Florida public relations

This week’s Start-Up City: Miami conference, hosted by Atlantic Cities and the Knight Foundation and held at New World Center on Miami Beach, drew hundreds of South Florida's brightest thinkers. They came to share ideas about how to kindle Miami’s startup culture and listen to entrepreneurial luminaries recount their own experiences. Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh, Zipcar founder Robin Chase and AOL patriarch Steve Case were among those who took part.

News this week that Adler Group, one of those real estate firms that truly built Miami, and Atlanta-based ECI Group obtained financing for the land acquisition of a Miami bayfront site slated for a major multifamily project is a positive sign for the South Florida real estate market.

It's not often that we take to our Soundbytes blog to talk about ourselves, but today's news that our firm has added three new members and a handful of clients across several core practice areas is good news for businesses everywhere.

Buzz builds in downtown Miami as region's international hot spot. Could it be the Arsht Center? Museum Park? New restaurants? Affordable condos? Lebron James and the Heat? Luxury hotels?

As one of South Florida’s main economic drivers, our commercial real estate industry is complex, dynamic, and enormous. It’s hard to stand out in such a crowd – but as in every industry, commercial real estate in South Florida has its major movers and shakers, the key figures who’re driving development and getting deals done. This week’s South Florida Business Journal identifies its picks for the “who’s who” in South Florida real estate. Two of its honorees, top industry executives Tere Blanca and Alan Ojeda, stand apart from their competitors for turning tough economic times into gold for their businesses.

CHICAGO (Reuters.com) - Miami businesses have been pulling out all the stops - including handing out free cocktails - to try to coax money from a large influx of tourists ahead of this weekend's Super Bowl.

Leading commercial litigator Andrew C. Hall of the Hall Lamb and Hall law firm chimes in on the Scott Rothstein fraud and its impact on the legal profession in this candid Miami Herald Q&A.

Maintaining integrity in the legal profession

Andrew Hall, founder and managing partner of Hall, Lamb and Hall, reflects on the Scott Rothstein case and the state of the legal profession.

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From Tadd Schwartz, Principal of Schwartz Media Strategies
When will we ever learn that stonewalling the press only makes things worse?

It's easy playing Monday Morning Quarterback, but really - this one is a no-brainer.  Tiger going into hunker-down crisis mode and addressing the public through his web site is only adding fuel to this growing inferno.  We need to hear from this guy, and soon, before even his most loyal fans jump ship.  Whether you like Tiger or not, if you're following this story, your emotions have swung from concern to empathy to pity to embarrassment to anger.  By hiding out, he's enraging the very public that affords him his billion-dollar lifestyle.

My advice to Tiger:  while you're hiding out at home in Orlando, pop in the Godfather and pay attention to how Michael cleans house after he smells a rat.  Tiger's getting some really bad advice right now, most likely from the very same folks who served as his enablers during this three year "lost weekend" of sexual escapades.  Then he needs to man up and address his public and sponsors - in person.  Remember, Tiger is a lot more than the greatest golfer in the world - he's also one of the highest paid spokespersons in the universe.  That means he's got a squeaky clean rep to protect - like it or not.

The following article - by Rick Rilley of ESPN - is probably one of the best pieces I've read to date on the Tiger Woods drama. Las Vegas PR guru Dave Kirvin lays out a strategy that's so...let's use a Vegas term...MONEY, I wish I had come up with it myself.  Tiger - hire Kirvin immediately.  See ya on Oprah.

ESPN MAGAZINE: An image-rehab plan for Tiger Woods, by Rick Rilley
Tiger Woods is the first person in history to run his car into a hydrant and set himself on fire.

His reputation is shredded. His once-perfect name has been dragged through more mud than a Nantucket clam digger's boots. A once-spotless life is now an episode of "Cops."

So what now?

First, Oprah Winfrey.

Ricky Arriola, chairman of the Adrienne Arsht Center, was just appointed by President Obama to serve on the 26-member Committee on the Arts and Humanities, which includes a mix of actors like Edward Norton and Sarah Jessica Parker, musicians like Yo-Yo Ma, and icons like Anna Wintour.

The appointment is for those who have a commitment to the humanities and arts, which Arriola certainly does. Under his watch, the Adrienne Arsht Center—the country’s third largest performing arts center—balanced its budget, paid off its bank debt seven years early, and helped revitalize the neighborhood in which it is a centerpiece. Arriola, who is just as likely to be seen enjoying a symphony at the Arsht Center as he is to be seen rocking out backstage during a Marley Brothers performance, spoke with Haute Living about the role of the center and the impact of Art Basel.