Professor Bergh

Anderson Cooper's giggle fit is a classic!

2011-08-21T20:13:00.000-07:00

Even though the puns themselves were really annoying, I enjoyed Anderson Cooper's apparent delight in this bit...here is the 4-minute version:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPq2fsSk2Vw

I especially like the part where he says "this has never happened to me before!"

The Help a box office hit, marketed to women

2011-08-16T20:53:00.000-07:00

Earlier this summer, I "read" the audiobook of Kathryn Sockett's bestselling book, The Help, which opened in its feature film form starring Emma Stone last week. Having grown up in the 1960s, about a five hour drive from where Sockett's story takes place, I was captivated with the characters, and with the author's uncanny ability to capture the voices of the black maids whose lives were in marked contrast to those of their white employers. Like many who grew up in the South, their stories and personalities seemed familiar to me, and conjured up memories from childhood about the intersections of very different lives at the height of the civil rights movement in the U.S.

I haven't had time to see the movie yet--I hear it is almost three hours long (!)--but I was curious tonight to see what its popularity has been, what the critics and viewers are saying about it, and maybe find out how long it will be showing at local theaters since I'm pretty busy and booked solid for the next couple of weeks with work, family vacation, and building the new class...

Anyway, I discovered that The Help opened to $5 million in box office receipts its first day, according to NPR's All Things Considered report today.

Now on its sixth day at the theaters, the feature film is reported as having earned a total of $39,809,842 by Box Office Mojo.

The few reviews I scanned indicate a favorable reception: it's a film about relationships, targeted at female moviegoers.

From a marketing perspective, there was early outreach and a carefully orchestrated roll-out even before the film's wide release. Here's a good summary from Anthony Kaufman's "Speakeasy" column in the August 15 Wall Street Journal:

Disney’s distribution executive vice president David Hollis told Speakeasy that they moved the film’s release date to Wednesday because they had “a sense early on that we had something special, so we let the fans of the book and women’s date nights groups get to see it early, and get that same great grassroots thing going that the book had. And that’s exactly what happened.”

The film performed well in upscale venues, according to Hollis, but especially strong in urban markets and Southern states, with Memphis ranking the top-earning city, followed by Jackson, Miss., Chicago, Atlanta and Dallas. “The Help” will likely add an additional 150-200 theaters next weekend.

According to Hollis, there was a lot of outreach done to get African American and faith-based communities on board, with a word of mouth screening campaign initiated early on. “It lends itself to what made the book work so well,” said Hollis. “Influencers and leaders can go back to their constituencies, and then those small groups of people are exposed, and if it’s a good movie, it’s something they’re going to be recommending.”

Welcome, new students! Well, new to me, anyway...

2011-08-15T21:40:00.000-07:00

Starting in September, I will welcome two new Marketing classes of Bachelor of Arts in Management students at the University of Redlands. Well, they've been students for awhile, working alongside their classmates in their respective cohorts, but it will be my first time to meet them. I am looking forward to it: great text, lots of current issues to explore, and real-time applications and exercises to work on together. I will post from time to time, as ideas surface or conversations provoke further exploration!

Hiatus to work on master's degree!

2010-01-07T22:11:00.000-08:00

Not teaching for awhile, so I can concentrate on completing my master's degree. Taking a hiatus from this blog.

Be back in 2011!

Morning Edition on NPR salutes 41 years of "60 Minutes"

2009-09-25T19:34:00.000-07:00

Outbursts 2

2009-09-13T18:40:00.000-07:00

Add to this week's list:
Kanye West cutting off Taylor Swift during her acceptance of the "best video" award at MTV's VMA telecast...he jumped in front of her, he grabbed her mic, and said that "beyonce had the best video ever"...even Beyonce, with the camera trained on her face, was shocked.

Rude. Uncalled for.

