The Bailey Blog

As Ethics Officer for the Detroit Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA),

I urge all “Greater-Detroiters” to continue to work hard to help make our region the best it can be.
Kym Worthy, Wayne County Prosecutor focused simply on “the truth” in her indictment presentation of Detroit Mayor Kilpatrick and his former Chief of Staff Beatty. She charged them both of lying under oath or perjury, and conspiracy, obstruction of justice and misconduct in office.

Our PRSA Code of Ethics states six values that its members are to adhere to: advocacy, expertise, independence, loyalty, fairness and, honest and the highest standards of accuracy and truth in advancing the interest of those we represent and in communicating with the public.

As residents and professionals, we need to serve the truth that our great city and region will survive this negative cloud and will continue making progress toward major improvement. This is but a moment in our history and will pass. Let’s all band together to serve our great community and make our society better. And let’s do so in all honesty and truthfulness.

Geneva is exactly as you imagine it: a quaint, bustling and polished city with Europeans, all wearing large scarves and fashionable coats, hustling along little cobblestone streets amid flying shiny European cars and motor scooters. Here you can buy the following everywhere: Swiss chocolate, cigarettes, caviar, croissants and coffee (or café, as they refer to it).

What you cant buy: Mexican food, catsup, peanut butter, pancakes and pork rinds.

Also, despite my best effort at packing my most fashionable clothes and brushing up on my French (FYI, I studied it for SIX years), it is apparently evident to everyone that I am American and… lost.

Waiters, hotel staff and people on the street patiently explain things to me as I wander through the Geneva Motor Show, our hotel, cafes and taxis. They indicate to me, with an expression of.. shall we say, mild amusement, that no, I cannot charge the coffee on my credit card because the minimum is 22 Swiss Francs and my coffee costs 1.39 Swiss Francs and, yes, we do have a computer here and you may use it.

But it’s a great place and a fantastic city to visit. I do suggest you try it.

In truth, I am lucky to be on this trip. I had no expectation of attending this show again and when suddenly the opportunity presented itself, I found that I was able to attend by the grace of my clients, the North American International Auto Show, and my firm.

So each day I attend the Geneva Motor Show. It is a huge auto show; very similar to the NAIAS. It is walkable, friendly and glamorous. There are thousands of media everywhere and countless industry insiders. I hear mainly French and German on the show floor with a few English speakers.

The Geneva Palexpo (a.k.a. the Geneva convention center) is a beautiful facility with plenty of room to go around but not so much that you don’t run into friends or feel lost. It has what I would love to see incorporated into Cobo Center, the right amount of space, updated amenities and a wide variety of creature comforts. For example, you can stop in for a full sit down meal in their bistro or drop in a number of informal cafes for a sandwich, coffee or pastries (yes, I love the pastries).

With these upgrades including more loading docks and other technical amenities, Cobo would be a fantastic asset to metro Detroit and Michigan. That’s because with the right assets it would become attractive again to conventioneers. To be blunt, it takes an unbelievable amount of planning, coordination and investment to be successful in the event business.

Major events like the NAIAS or the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas take more than a year to plan and execute. Yes, I said more than a year. With so much riding on a single day or a few precious weeks of show time, why would other conventions choose an outdated facility? Would you? With ONE chance to get it right, most folks choose the safe option: a modern facility. By modernizing Cobo, we make it competitive again in this demanding and tough business. In reality, we don’t have that far to go, we just need the upgrades and we need to get it done and move on to the next challenge.

But back to Geneva… I am loving it here, but I am also missing Detroit. I look forward to Sanders Hot Fudge, coneys and cheese fries very soon. Dorothy was right, there is no place like home.

If all you ever knew about swimming pools was that you can drown in them, you probably wouldn’t be envious of the one in your neighbor’s back yard.

But if someone told you the whole story about the exercise benefits, the entertainment value, and the good chance of being nominated by your kids as “Parent of the Year,” I’m pretty sure you’d be looking at how to get one even bigger and better than your neighbor’s.

What if people opposed to the growth of the swimming pool industry decided to start a campaign to stop the spread of swimming pools? What if all you ever saw were brochures and newspaper columns touting the danger lurking in the form of cool, blue, chlorinated water?

