Colorado Energy Office Poster Child of Gov't Waste

As a member of the Business Leaders for Responsible Government of the South Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce, I pay close attention to how government spends our money. Maybe I should say how government wastes our money.

As I write this the national deficit is well north of $16 Trillion. If you still haven't figured out why we're in such a deep, dark and dangerous hole, look no further than the Colorado Energy Office.

In this story by 9News KUSA, we find out the folks at the energy office have been a bit lax in accounting for our money.

Some examples:

• The agency spent $1500.00 to send an employee for training. This after the employee had resigned a month earlier.
• Another line item listed $25,000.00 for "memberships." To what we don't know.
• All sorts of our money was spent on travel, conferences and the like with no expense reports filed by those who went.

It all adds up. Big-time.

The Colorado Energy Office can't account for $252 Million dollars in spending between 2009 and 2012. WTF? (I'm not referring to the last three days of the work week)

The Pueblo Chieftain reports that "Auditors found that between 2007 and 2012, the agency had no comprehensive annual budget for 34 programs and couldn’t determine the amount spent on any of them. Auditors reviewed eight of those programs in depth, finding that staff couldn’t identify goals or whether any of them had been achieved."

Most of the money came from "Federal Stimulus Funds." A better name would be OUR TAX DOLLARS. Where the heck do people, especially at agencies like the Colorado gang think this money comes from?

The bottom line here is this isn't by any measure an isolated incident. Not just in Colorado but the entire government from Federal to the most local of agencies.

Meanwhile Colorado Energy Office interim director, Kevin Patterson, told lawmakers that fixes have begun. Too late Kevin. We don't need fixes, we need to get the money back, we need those who blew it on a good time to be punished. It's called accountability.

But these days, government and accountability is an oxymoron. Thus, "We the People" lose. Every time.

Brian Olson
Owner/Consultant
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you" (We also love to blow the whistle when called for)

Odds and Ends.

A couple of topics this morning, so here we go.

Watson wins the pennant! Watson wins the pennant!

In a case of man vs machine, machine wins. Big time. I think PC Magazine did a great job in its post game coverage. I love this quote: "Watson had become a personality. Viewer's marveled over the computer's quirky bet choices."

Kudos to Denver's 9News for updating their website. They've pioneered multiple information pipelines in the market place, but never rest on their laurels. The new site, viewed here purely as a consumer is clean, elegant and easy to seek out and find exactly what I'm looking for.

Denver is recognized around the nation as one of the best cities in broadcast journalism. Everyone in this town works very hard to bring you the news each day. Very, very hard.

As consumers, we all benefit.

Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you"

Denver PD: Let's go to the video.

The Denver Police Department is suffering some image problems. To be fair, most police department do. But recent allegations of excessive force and more than a few people wondering if it's the police or the gangs that control downtown after dark has DPD taking their message to YouTube. Watch the clip here.

Personally and professionally, this isn't how I'd do such a video. It comes across like a movie trailer for a Bruce Willis film. Far too theatrical. They lost me at the slo-mo jump over the garbage can.

In a report about it by 9NEWS, DPD Detective John White said "It was one of the things that we wanted to do to kind of illustrate, show our community; this is what your police department does, these are the types of perils that your officers put themselves in to keep you safe."

The video cost $2,000 to produce, paid for by the Denver Police Foundation.

Being a cop is a dangerous job. I can only imagine the emotion and adrenalin flow when chasing a bad guy. We need police to do just that. The job after all, is to protect and serve.

But this video doesn't serve the goal of educating us about what they do. A better option would be a direct message from real officers about the realities of what they face each day, and why they choose to do it. The focus should be less on special effects, and more on message. We'd all be better served.

Like all such efforts, it's designed to start the conversation. In this case, I'm not sure DPD will be happy with the conversation they started.

Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you"

Early Risers are Informed Risers

"The Early Bird Gets the Worm"

I'm not a big fan of worms, but I am a news junkie and local news outlets are realizing that more and more of us are waking up early. I just read an article in TVSpy (A fave among those in broadcast journalism) about several news outlets expanding their morning news to 4:30am starts. One station moved up its start time to 4:25. Here in Denver, KUSA 9News recently expanded their morning block to a 4:30am start.

As a bit of history, it wasn't long ago that local stations just programmed "cut-ins" at 25 minutes past the hour during shows like Today. A headline or two and weather. It used to be enough. Not anymore.

We're a society that is getting up, and going to bed earlier. For those in the business of news, it's the the morning broadcast that's the career destination of first choice. Here in Denver, the focus in the 4:30 half-hour is headlines but really on business, weather and traffic. The target demographic is obvious. Professionals looking for what's new before heading out to a work-out or early start to the business day. There's also a chunk of the population who are shift workers, and the 4:30am broadcast is their version of the 5pm news.

