“You lie!”—Representative Joe Wilson (R-South Carolina) to President Obama during the President’s September 9th health care address to both houses of Congress.

It is emblematic of America’s sadly degraded and unceasingly hateful political discourse that the most memorable line from the President’s health care address came not from his speech, but from a verbal insult flung by an obscure, southern back-bench Republican. Students of history will recall that South Carolina is known for this sort of thing: a congressional predecessor of Wilson’s, Preston Brooks, savagely beat Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner with a cane in 1856 over differences about slavery and, of course, the opening shots of the American Civil War were fired in that state. more »

Is the economy in a state of disrepair?  Yes. Are companies making necessary cuts to staff sizes as a result?  Yes. Are recruitment and retention of talent still main concerns for corporate leaders? Yes. In response to the latter challenge–hanging on to those employees who deliver the best results–a report commissioned by the Institute for Public Relations (IPR) and the International Communications Consultancy Organisation (ICCO) released the following strategies for reducing turnover:
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The relationship between customer care and a company’s reputation is becoming more and more apparently with each passing day–and with each passing crisis spawned by lackadaisical service on the part of some company or executive. A report from the Society of New Communications Research and Nuance Communications, shown in full as the iPaper above, further analyzes this link, ultimately drawing conclusions and making recommendations on how best to approach customer relations in the context of an always-on social media world. more »