Starbucks Loosens Dress Code

Again, Starbucks is allowing more individuality in its employee dress code. In 2014, the company allowed visible tattoos, and now the color palette has expanded, including hair dyes.

In a Lookbook, the company instructs employees to use their judgement and to ask if they have any questions; store managers have the final say. Clothes must be "clean, hemmed, wrinkle-free and in good repair," but a range of colors is acceptable instead of the previous black-and-white combination. 

Hairstyles can be on the wild side (in my opinion), but the company isn't allowing "sprays, glitter, chalks or temporary products" for food safety reasons. The guidelines also instruct associates to "[t]ie long hair back with plain clips or hairbands to avoid contact with drinks or food. Please keep beards and mustaches neat and trimmed."

The Lookbook is detailed, with many acceptable and unacceptable examples of tops, bottoms, socks, and accents. Fortunately for employees, the guidelines are clear. 

Discussion Starters: 

• What, if anything, surprises you about Starbucks' new guidelines? Is anything missing?
• Why do you think the company is broadening what is considered acceptable dress? 

Best Speech of the Conventions: Michelle Obama

Many are saying Michelle Obama's speech was the best of the bunch at the Democratic National Convention (Hillary's aside), and I would agree. From her humble laugh, overwhelmed at the crowd's response at the beginning to her call to action at the end, she captured the hearts of the delegates and, Democrats hope, some Republicans too. 

Obama talked about children throughout her speech, particularly her own: 

"That is the story of this country, the story that has brought me to this stage tonight, the story of generations of people who felt the lash of bondage, the shame of servitude, the sting of segregation, but who kept on striving and hoping and doing what needed to be done so that today I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves.

And I watch my daughters, two beautiful, intelligent, black young women playing with their dogs on the White House lawn.

And because of Hillary Clinton, my daughters and all our sons and daughters now take for granted that a woman can be president of the United States."

She tried, as did other speakers, such as Mike Bloomberg, to elevate the vote beyond a Republican/Democrat decision and focused on the best person to lead: 

And make no mistake about it, this November when we go to the polls that is what we're deciding, not Democrat or Republican, not left or right. No, in this election and every election is about who will have the power to shape our children for the next four or eight years of their lives.

And I am here tonight because in this election there is only one person who I trust with that responsibility, only one person who I believe is truly qualified to be president of the United States, and that is our friend Hillary Clinton.

Discussion Starters:

• What makes Michelle Obama's speech so compelling? Consider the content as well as her tone and body language. Do you agree that hers was the best of the convention? 
• Obama didn't mention the controversy around Melania Trump plagiarizing her 2008 DNC speech. Should she have? 
• Which other speeches in both conventions were powerful? Do you find any compelling, even though they may not align with their political views? 

Yahoo CEO Takes Sale in Stride

News of a potential Yahoo sale has circulated for years, and now it's a reality. CEO Marissa Mayer discusses Verizon's acquisition in a blog post, concluding, "Yahoo is a company that changed the world. Now, we will continue to, with even greater scale, in combination with Verizon and AOL."

In a press release, Mayer spoke positively about the sale:

"Yahoo and AOL popularized the Internet, email, search and real-time media. It's poetic to be joining forces with AOL and Verizon as we enter our next chapter focused on achieving scale on mobile. We have a terrific, loyal, experienced and quality team, and I couldn't be prouder of our achievements to date, including building our new lines of business to $1.6 billion in GAAP revenue in 2015. I'm excited to extend our momentum through this transaction."

Although Mayer writes that she'll stay with Yahoo, PR Daily notes conflicting reports, including a New York Times article that said she'll get $57 million in severance pay, or $218 million total for her reign at Yahoo.

The New York Times also posted a few impressive graphics showing Yahoo's considerable US visitors, yet declining search traffic and ad revenue.

Discussion Starters: 

• Assess Mayer's blog post. Who are the audiences, and what are her key messages? How well does she convey enthusiasm for the sale?
• What principles of visual communication does The New York Times use in these graphics? How can they be improved?

Bullied Off Twitter

Mashable lists seven people who were "trolled" off Twitter. Although many more have likely quit the social media site, these celebrities took a harsh, public hit.

Lena Dunham, creator and star of Girls, said she was tired of reading, for example, "10 mentions that say I should be stoned to death." Iggy Azalea went off social media sites after a body-shaming photo of her in a bathing suit went viral. The most recent is Leslie Jones, star of the new Ghostbusters movie. Jones was subjected to racist and sexist comments by a known troll, who encouraged users to send her pictures of apes.

