisfaction: Fixing Small Problems Before They Become Big Ones
Denial, the old saying goes, ain’t just a river in Egypt. That rattling sound you hear when you drive your car? Ignore it — maybe it will go away. That pain in your back? Probably caused by sleeping in an awkward position last night....
Blog, Crisis Communications, Utility Communications
Easing Anxieties and Meeting Needs: Communications Tips During COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has upended life across our society and economy. Energy-company communicators are scrambling to keep up with the changes that are roiling our lives each day. Doubtless some communicators are dismayed when they can...
Blog
Public Speaking: How Would Lincoln Tell That Story?
Recently I had the pleasure of listening to world-renowned presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin (left) discuss her book, Leadership: In Turbulent Times at a sold-out event at the University of Colorado’s Boulder campus. Her talk...
Utility Stakeholders
Stakeholder Engagement: Build Bridges Before You Hit Walls
Stakeholder engagement is a mindset as well as a specific business practice. Energy companies are gradually accepting that their ability to conduct business requires the consent of critical constituencies, including customers, investors,...
Blog, Utility Communications, Utility Stakeholders
The Perils of Pursuing Profits Over Purpose
Craft beer is huge in Colorado, where I live and work, as well as many other places. When I travel, I always try to sample local craft brews. So it was with some dismay I read recently that one of Colorado’s largest craft brewers, empl...
Uncategorized
Gifts for Energy Communicators: Our Best-Read Content from 2019
Gifts for Energy Communicators: Our Best-Read Content from 2019 EEC Perspectives gained dozens of new subscribers this year, many of them in the last few weeks after I hit the conference circuit. For that reason, and others, we’re re-g...
Effective, Employee, Employee Communications, Employees, Organizational Culture, Utility Leadership
Changing Your Organization’s Culture One Minute at a Time
In last month’s blog, I discussed the wide gap between words and deeds among Colorado energy companies on the issue of stakeholder engagement, and how that disparity finally caught up with them in last year’s election. Sooner or late...
Effective, Utility Community Relations, Utility Stakeholders
Earning, and Keeping, Your Company’s Social License to Operate
April 16, 2019 was the day that social license to operate (SLTO) became real for Colorado’s energy companies. That’s the date that Colorado’s governor signed into law Senate Bill 181, which is transforming the business environment ...