Having been a morning show Executive Producer, the hours for those producing early news are killer. My lead producer showed up for work at 11pm the night before to get the "hand-off" from the late news team. Writers and associate producers showed up about 1:30am with me coming in around 2:30. Yes, the news anchors play an active role in the production of the newscast. They arrive plenty early and contribute to the writing and editing.

Many local news outlets are producing as much as 50-55 hours a week of news along with their station websites and social media pages. All these pipelines are voracious for content which is good news for those of us in the PR Business. It still has to be meaningful content, but if you want placement for a client, morning news is where you make your pitch.

Morning news is fueled by coffee and comfortable anchor chairs. (And frequent scheduled trips to the bathroom) Sitting on the set for as long as four hours is hard work.

Regardless of what time we watch, as for me, I'm also going online for news via iPad or laptop. Sometimes I have the TV on split screen. There are lots of pipelines, and local news is embracing them and competing for the eyeballs that use them. Regardless of time.

Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you"

Obama takes it to the street. Main Street.

Local political reporter Adam Schrager of KUSA 9NEWS had a one-on-one interview this week with President Obama. One of several the President is conducting with local reporters to pitch his economic message.

I don't know about the other reporters who got the invitation, but Adam is a terrific journalist. I know him personally and professionally. What ever his political views may be, they aren't evident in his reporting. Frankly, I hope to see him hosting "Meet the Press" some day.

The President made a good decision reaching out to reporters who practice their craft on Main Street USA. As viewers we connect far better with our local reporters than those who live in the isolated and pampered world of Washington and New York. The DC political reporting scene is incestuous. After hours, reporters and political types mingle at the same cocktail parties and soirees.

Not so much here at home. No limos for reporters like Adam. He drives himself to work.

So it was good to see a reporter I respect sit down with the President of the United States. Obama was on message, but I paid far more attention because I respected the reporting about what he said.

Thank you Adam. Thank you Mr. President.

Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you" (And enjoy listening to other conversations)

What Merv Block said.

There's a growing brouhaha about GOP candidate for Colorado Governor Scott McInnis and charges of plagiarism. Read more about it in this Denver Post article and this one from 9NEWS. As for the political ramifications of this, that's up to the candidate and ultimately voters. This post is about plagiarism.

Plagiarism is nothing new in politics (Ask Joe Biden) or journalism. It's why someone invented the word plagiarism.

It's so easily avoided if you just follow a great rule taught to me by news writer extraordinaire Merv Block. I got to know, and more importantly learn from Merv during my 8 years on the board of directors of the Radio-Television-Digital News Association. (RTDNA) Merv used to write for Walter Cronkite and any friend of Uncle Walter is a friend of mine!

"Attribution before assertion," Merv taught me. In other words, before you say it or write it, attribute the source. If anything else, it lends credibility to what you do. It's good journalism.

To be fair, it's easy to plagiarize something and simply not realize it. Maybe a thought comes to mind from something you read or saw years ago. You remember a good point and simply include it without attribution because you honestly didn't think it was needed. Mistakes happen. Mistakes can be corrected. Stealing can't.

For the life of me, I've never understood why respected people make wholesale use of other people's work and claim it for their own. Attribution is easy, it's ethical and again simply lends credibility to what you do.

OK, all that said, it turns out McInnis was paid $300,000 for the articles in question by the Hasan Family Foundation. $300,000!

Nice work if you can get it. If you do, remember: "Attribution before assertion."

Thanks for the many good lessons you taught me Merv. Merv also taught me that good writing is re-writing. I'm still working on that part.

Brian Olson
Conversation Starters LLC
"We start the conversation about you"

The Power of "Visual"

One of the first things a news producer thinks about, especially when bringing in someone for a guest segment is "Visual."

Here's a great definition:
"Any element of something that depends on sight; an image; a picture; a graphic; all the visual elements of a multi-media presentation or entertainment, usually in contrast with normal text or audio; a preliminary sketch; related to or affecting the vision."

Now for a great demonstration of using good visuals to communicate a message whether it be on a local or national program.

This week on the 4pm edition of KUSA 9News, the Western Dairy Association had some great ideas about healthy summer drinks for the entire family. To make their point about the huge amounts of sugar in soda drinks they had a 64 oz "Super Cup" on the set. Instead of soda, they poured out the actual amount of sugar you'd consume if you drank one of these monsters. The pile of sugar that came out was enough to put on your cereal for a month!

It was an impressive demonstration, and made a big point......VISUALLY. In this case, a picture was worth well in excess of a thousand words. It made you think.

Kudos to the Western Dairy Association for understanding the power of the picture, the visual, in making their point.

It's also the kind of thing we do in helping you share your news about your product or organization. Talking heads are easy to come by. Good visuals require planning based on experience.

The type of experience we bring to you with 30 years in journalism and corporate communications.

Visual. Always think Visual.

Brian Olson
Conversation Starters LLC