23 September 2024

Last week as discussed by the world's largest WhatsApp community of PR and comms people.

The big theme: incendiary rhetoric

I had an idea of what the week would be about before it even started. See, I try to put to each prior week's recap to bed by Sunday evening, scheduled to post sometime early on Monday, and last week I actually succeeded. And sure enough, late Sunday evening, as soon as I hit "publish later", this popped on every channel:

That's kind of weird, right? I decided not to go back and edit the scheduled post to include it but I thought it would feature prominently in the next week's chat. That was before another thing happened:

Can you believe this was more than a week ago? Anyway, small sidebar conversations ensued on the variable speeds of reporting and confirmation by various outlets, but the former president brought us back to role of fightin' words by blaming rhetoric from Biden and Harris:

“Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at, when I am the one who is going to save the country and they are the ones that are destroying the country — both from the inside and out,” Trump said in comments to Fox News Digital.

That could have been the last of it. Except, Elon. This was later taken down, and The Independent says it may the tweet that taught him a lesson . But not before it garnered millions of views.

So what's going on?

Paul du Quenoy says the Democrats have to tone it down in Newsweek.

Sen. Bernie Sanders sees it differently :

“I would suggest to Donald Trump: Tone it down. Let’s have a debate on issues, let’s have honest disagreements, but don’t start calling people terrible names or suggesting that people are communists,” Sanders said in the interview.

Meanwhile, JD Vance wanted to bring us back to the rhetoric of the week before last: pet-eating immigrants - words he considers more creative than incendiary, but nevertheless causing real issues for the people of Springfield, Ohio.

Forty-plus days to the election. Hang in there, everyone.

The Conversations

Usually I make it through all 22 chats within the wider Advisory Club community to pull out the more relatable comments and posts for those who just a want a quick skim. This week: good news and bad. I'll be even briefer than usual as I'm already a day late in a busy week. But you've missed some good stuff as a result. With apologies to all of the contributors.

Sign up here to join the general discussion .

Artificial Intelligence

We've been into Google NotebookLM for a while now.

• Dream assistant . "Imagine every interesting idea you’ve ever had spread out before you. Now, imagine that you can talk to them and have them talk to each other, making connections you didn’t see before." These guys like it .
• Wow factor. Ethan Mollick : "Google's NotebookLM is the current best "wow this is amazing and useful" demo of AI that most people will get immediately."
• How-to. I don't mind admitting I had to look up how to use it. You're welcome .

And also:

• Readwise . I may finally have to give up on analog books, but it makes me sad.
• Websites. Will they matter in the age of AI agents. Thoughts from my mate Jeremiah Owyang .
• Agency intergration. A podcast on how firms are using AI.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. For the live chat, tune in here , or follow Andrew Bruce Smith .

Behavioral Science

• Seasonal morality. How our sense of what's right and wrong changes throughout the year. Also, a good introduction to moral foundations theory.

Bio Comms

• Rate cuts. Good news for biotech, pharma and VCs with last week's cuts by the US Federal Reserve. Via Neil Flash .
• New blood group. Well how about this ?

Capital Markets

Anastasia Ivanova co-admins this discussion and offered these posts:

1. AI exhuberance. Significant share price gains in artificial intelligence-related companies are hiding weaker performance across the wider technology sector, according to an analysis by the FT.
2. Crisis of confidence. UK consumer confidence crashed in September by the most in two-and-a-half years amid dire warnings from the new Labour government about “tough decisions” that need to be taken to fix the public finances & hike taxes. It may also increase pressure on the Bank of England to step up the pace of rate cuts. SMEs and farmers will be affected.

Creative Displays Of Brilliance

From Jamie Klingler :

And Armand David likes this :

• And data is NOT everything. Intimacy is where it's at .

Crisis, Risk & Resilience

• New threat landscape. Edelman's 2024 Connected Crisis Study , shared by Rod Cartwright .

Digital & Technology

• Killer platform. Artist and researcher Ben Grosser talks TikTok addiction, the looming ban and alternate visions for online socialization.

