* That's true. If Geraldine posts again, we'll know more. But even if we presume her e-mail program has a predictive text function - there's a big jump between the "B" in Bruce and the "M" in MoPo List. Her note to the group seems - on the surface at least - intentional to me. One other thing I forgot to mention. Having once worked at a Fortune 500 company, I know the following as FACTS. Big corporations are rarely fearful of litigation. That's what their lawyers are for. One strategy is to drain a plaintiff's or a defendant's pool of funds covering legal fees. And once the lawyers are involved, they almost ALWAYS counsel NO response to further public attacks, e.g., putting up a stone wall of silence to preserve their positions in potential litigation.
* However, these same corporations are almost ALWAYS WAY MORE FEARFUL of bad press. They can't control the press - and the bad stories ultimately reaches stakeholders/customers whose reactions - can have an adverse effect on a corporation's revenues and industry reputation. Public opinion, not fear of lawsuits, are responsible for the "180s" we see in the most prominent case histories, e.g., Bank of America and the Komen Foundation. BTW, this is the way environmental groups, for example, operate. Lacking budgetary resources to fight lawsuits, they are very creative in their efforts to garner media attention, feeding into the conflict-driven agendas of newsrooms. When I was a reporter, I was always told to "test the demonstrators" by seeing if they marched and shouted ONLY when the media was present. If they stopped when the cameras left, it was a stunt. I was told to report the "demonstration" - but to report it accurately as being staged for media consumption. PETA operates on a similar principle, but its over-the-top actions, while GUARANTEEING coverage, results in an extremely divided view of that group's reputation. Heritage is a large company that has been down the road of adverse (and positive) press before. The risk is losing control of a dispute whereby third parties (the media) - can sway public opinion in an adverse way that disrupts operations. * When I took on FedEx and Sotheby's during the 1990s, it was the controlled, managed use of potentially adverse press relations that resulted in resolving my disputes with them. The lawyers came out with their knives intending to bleed my bank accounts dry. But knowing how to spin "David vs. Goliath" stories in a way that reflects a trend of errors affecting others like me - "spreads the number of potential victims" out so that my woes served as a "poster child" or a "proxy" - or a "tip of the iceberg illustration" - of greater problems impacting consumers. This forces the responsibility out of the hands of lawyers and goes all the way up the executive ladder. For most big companies facing potentially bad press, it isn't worth battling in public if small change is involved. If they're smart, they settle quietly and the problem goes away quickly. But once it hits the press, it's impossible to reel everything back in and it becomes a nightmare. I've made my living working both sides of the fence and it's an ugly business. I am so glad that my experience in the news media has equipped me well enough to battle - or to "re-direct" reporters when my clients are attacked, whether they are corporations or a little guy trying to influence public opinion. In sum, I'm not Heritage, but if I was handling its P.R., I would do everything in my power to make this problem go away - or to keep it confined within the borders of a small group. It's not worth fighting a volatile situation that can be solved - that risks turning into an issue that becomes "everybody's problem," including present and prospective consumers who would not otherwise care absent third party involvement. -d. Date: Fri, 6 Apr 2012 17:25:18 -0500 From: brucehershen...@gmail.com Subject: Re: An auction house to avoid To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU David is certainly correct, but there is still the possibility that she did not mean to post it to the list. Perhaps she thought of something she had forgotten two days earlier and planned to send me that info, but instead accidentally forwarded it to the list. We will only know if and when she chooses to post again. As for getting a response, I suspect this is what we will find: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zLfCnGVeL4&feature=fvst Bruce On Fri, Apr 6, 2012 at 5:19 PM, David Kusumoto <davidmkusum...@hotmail.com> wrote: My goodness, of course it was meant for the entire list. Just look at the time stamps. There's a two-day spread between the original note "Geraldine Kudaka" sent to Bruce - and when the note was FORWARDED to the entire MoPo group from Geraldine herself. She is obviously a MoPo member. There is no other way an e-mail like that could be posted to the group without first enrolling as a member. Unfairly or not, I interpreted the note as an attack on Heritage, an attempt to force a public or private response from group members - or from Grey himself. In PR and news, there's a rule we follow: In the business world, there is no such thing as a true "surprise." Most disputes broil beneath the surface for weeks or months - before they finally explode into the public eye. They are usually the penultimate step before the "course of last resort," e.g., taking grievances to the media for widespread dissemination to audiences outside the core group most interested in the outcome. It is at that point that a client is at risk losing control of a story and is forever put on defense until a counterattack or well-understood response is mapped out and executed. Successful response case histories: Tylenol poisonings, beef percentages questioned in Taco Bell products, antenna issues with the iPhone. Unsuccessful or "too late" response case histories: Pink slime, Bank of America's $5 debit fee proposal, and the Komen Foundation's "180" with Planned Parenthood. -d. Date: Fri, 6 Apr 2012 17:44:25 -0400 From: pcontar...