Twitter continues taking heat for not reacting quickly enough to shut down users' accounts. Jonathan Weisman, a New York Times editor who experienced anti-Semitism on Twitter, wrote, "I am awaiting some sign from Twitter that it cares whether its platform is becoming a cesspit of hate. Until then, sayonara." Journalist Julieanne Smolinski wrote, "Perhaps make hate speech a terminable violation of your terms of service,@twitter? Just a reasonable humane thought." 

Discussion Starters: 

• Should Twitter do more? This isn't the first time the company has been criticized. 
• Is trolling worse on Twitter than on other social media sites? If so, why do you think this is the case?

Melania Trump's Plagiarized Speech

By any definition, Melania Trump's GOP Convention speech was plagiarized from Michelle Obama. The similarities between Donald Trump's wife's speech and Michelle Obama's 2008 DNC speech are uncanny. Here's one comparison from CNN, and other similarities exist:

Donald Trump's campaign chairman Paul Manafort denied accusations of plagiarism: "To think that she would do something like that knowing how scrutinized her speech was going to be last night is just really absurd." Senior Communications Advisor Jason Miller said only, "In writing her beautiful speech, Melania's team of writers took notes on her life's inspirations, and in some instances included fragments that reflected her own thinking. Melania's immigrant experience and love for America shone through in her speech, which made it such a success."

Later, the RNC communications director, Sean Spicer, said that searches for some of Ms. Trump's phrases turn up similarities from "My Little Pony" and John Legend, who tweeted, "I would very much like to be excluded from this narrative." But the phrases are not nearly as verbatim as those in Michelle Obama's speech. Spicer told The Huffington Post, "Melania Trump said, 'You work hard for what you want in life.' Akon said, 'Work hard for what you get in life.' John Legend said, ‘Work hard.'" 

Update: Meredith McIver, a Trump staff writer, took responsibility for the mistake. A New York Times article said the letter "breathed new life into a story now in its third day." 

Discussion Starters:

• How could such a mistake happen? Melania Trump said, "I read once over it, that's all, because I wrote it ... with (as) little help as possible."
• The Trump campaign said that no one will be fired over this incident. Should someone take the fall? 
• Does McIver's admission end the conversation? What else, if anything, should the campaign managers or Trumps say? Is The New York Times writer right: did the admission just keep the story alive? 

Taking Offense

Two groups are backtracking this week for offensive symbols and language. Are people too sensitive, or should marketers be more careful? 

The Trump campaign for president created the first failing: a logo that looked pornographic to some people. A Slate article is titled, "A Hard Look at the Trump-Pence Campaign's Penetrating New Logo." Twitter jokes abound: 

• @ellievhall: "When two people love each other very much and want to start a campaign together..."
• @willrahn: "How are we supposed to explain the new Trump logo to our children??"

Although the Trump campaign hasn't responded specifically, the logo no longer appears on the website.

In other news, Forever 21 has pulled t-shirts for boys with sayings such as, "Sorry, I only date models," "Chicks are all over me," and "Ladies Man." Critics say the t-shirts sexualize children. 

Forever 21 communicated the decision in a statement: "Forever 21 takes feedback and product concerns very seriously. With regards to the T-shirts in question, after receiving feedback we have taken immediate action to have them removed from our website.  We sincerely apologize to anyone who was offended by the products."

Discussion Starters: 

• What's your opinion to the initial question: Are people too sensitive, or should marketers be more careful? 
• Did the Trump campaign and Forever 21 do the right thing in pulling the logo and t-shirts? 
• Should the Trump campaign communicate anything else at this point? Did the Forever 21 statement say enough? 

Sample HR Posting

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has published a draft notice to help employees to understand their rights. Employers that offer wellness programs are expected to communicate a new law that requires them to collect certain information about employees; however, they must still comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. 

The notice is long and, in my opinion, confusing. The EEOC could use principles of business communication, such as including "you" to make it more readable and conversational. Also, this is an opportunity for employers to promote their wellness programs, and this notice does little. Although it says the program is voluntary, it doesn't include how employees will benefit. Yes, the focus is on the information collection, but most employees will care more about the program itself. 

The EEOC includes an FAQ for employers that explains how the notice could be distributed.