If the swimming pool industry had its act together, you soon would have information coming your way about the benefits of swimming pools – you’d be receiving facts that corrected the misinformation being spread by others.

In the business world, you must be constantly vigilant about what your opponents are saying about you. To be successful, you also need to be ready, willing and able to call them out if they unfairly characterize your position on an issue.

Recently, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan was attacked by an opponent on the Lansing State Journal opinion pages. Now, of course, your competition is only going to say bad things about you and virtuous things about themselves – but when they cross the line and publish things you know to be untrue, you have an obligation to defend yourself.

The Blues deserve a pat on the back for how they handled this situation. They were able to draft a response, get it through their internal approval process and have it printed in the State Journal only two days after the original column appeared.

The task may seem daunting but calmly reviewing what has been written and taking a logical approach to pointing out the misinformation can help you create a solid response very quickly.

In the Blues’ case, they merely needed to point out the positive aspects of some legislation they are trying to get approved in Lansing – and in so doing they easily poked holes in what the competition had written.

For example, Blue Cross CEO Daniel Loepp pointed out that at least 34 other states have passed similar reforms, showing the public that this is nothing new hatched up by the Blues. He was able to point out that the legislation will help provide for fair, uniform rating standards across all insurance carriers. He noted that BCBSM will continue in its long-standing role as Michigan’s insurer of last resort who accepts everyone regardless of medical history. And, among other things, Loepp pointed out that the legislation caps all health insurance company profits by requiring carriers to pay out at least 70 percent of their premium revenue for health care claims.

By detailing each of these items in his response, Loepp was able to counter every argument made by the BCBSM competitor who wrote in opposition of the legislation. At the same time, he was able to face the competitor head-on, correcting misinformation and helping the public see that those opposed to the legislation may, in fact, have their own agenda.

Providing accurate information, explaining the context within which decisions are made, and standing up for your reputation seem like important tasks that everyone can agree should be done.

The question is, when your turn comes to be fired upon, will you be ready to fire back quickly and accurately?

If not, you could find your reputation at the bottom of the pool. And have you heard? You can drown in those things.

The holidays are here and this Christmas Eve I won’t be nestled all snug in my bed with visions of sugarplums dancing in my head. I’ll be dreaming a very different dream of healthy Michigan residents and employees, of a healthy economy, of a decrease in deaths caused by cancer and heart disease – a dream of a smokefree Michigan…

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the House (of Representatives), not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. House Bill 4163 had been sent out by the committee chair and there was a great yell of triumph from the Campaign for Smokefree Air.

Children with asthma were wishing for the best, of visits to restaurants with clean air in their chests. And mamma in her apron could work for a living, without the worry of cancer the secondhand smoke was giving.

When out in the Capitol lobby, there arose such a clatter, the people all wondered just what was the matter? Ohio has done it, and Illinois, too, so many states were smokefree, why is it so hard for Michigan to do?

Then it became clear, there was smoke in the air, from opponents who warned lawmakers, “You’d better not dare.” “We have,” they said, “our own science for you; just listen to us, so you’ll know what to do.”

But it wasn’t enough, and CSA found their excuses easy to snuff. In a flash, we showed them the truth: smokefree air is needed at every worksite – from office, to factory, to bar and to booth.

The people of Michigan called out in the night, “please Mr. Lawmaker, please make it right!”

We want what they have – in Arizona, Arkansas, California and Colorado. Why can’t we be like Connecticut, Florida, Georgia and Idaho? From Louisiana to Maine, in Maryland, Minnesota, Montana – why they’ve even bet on smokefree air out in Nevada! New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, the Dakotas – residents are protected and smokefree, just like the folks in Oregon, Rhode Island and Tennessee. Out west in Utah, up north in Vermont, in rainy Washington and political D.C. - they’ve figured it out, so why, why, oh why can’t we?

So the lawmakers voted and did the right thing, they proved to constituents that they had been listening.

But then I awoke with a terrible start; I grabbed for my pillow and clutched at my heart. For I had only been dreaming of a smokefree Michigan, and I know those who want it will have to try again and again.

You see, the House has now passed it, but the Senate’s no cinch. We hope that it’s not our own Christmas Grinch.