@triad.rr.com Subject: Re: Fw: [MOPO] An auction house to avoid To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU Was wondering that myself. Peter From: MoPo List [mailto:mopo-l@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU] On Behalf Of lovenoir2 Sent: Friday, April 06, 2012 2:00 PM To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU Subject: Re: [MOPO] Fw: [MOPO] An auction house to avoid An interesting read. Was this meant to go to the entire MOPO list? On Thu, Apr 5, 2012 at 8:10 PM, Geraldine Kudaka <gkud...@rocketmail.com> wrote: ----- Forwarded Message ----- From: Geraldine Kudaka <gkud...@rocketmail.com> To: Bruce Hershenson <brucehershen...@gmail.com> Sent: Tuesday, April 3, 2012 11:45 AM Subject: Re: [MOPO] An auction house to avoid Your favorite auction house, Bruce -- Heritage. My husband, Charley, was a Hollywood executive. When we first did a Heritage consignment through Rudy Franchi, everything went fine. So fine, we sent a 2nd batch using my UPS account & return label which had my name on it. I use my maiden name, so I guess Heritage thought it was a cold submission from nobody. Thought we'd hear from them -- nada. We are pretty busy here and knew from our first consignment that Heritage plans their auction schedule months in advance. When I finally called Heritage to see when the posters were going to be auctioned. Carter told they had received the posters, and wanted to know if we wanted to put them in the weekly auction as there was nothing of value in the lot. I said, "What? What about the Get Carter and Lennon posters? Or the Fillmore posters?" Heritage claimed they had not received these posters in the lot we sent. I had mentioned this event on this newsgroup before. You responded with a derogatory comment about Rudy, then Grey threatened us with lawyers and I posted a comment here batting for Rudy. At that time this was going on, I did not want to deal with Heritage because we were building a house and had a high weekly payroll to meet. The headache of dealing with this Heritage problem was small potatoes compared to being the General Contractor on a house. After Grey threatened me with lawyers and I batted for Rudy, Rudy contacted me. He had spoken with Grey and the upshot was we were offered a deal for future submissions.. That was months ago. I've come to the conclusion I don't want to do future business with Heritage. It's one thing to have a consignment set up by Rudy for my husband, Charley Lippincott, who had hired John Van Hammersveld to do the Get Carter poster and has the largest, most complete collection of John's work -- even more than John -- and another thing when little wifey using her UPS business account sends the 2nd consignment batch. As nobody me, if posters disappeared from my lot, who is to say that this doesn't happen to other people? On principle, I don't want to do business with Heritage. Life is too short, Charley's collection too huge, and it's just not worth my time. If Grey wants to have his lawyers come after me, fine. From: Bruce Hershenson <brucehershen...@gmail.com> To: Geraldine Kudaka <gkud...@rocketmail.com> Sent: Saturday, March 31, 2012 6:21 PM Subject: Re: [MOPO] An auction house to avoid Which auction was it?On Sat, Mar 31, 2012 at 8:54 AM, Geraldine Kudaka <gkud...@rocketmail.com> wrote: I sent things to a US auction house who, 6 months later, claimed they never got the high value posters.... and threatened me with a lawyer. From: Bruce Hershenson <brucehershen...@gmail.com> To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU Sent: Friday, March 30, 2012 10:45 PM Subject: [MOPO] An auction house to avoid http://www.newburytoday.co.uk/2012/west-berkshire-auction-house-cameo-refutes-customers-payment-claims Customers claim West Berkshire auction house owes them cash-- Bruce Hershenson and the other 24 members of the eMoviePoster.com team P.O. Box 874 West Plains, MO 65775 Phone: 417-256-9616 (hours: Mon-Fri 9 to 5 except from 12 to 1 when we take lunch) our site our auctions Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing ListSend a message addressed to: lists...@listserv.american.edu In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-LThe author of this message is solely responsible for its content. -- Bruce Hershenson and the other 24 members of the eMoviePoster.com team P.O. Box 874 West Plains, MO 65775 Phone: 417-256-9616 (hours: Mon-Fri 9 to 5 except from 12 to 1 when we take lunch) our site our auctions Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing ListSend a message addressed to: lists...@listserv.american.edu In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-LThe author of this message is solely responsible for its content. Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing ListSend a message addressed to: lists...@listserv.american.edu In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-LThe author of this message is solely responsible for its content. Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: lists...@listserv.american.edu In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content. Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: lists...@listserv.american.edu In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content. -- Bruce Hershenson and the other 24 members of the eMoviePoster.com team P.O. Box 874 West Plains, MO 65775 Phone: 417-256-9616 (hours: Mon-Fri 9 to 5 except from 12 to 1 when we take lunch) our site our auctions Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: lists...@listserv.american.edu In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content. Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: lists...@listserv.american.edu In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
