Think job-related stress is a recent phenomenon? Not quite. The remains of Britain’s King Richard III were found last year. Turns out the guy was pretty stressed out. Analysis of his teeth showed that they worn smooth from teeth grinding and clenching—a common accompaniment to a stressful life. With late hours and client deadlines, some…

We know our success depends on our ability to maintain a continuous flow of bright, motivated professionals into our industry. But with rapid change now a constant in the communications business, how can we assure that recent college graduates have the required skills and competencies? And how can we can communicate to them the many…

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer’s decision to ban telecommuting at her company has been criticized by many as a backward step in the evolution of the more flexible, modern workplace. Yet the controversy over what Time magazine has called the “Memo Read Round the World” obscures another trend: The extent to which offices themselves are rapidly…

Two weeks have passed since the passing of Daniel Edelman at the age of ninety-two. A spate of beautiful obituaries memorialize the man who founded what is today one of the world’s largest public relations firm. As one of these obituaries noted, Edelman possessed a characteristic and valuable tendency to think through problems before coming…

The Council’s Q4 survey results are in, and our industry is surpassing even last year’s strong showing. A full 81% of firms reported that 2012 revenues would come in higher than revenues the year before. In our survey a year ago, that number was only about 70%. Firms this time around reported revenues increasing by…

Between Hurricane Sandy, war breaking out in the Middle East, the former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency mired in a sex scandal, and the venerable maker of the Twinkie going bankrupt, we’ve had a mountain of bad news lately. How about some good news for a change? You don’t have to look that far….

Like many of our neighbors in New York City, the Council took a hit from Hurricane Sandy. We fared better than most; just a few days without an office, which meant no Firm Voice posting last week. We know that many people in the tri-state area are still trying to put their lives back together,…

Watching the debate last week as well as the chatter that accompanied its aftermath, I couldn’t help thinking in this election season we could be forgiven for wanting more respect for facts, not less. Charles Dickens wrote in his classic novel Hard Times: Now, what I want is, facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing…

As the major political conventions wind down and the campaigns hurtle toward the finish line, a big watchword of the moment is polarization. Even if you don’t follow politics closely, you can tell we’ve grown more hardened in extreme positions just from hearing the strident rhetoric from groups such as the Tea Partiers and supporters…

If you’re like me, you’re still processing the fact that summer is almost over. Perhaps you’re busy preparing to get your kids back to school. Perhaps, too, you’re taking these last few days of August away from the office, reviewing business developments of these past few months, looking ahead to what’s in store. Here’s some…