Image source. 

Discussion Starters: 

• What business writing principles are used in the notice? What other principles would improve the message? 
• Would another format work better for the notice? How about an FAQ for employees? What are the advantages and downsides of this type of message? 

Ikea Bungles Recall

Ikea has finally recalled dressers in China that could tip over if not properly anchored. In June, the company recalled 36 million dressers in the United States and Canada after reports that six children were killed. But Ikea skipped China because, according to a WeChat post, the dressers met local regulations.

Chinese news agency Xinhua criticized Ikea, referring to the company's "arrogance":

"The behavior shown contradicts to the 'Ikea spirit' that founder Ingvar Kamprad talks about, being helpful and responsible" and "China is a huge market, and should not be deprived of the high standards that the brand promises." 

In a turnaround a few days after the WeChat post, Ikea recalled all dressers, which includes about 1.7 million in China. On a page on its Chinese website, the company announced the recall and reinforced its campaign, "Firmly Fixed," which encourages people to anchor certain products to the wall. Consumers also can read the recall FAQ. 

Image source.

Discussion Starters: 

• What is Ikea's responsibility to communicate installation instructions? What is the consumer's responsibility to install furniture properly?
• Should Ikea have recalled all products? Did the company do the right thing after the criticism? What are the consequences of each decision?

Chipotle's New Film Short

Chipotle needs to win back customers, so it went back to its film-making roots and created a new short video: "A Love Story." 

Kids with competing lemonade and orange juice stands grow each and lose sight of natural ingredients. Set to the Backstreet Boys' "I Want It That Way," film is a direct hit to fast-food restaurants like Burger King. The last line is "I never want to hear you say, 'I want it that way.' " The couple, of course, return to fresh fruits and vegetables and live happily ever after.

The end of the video announces Chipotle's rewards program. Like the free burrito, this is a another attempt to rebuild loyalty.

Mark Shambura, Chipotle's brand marketing director, explained the goal: "We think 'Love Story's' message will galvanize our loyalists and remind people of the Chipotle they love." Shambura is not to be confused with Mark Crumpacker, the company's former chief creative and development executive who, before being placed on leave because of a drug arrest, led the company's rebranding efforts.

Discussion Starters:

• One analyst warns that Chipotle shouldn't ignore the core issue of how the company is overcoming the crisis of food safety. How well do you see Chipotle explaining new procedures, etc. to consumers?
• Chipotle's video short, The Scarecrow, with more than 16 million views on YouTube, has been criticized. Some say Chipotle didn't live up to its claims even before the E. coli outbreaks; for example, what does "naturally raised" mean? What criticism could you foresee with the "A Love Story" short?

Phrases to Avoid on Your Resume

Business Insider has identified nine phrases that "make hiring managers cringe." Some recommendations are based on data by ZipRecruiter, but much of them are the writers' opinions. Still, I agree with most of them, except "Microsoft Word." For students, this could be a differentiator, and I would include it for entry-level jobs. 

It makes sense to avoid pronouns and general traits that can't be verified. "Team player" is my personal pet peeve; who would say "I'm not a good team player. I don't like people"? 

In addition to the video, Business Insider offers more phrases to avoid, including "extracurricular activities" with the explanation, "Unless these activities are in some way related to the job you're applying for, no one really cares what you do in your spare time when they're skimming your résumé."

I'm not sure I agree. It depends what the activity says about you as a person, which some employers may care to know. You can also make a personal connection this way, and it could be a good icebreaker during an interview. Particularly for students, I'd keep it in. 

Similarly, employers seem to like seeing applicants' volunteer work, for which LinkedIn added a section in 2011. 

Discussion Starters: 

• We don't see any context for this advice. Would it differ depending on the industry, region, job, or level? 
• How many of these phrases do you include on your resume? Will you omit them in the future? 
• What other phrases could employers find annoying? 

Communications Around Shootings

More police shootings this week led to a peaceful protest in Dallas until a sniper killed five police officers, wounded seven more, and wounded two civilians. Videos and messages are shaping our understanding of the incidents and our perspective on how to solve the problem of ongoing violence.

Diamond (Lavish) Reynolds posted a video after her boyfriend, Philando Castile, was shot in a car in St. Paul, Minnesota. The video, viewed more than 5 million times, is graphic, showing the man dying while Reynolds narrates. 