Outbursts

2009-09-13T11:43:00.000-07:00

This week's Boneheaded Outbursts awards go to:

Senator Joe Wilson (Yells "you lie!" to the President during Wednesday night's health care speech); even McCain thought it was disrespectful Postscript: Wilson lines his reelection pockets and signs autographs following apology to Obama

Serena Williams (Profanity penalty earns defending U.S. Open Champion loss at match point)

Bob McDonnell (Virginia gubernatorial candidate drops F-bomb during candidate interview on radio)

Diane Sawyer and Katie Couric hold two of three flagship network newscast slots

2009-09-03T19:42:00.000-07:00

For the first time, two of the three solo anchors on the prestigious network evening newscasts will be women, according to a recent National Public Radio report about Diane Sawyer's ascent to the World News evening anchor slot for ABC.

Charlie Gibson is leaving the post he took three years ago, after a long career in broadcast journalism including ABC's morning news show slot co-hosting Good Morning America with Joan Lunden. Gibson retires at 66. Sawyer starts her job in January 2010 at the age of 63.

When I saw the "Frost/Nixon" movie recently, I was tickled to learn that the blonde helping prepare Nixon for his interviews with talk show host David Frost was Diane Sawyer. I hadn't paid much attention in 1972 when Watergate actually happened, being only 12 at the time.

In any event, hats off to Ms. Sawyer at this auspicious achievement in her career, having risen through the ranks of the male-dominated broadcast news world long before it became fashionable for women to be there.

Walter Cronkite dies at 92

2009-07-17T22:26:00.000-07:00

from EW.com...

CBS newsman Walter Cronkite, legendarily known as "The Most Trusted Man in America," passed away today at his home in New York at the age of 92. He had reportedly been suffering from cerebrovascular disease.

With the face of a small-town druggist, an easily-parodied delivery that was both herky-jerky and orotund (“As-tronaut Juhn Glenn...”), and a mien of utter seriousness, Walter Cronkite was the acknowledged king of the golden era of network news. Serving as the managing editor of the CBS Evening News between 1962 and 1981, Cronkite projected a professional authority and personal integrity that invested him with a credibility no contemporary journalist, operating in a more skeptical era, possesses. When Cronkite ended a broadcast with his signature “And that’s the way it is,” neither he nor his audience doubted that it was true.

Born in 1916 in St. Joseph, Missouri, Cronkite entered journalism as an undergraduate. But it was during World War II, as a reporter for UPI, that Cronkite first distinguished himself. He sent classic dispatches from battlefields in North Africa, Normandy, and from the belly of a B-17 bomber over Germany, and parachuted with airborne troops into Holland. He joined CBS News in 1950 and soon distinguished himself with his coverage of the Korean War. “He had that special quality that television demands,” David Halberstam wrote in The Powers That Be, “that audiences sense, and that is somehow intangible -- he had weight, he projected a kind of authority.”

Social Media Today Blog has important message

2009-07-16T16:29:00.000-07:00

This blog post frames the question:

Will Google WAVE Eliminate the Need for PR as Media Relations?

Check it out!

Take a look at this vid-kid

2009-07-05T16:37:00.001-07:00

I absolutely adore the expression on this kid's face when the company guy hands him the cardboard truck. This is one of my favorite TV commercials right now; it never fails to get my attention if I am multi-tasking with the TV on.

Ally Bank is making a play in the market, talking about being honest (beyond usual "fine print" tactics) in their practices, yadda yadda yadda.

I really haven't figured out what they are trying to say, but the kids' facial expression at the end of the spot speaks volumes!

Cynthia Wright of The Wright Image gives back

2009-07-03T11:26:00.000-07:00

Click on the headline above to read the latest news about friend and former colleague at California Baptist University, Cynthia Wright.

(Thanks, PressKitn!)

Cell phone revolution: people of Iran "beg to differ" with Ayatollah

2009-06-21T11:21:00.001-07:00

It's astonishing and certainly an historic moment in our world history, where hundreds if not thousands of Iranian citizens are videotaping or sending SMS messages to points around the globe giving us glimpses of the post-election chaos in Tehran.

Demonstrations. Police crackdowns. Violence. Death.