So write to your lawmakers and tell them to vote; tell them you’re watching and you’re taking note. It’s good for me and for you, good for health and business too; be you naughty or nice, a smokefree Michigan is the right thing to do!

Ronald M. Davis, M.D.
President, American Medical Association
Director, Center for Health Promotion & Disease Prevention
Henry Ford Health System
One Ford Place, 5C
Detroit, Michigan 48202-3450, USA
Tel: +1 313-874-6276

As Ethics Officer for the Detroit Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) I expect honest, accurate and timely communication from our JB&A staff, PRSA members and from the public relations profession as a whole.

Defined as a system or set of moral principles, good ethics are needed in order to achieve success both personally and as a company. Whether business or personal, we face ethical dilemmas every day.

For example, is it ethical to run personal errands on company time? Call in sick when you’re feeling fine? Put lunch on your company expense sheet even though you did not discuss business?

When in doubt, use a “gut test” and ask yourself, “am I being fair and honest?”

• If what I just did (or neglected to do) was reported in tomorrow’s New York Times, would it embarrass my organization, my family or myself?
• Would I tell my children to act in the same way?
• Would I share my decision with my mother?

For PR professionals, the PRSA Code of Ethics lists a set of values and provisions that members are expected to adhere to in daily business. But more important than knowing what’s expected of us to do is what we actually do.

My personal guide to ethics is the Golden Rule, “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

Whatever you choose as your personal guide, if you follow the simple rules of accuracy and honesty, ethics are easy.

Mark Twain once said, “Always tell the truth, you’ll never have to remember what you said.”

After you’ve established your company code of ethics, communicate them and encourage your employees to examine their own personal values. These values should be clear and consistently used as the basis for everyday strategic planning and decision-making.

It may not always be easy, but honesty is always the best policy.

Here at the Leadership Policy Conference on Mackinac Island, there has been much discussion surrounding the goals and expectations of One D, southeastern Michigan’s newest initiative designed to promote regional collaboration and growth. As expected there are naysayers who grumble about the many plans unveiled in the past that did not yield results. Will One D be like that too?

The fact is, it’s not up to One D to solve our problems. It’s up to us.

For example, as a business owner, I know I must focus on my company and strive to make it the best it can be. I also know it is my job to promote southeastern Michigan and the rest of the state to others especially when I travel. I know that I have to stay open-minded regarding organizations like One D. And finally, I have to encourage my friends and neighbors to do the same.

If I sit back and pot-shot creative ideas, all the while expecting organizations like One D to fix our region’s issues and economy, then yes One D and those like it will fail to make any progress. Quite simply: they can’t do it alone.

So next time the person next to you says, “that will never happen,” regarding a new idea designed to help our region. Let them know politely that anything is possible. The world, as they say, is still our oyster and by persistently making improvements (however small they might be), capitalizing on opportunities and embracing new ideas, this region, our economy and the state and turn itself around and be a place we are all proud to call home.

Bill Ford issued a challenge today to Presidential candidate Barack Obama. Come visit the Ford manufacturing facility in Chicago (it’s in Obama’s district, after all) and take a look at the vehicles being produced there. These vehicles, according to Mr. Ford, have better gas mileage than the one Mr. Obama currently drives.

The comment came in response to a question at the Detroit Regional Chamber Policy Conference on Mackinac Island here today. Mr. Ford was asked what he thought about comments made by Mr. Obama about Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFÉ) at the recent Detroit Economic Club Luncheon.

Mr. Ford’s response came as a powerful reality check. It’s easy for a politician to make bold proclamations about what needs to be done. It’s another issue altogether to run a company that can make a great product, turn a profit and create jobs.

The reality today is that Ford is struggling. Over-the-top, unrealistic government regulations will hurt the company even more. For Obama, his CAFÉ goals could totally backfire. It might be the workers in his district who would suffer most, through lost production and ultimately lost jobs at the Chicago facility.

I suggest Mr. Obama take up the offer for a facility tour. He just might be the next president of the United States. I hope he will take the time to learn about an industry that helps create one of every seven jobs in our country. I hope he will take the time to see all the technological and safety innovations and to work with the industry to come up with realistic regulations.

If he takes a realistic, educated approach, who knows…I might even vote for him!