In a statement, Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton asked for a full investigation of the incident. 

Another graphic video this week showed police shooting Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, LA. The FBI has opened an investigation of this incident.  

President Obama made a statement on Facebook and in video. After expressing condolences, he gave data showing "disparities in how African-Americans and Latinos are treated."

Today's New York Post's cover reads, "Civil War," and people aren't happy about it. One Twitter user called it "insanely irresponsible."

Discussion Starters: 

• Assess President Obama's statements. What else is there to say? 
• What's your reaction to the graphic videos (of course, you don't need to watch them-I could take only about a minute. In what ways do the videos help and hurt the victims and their families? 
• What's your view of the New York Post front page? What are the dangers of this headline?  

Plagiarism by Trump Institute

In addition to Trump University, which is taking heat for defrauding students, Trump Institute is now criticized for plagiarism and other issues.

Donald Trump promoted the $2,000 institute in an infomercial to wannabe real estate investors, but his claims fell short. He said instructors were handpicked, but at least one person connected with the program said she responded to a Craigslist ad. And the Institute's organizers were Irene and Mike Milin, who The New York Times describes as "a couple who had been marketing get-rich-quick courses since the 1980s." In April, The Daily Beast wrote a long piece about the Milin's history of "legal entanglements," including promising government loans that no one received. 

The Times offered this comparison between Trump's materials and a 1995 book published by Success magazine. 

This example is part of the 20 pages that were copied from the original book.

Discussion Starters: 

• What is Trump's ethical responsibility to check the organizers' past? What responsibility does Trump Institute have to prospective students? Finally, what responsibilities do prospective students have? How could people avoid being hoodwinked into paying $2,000 for a program that doesn't deliver? 
• What plagiarism guidelines would you like to share with Donald Trump? 

Cameron's Resignation Speech

Having campaigned for the UK to stay part of the European Union, Prime Minister David Cameron had little choice but to resign when the vote was for "Brexit." (See full text.)

Cameron complimented people on both sides of the debate: 

I want to thank everyone who took part in the campaign on my side of the argument, including all those who put aside party differences to speak in what they believed was the national interest.

And let me congratulate all those who took part in the "Leave" campaign - for the spirited and passionate case that they made.

As expected, he ended positively: 

I love this country - and I feel honored to have served it.

And I will do everything I can in future to help this great country succeed.

Discussion Starters: 

• Reactions to Cameron's speech have been highly positive. Do you agree? If so, what makes this a successful speech? How could it be improved? 
• Consider the speech organization. Create an outline showing his main points. What is the logical sequencing? 

Red Cross Apologizes for Poster

The Red Cross tried to be inclusive by showing kids of different races in its "Be Cool, Follow the Rules" poster about pool safety. But when you look closely, you see that most white kids are "cool," and most kids of color are "not cool." 

The "not cool" kids of color are running, diving over a white kid, and pushing a white kid. The Red Cross responded directly to tweets, for example, "@EmmyBetzThank you for bringing this to our attention. We're removing this from our site immediately & are creating new materials," and "@Jsawyer330We removed this poster within 24 hours. We didn't scrutinize it like we should have, and apologize for any offense." 

In addition, the organization issued this statement:

Red Cross Issues Statement on Water Safety Poster

June 27, 2016

Monday, June 27, 2016 (Washington, D.C.) – The American Red Cross appreciates and is sensitive to the concerns raised regarding one of the water safety posters we produced. We deeply apologize for any misunderstanding, as it was absolutely not our intent to offend anyone. As one of the nation's oldest and largest humanitarian organizations, we are committed to diversity and inclusion in all that we do, every day.

To this end, we have removed the poster from our website and Swim App and have discontinued production. We have notified all of our partner aquatic facilities requesting they take down the poster. Our organization has emphasized to our partners and on social media that it was absolutely not our intent to offend anyone and apologized for this inadvertent action. We are currently in the process of completing a formal agreement with a diversity advocacy organization for their guidance moving forward.

For more than 100 years, part of the Red Cross mission has been to help everyone be safe in, on and around the water. Countless lives have been saved with our water safety educational and aquatics programs. In order to further support our mission and dedication to inclusion, we launched our Aquatics Centennial Campaign (www.redcross.org/centennialswim) in 2014. We are working to reduce the drowning rate in 50 high-risk communities over a 5-year period by helping to teach at least 50,000 more children and adults to swim. With this campaign, we are focusing on areas with higher-than-average drowning rates and participants who otherwise wouldn't have the opportunity to take swim lessons.