The theocracy no longer meets the needs of the people. It is clear they are unwilling to accept the "holy ordained" edict of the Ayatollah that the election results stand. The people of Iran want change: the economy, the current leadership, the integration into a greater world society. It is a nation divided. There is no outside nationality trying to take power or change things...pray for this nation, and its difficult time of change.

"A nation divided cannot stand," we learned in our own American history lessons. It is not about religion. It is about freedom to choose. In a pluralistic society, we must allow one another space, and respect, despite our differences--no matter how emotional we are about them.

Coverage: almost.at
Global Voices
"Here goes everybody," by Clay Shirky

L.A. area professor uses social media to reach Kutcher

2009-06-20T12:59:00.001-07:00

L.A. area professor uses social media to reach Kutcher

Shared via AddThis

Seeking Ashton Kutcher

2009-06-20T10:55:00.001-07:00

Okay, they say it's impossible...how can a tiny chapter of professional public relations practitioners (forgive the alliteration) get megaproducer/star/celebrity and husband of Demi Moore to Riverside to speak/make us laugh at our annual awards ceremony? And, saddest of all...we can't even set up an episode of "Punk'd" to see how Ashton would react when we offered him only $500 to show up for 20 or 30 minutes one hour east of Los Angeles where he lives?

I Tweeted this morning that I need help reaching the famous funny guy (and prolific Tweeter). Stay tuned...can six degrees (more like a thousand in this case, by the time you add up the entourage he no doubt has protecting him from pedestrian folk like me) work? We need Ashton to wow us on Oct. 21, 2009. We also wouldn't mind him giving away a Nikon camera - that would be the PR coup of the decade for our 80-member club!

Let me know if you can pass on my request to Ashton, thanks! :)

Colbert ribs Iraqi officials on show from Baghdad

2009-06-13T12:13:00.000-07:00

NPR's Quil Lawrence reported yesterday about Stephen Colbert's on-show antics as he broadcast live from Baghdad his unique brand of parody. Interestingly, Colbert's character from The Colbert Report--a "pretend" journalist--interviewed several high-level Iraqi politicians, and they received his ribbing well. Here's part of NPR's account:

The first guest was Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih. Colbert asked him about progress toward democracy.

"We are making progress," Salih said. "We are moving along, thanks to the help of this wonderful U.S. military, who have come from afar to help us and give us a chance at building a decent nation here." The troops in the audience responded with loud cheers and applause.

"Please, sir," Colbert interrupted. "Let me tell you how this works: I do the pandering, OK."

Salih protested that he meant what he said. He is one of the few members of the Iraqi government who will publicly thank American troops for being in Iraq. Salih is from Iraq's ethnic Kurdish minority, which strongly supports the American occupation from its autonomous region in the north of the country.

"Now, sir, you're a Kurd," Colbert said. "You once advocated for a separate Kurdish state. Why is a united Iraq the best answer now?"

"Life is not about perfect solutions," Salih said. "Perhaps every Kurd would like to see an independent Kurdistan still. But we all have accepted — Kurds, Arabs, Shiites and Sunnis — that a democratic Iraq will provide all of these communities of Iraq with most of what they need."

"So you're kind of like Texas?" Colbert quipped. "You'd like to be your own state, but you see the reality on the ground."

"That's a good one," Salih said, laughing.

The next guest was the head of ground operations in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Charles Jacoby. Again, Colbert demonstrated the growing power and influence of news parody. It was a rare instance in which Jacoby spoke to a journalist — or at least someone who plays a journalist on TV.

Everybody knows his name...

2009-06-09T15:45:00.000-07:00

I wrote a story on my laptop about a pleasant bartender at the Ontario International Airport "Applebee's" restaurant while waiting for a plane last week. [So that my CBU colleagues don't freak out: no, I wasn't drinking in a bar, I was there for coffee in the a.m., but happened to sit near the bar since the restaurant and bar were proximate!]

This morning, I sent the story about "Doyle" to Jennifer Dean at the Press-Enterprise newspaper, who writes and maintains a blog for moms/families in addition to her reporting duties as a feature reporter. She posted it this afternoon:

http://blogs.pe.com/moms/2009/06/riverside-resident-cheers-airp.html

[Thanks, Doyle, and Jennifer!]