Education & Research

• Euprera 2025. Teela Clayton : "Just back from another insightful EUPRERA Congress and think next year’s theme will appeal to many in this group." Here's the call for papers .
• And ... my short-course proposal at Luiss University for graduate journalism students has been approved. PR: Friend or Foe? And you get to study with a younger and probably less cranky version of me.

ESG & Sustainability

• Upstream change. Hard, but necessary . Via Esther Black .
• Coming clean. Businesses that try to come clean about their impact on nature can end up concealing more than they reveal . Thanks Keren Darmon .

General Discussion

• RTO. Lots of chatter around Amazon's back to the office policy.
• Strategic joy. A look at the Harris campaign approach by Maja Pawinska Sims .
• Vast surveillance. A Federal Trade Commission staff report released Thursday found that nine leaders in the social media and video streaming industry, including Meta and X , conducted "vast surveillance" of consumers to monetize their personal information. Via Elie Jacobs .
• Cause or correlation? I’m not saying being in the Advisory Club is directly correlated with this kind of recognition … but it doesn’t hurt … congrats Jane Khodos !

Job Board

Webinar: Navigating the 2024 Communications Job Market

Hosted by Hanson Search for The Advisory Club

4th October 2024, 2pm GMT

The communications landscape in 2024 has proven to be turbulent, with many agencies and in-house teams facing challenges that have significantly impacted the job market. In this talent webinar, Alice Weightman, CEO and Katie Simpson, Managing Director at ?Hanson Search will share their expert insights on the current market trends and offer practical strategies for securing your next role. They will also address any talent or career-related questions you may have.

Key Topics:

1. The realities of today’s job market
2. How to identify and pursue new opportunities
3. Effective strategies for engaging with recruiters and in-house teams
4. Tips for enhancing your LinkedIn profile and increasing visibility
5. Developing a resilient mindset to overcome challenges
6. Freelancing: Opportunities in the current market

Register here .

With special thanks to Alice Weightman and Katie Simpson !

Library

• Character Limit. Eleven WTF moments in a new book about how Elon wrecked Twitter.
• Something Lost, Something Gained, by Hillary Rodham Clinton. Reviewed here , recommended by Jamie Klingler . Also interviewed by Kara Swisher here (thanks Rachel Gilley(She/Her) and by Rachel Maddow, here .
• On Freedom, by Timothy Snyder. Ordered as soon as I heard about it here , based on his excellent On Tyranny …
• Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, on Netflix. Crazy look back at the 90s and celebrity trials, and the limits of language and perspective on male sexual abuse …

Mis/Disinformation

• New unit. A week after announcing the appointment of Nikki Haley, Edelman launches a counter disinformation offer .
• Strong suggestions. For dealing with misinformation.
• Hacking minds and machines. A Chaillot Paper delves into the phenomenon of foreign interference and the risk it poses to democratic societies. What's a Chaillot Paper? Glad you asked .
• And here's the FBI approach on addressing foreign influence.
• And here's a current example of it (Russia edit)
• And another (Iran edit).
• Met Office. Do not mess with them . Via Ann-Marie Blake .
• AI and the printing press. We also had a healthy exchange about the parallels or lack thereof between the introduction of the printing press and that of AI. Some items to consider: a podcast with Yuval Harari , a book by Jeff Jarvis, and another podcast from the World Economic Forum. Thanks Julio Romo and Robin Pomeroy .

Politics & Policy

• Oh dear. We were anticipating a CNN story about North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson. We weren't really expecting this .
• Big endorsement. Another one for Harris .
• Overseas voters. This is why a few of us spend so many weekends and evenings asking Americans where they're from.

Meet-ups

So many IRL meet-ups last week: Elie Jacobs Tamara Littleton Kate Hartley Julio Romo Shayoni Lynn FCIPR FPRCA Leah Selouk Richard Bagnall, Hon FCIPR, FPRCA, FAMEC Girish Balachandran Suzanne Sinden Nicky Regazzoni Candace Kuss Koray Camg?z Nitin Mantri Sarah Waddington CBE CDir ChartPR Stephen Waddington Rod Cartwright Lee Nugent and Ann-Marie Blake .

Thanks!