The rise in unemployment in early June signals the economic slowdown some economists feared earlier this year, as they saw oil prices top $100 a barrel and the credit crisis gut the balance sheets of major financial institutions. And now it's become personal in the PR business - layoffs are taking a toll.

How many times have clients - both internally and externally - come to the PR team seeking creative solutions to solve business challenges? For clients, creativity is the secret sauce that helps differentiate products from competitors, capture new markets, define a reputation, or escape a challenging situation. For agencies, creativity helps land our brands on national and local news, build business with new assignments, and win accolades with shiny industry awards.

I've been friends for a long time with a guy we'll call Marvin Blotnick. He was flying home from Chicago the other day after two tough days at a corporate senior management meeting. Marvin was stressed. He said every executive there was asked to do scenario planning, which meant Marvin had to come back with two new budgets, one reflecting a 10% cut, the other 20%.

On Sunday, June 8, The New York Times asked 12 political heavyweights to explain what went wrong with the Hillary Clinton campaign. The aggregate response was: "everything."

John McCain would keep American troops in Iraq for 100 years. Barack Obama thinks white working class voters cling to their guns and religion out of economic frustration. Hillary Clinton thinks the 2008 Democratic nomination battle could end as horribly as the one in 1968. What do these statements have in common?

Anyone who thought that the economic downturn was a threat to the corporate sustainability movement should have come to the annual CERES conference, held in Boston in late April. Nearly 700 corporations, including large multinationals; small enterprises; major investors; NGOs; and, a range of consultancies, think tanks, and government representatives gathered to drive forward the environmental business agenda.

Sen. Edward Kennedy's recent brain tumor diagnosis and subsequent surgery has caused sorrow among his friends, colleagues, and a public steeped in his family's legacy.

When talking about how bad they are at promoting themselves, PR pros often claim the irritating cobblers' children defense.

Scott McClellan is making more news outside of the White House than he ever did when he was there. With the release of What Happened, pundits and politicians alike are questioning his motives and veracity. But putting all that aside, how well did this communications professional handle his own communications?

I recently joined 30 colleagues from the academic, agency, and corporate worlds for a symposium co-sponsored by the Arthur W. Page Society and the Institute for Public Relations, groups on which I serve as a trustee. The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College hosted the event for the third year.