L. Gann going places!

2009-06-08T22:33:00.001-07:00

I love this story! I have been getting calls for over a year from a persistent young representative for Meltwater, which offers media distribution and monitoring services online. This rep, Lawrence Gann, effectively outsold my current vendor, and we moved our services to his firm last week. So, the young Lawrence comes to CBU to train me and my ITS colleague on the use of the service and its features, and as we are chatting over lunch following the training he mentions he attended the American Idol finale party at Fox.

Lawrence had not watched ANY American Idol segments this season, and as he was sitting with executives from FOX, Chris Allen walks over and Lawrence starts chatting with him. Lawrence introduces himself first, being the friendly, confident sort. Upon introducing himself, Lawrence hears laughter from behind him as he says something to the effect of "I'm Lawrence Gann...and you are...?"

The Fox guys let Lawrence know that he is shaking hands with this year's AI winner. Chris Allen laughs, too, and says, "I guess you didn't watch the show?" Lawrence admits that he hadn't, he just came to the party at the invitation of his Fox pals.

Lawrence then had his photo made with Chris, which he sent me a copy of and I am posting here.

This kid (Lawrence) is going places!

Not everyone under 30 is glued to the tv, afterall!

2009-06-08T22:12:00.000-07:00

CBU College of Professional Studies students are its biggest fans, greatest success stories

2009-06-05T22:30:00.000-07:00

Photo taken walking by Ground Zero today

2009-06-05T22:14:00.001-07:00

I took this photo from 1 World Financial Center, while walking through an indoor breezeway to dinner at THe Grill Room, which overlooks the Hudson River at Liberty Street. The World Trade Center site, former home of the Twin Towers, is a gaping hole surrounded by the trappings of construction, but at dusk as we passed by, I didn't see any signs of work going on.

We break at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow, and I will begin to explore the neighborhood...our hotel is literally a stone's throw from Ground Zero, and I can see the Statue of Liberty from my hotel room window. Ambition to hop on the subway, too, and check out select targets as far north as 23rd Street, but staying on the southern end of the island this trip. Kids may be disappointment, because a trip to take a photo of the American Museum of Natural History would require further explore up to Central Park West, and I'm not inclined to try to cover so much ground in so little time.

PRSA Leadership Rally rocks...very organized, PRSA staff is great, and learning lots from fellow chapter officers.

2009-06-01T22:54:00.000-07:00

Interpersonal Communication » flash card maker

Mother's Day, 2009

2009-05-10T12:04:00.000-07:00

I am so blessed! Katie's friends Savannah and Alex spent the night, and we made a fabulous "girl's dinner," with everyone in the kitchen and setting the table beautifully, dressing up, candles, the whole deal. They are such amazing young ladies, even at 11 years old. Just a delight.

This morning, Alex, who is a skilled pancake "designer" (!) made a heart-shaped pancake stack for me, and Katie made the scrambled eggs, and they brought the breakfast to me in bed. I'm attaching a photo.

In addition, this really blew me away - Alex's mom, whom I've only met once, brought over a beautiful floral bouquet of long-stemmed Irises or Lilies, I'm not sure which flower family. Photo uploaded as well.

New student video below...or click on Vimeo post at right for full-screen version!

2009-04-28T13:06:00.000-07:00

CBU intramurals can be fun, and frustrating, as depicted in this video report produced by a team of Journalism students at a soccer match in mid-April, 2009, at California Baptist University in Riverside, CA. As often happens on the Front Lawn during extra-curricular athletic events at CBU, it was a sunny and BLUSTERY day.

Student vlog assignment

2009-04-18T23:48:00.000-07:00

Here are links to the 90-second "broadcast" news segments that students in the JRN220 "Podcast/broadcast" basics course at California Baptist University were assigned in mid-April, 2009:

Monica, Rochelle, Kelly...present
http://www.chicanaconfessions.blogspot.com/