Once again, we apologize for any inadvertent misunderstanding with regard to the production of this poster, and believe we have taken every step to address the situation.

Discussion Starters: 

• What's your view of the poster? A lifeguard called it "super racist." Do you agree?
• Assess the Red Cross's statement. How does the organization use principles of persuasion to address concerns? 

Facebook Training About Political Bias

With the upcoming presidential election, Facebook is training employees to check their political biases. Google and other companies have been helping employees identify unconscious biases about race and other differences. After criticism that Facebook weeds out conservative stories on its "trending topics" feature, the company is including political bias in its training program.

In May, an article reported several contractors who were "curators" of these trending topics admitting they were told to "inject" topics management deemed of interest and to suppress stories about Facebook as a company in the feed. Facebook denied these charges: 

My team is responsible for Trending Topics, and I want to address today's reports alleging that Facebook contractors manipulated Trending Topics to suppress stories of interest to conservatives. We take these reports extremely seriously and have found no evidence that the anonymous allegations are true.

Facebook is a platform for people and perspectives from across the political spectrum. There are rigorous guidelines in place for the review team to ensure consistency and neutrality. These guidelines do not permit the suppression of political perspectives. Nor do they permit the prioritization of one viewpoint over another or one news outlet over another. These guidelines do not prohibit any news outlet from appearing in Trending Topics.

Including political bias in the company's "Managing Bias" training program is a clever approach to the issue, and Facebook has sought advice from leading political conservatives to help. COO Sheryl Sandberg explains the goal: 

"It is a political time and we're proud of the role we play in elections, not just here but around the world. The vision of Facebook was to enable individuals to connect, but to connect not just to their friends and family, but also to the people who are representing them and who they want to represent them."

Sandberg also said that Donald Trump has more Facebook fans than Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders combined.

Facebook's Managing Bias training is available online. 

Discussion Starters: 

• Have your own biases interfered with working relationships? Or have others' biases affected you? How did you handle the situation, and what was the result?
• What could training for political bias look like? How could this training help employees with their coworkers, in addition to helping the curators? 

Bad Advice from Grammarly

After clicking "Skip Video" about a dozen times on YouTube, I finally watched the Grammarly ad and tried the product. In a 15-page document, the tool identified nine "critical issues," only two of which were errors, and I would hardly call them "critical": a missing serial comma (from a CNN quote) and an unnecessarily hyphenated word.

The other seven were not mistakes; if I make the recommended corrections, I will have far more grammatical problems than when I started.

The original document is a case study, "SeaWorld Responds to the Movie Blackfish."

Here are the items marked as errors:

My Original Version	Grammarly's Correction	My Comment
SeaWorld, a theme-park operator	Possibly confused word. Did you mean theme park?	No, I meant to hyphenate the compound adjective.
several other groups cancelled performances	Cancelled is British spelling.	Technically correct, but either spelling is acceptable in the United States.
debate over orcas continues	Change to the plural form, continue.	No, continues follows debate, not orcas, which is part of a prepositional phrase.
The November 6, 2013, article	Article usage (The) is incorrect.	No, it's not: "The...article..."
Nowhere does the article mention SeaWorld's response.	Consider replacing the period with a question mark.	No, it's a statement, not a question.
The revenue up-tick may have been	Did you mean uptick?	OK! You got me. Uptick is acceptable without the hyphen.
Dawn Brancheau's family, friends and colleagues	Insert a comma.	This is a quotation from CNN, and yes, I should add the serial comma after friends.
literally millions of safe interactions	Change to million because it's modifying a noun.	No, this is a tweet quotation, and it is correct as is.
Also in February, SeaWorld sponsored ads on Facebook	Add a hyphen: SeaWorld-sponsored ads.	No, sponsor is a verb here, not a noun modified by SeaWorld-sponsored.

In addition to these markings, Grammarly says I have 38 "advanced issues" that I can see if I pay for an upgrade. The upgrade also gives me access to the plagiarism checker, which sounds like a teacher's nightmare: if students change a few words, will they circumvent tools like Turnitin?

Discussion Starters:

• After reading this, would you use or recommend Grammarly? It could be useful for international students, but I worry that it gives bad advice.
• Try the product on one of your own documents. How does it work for you? 

Airbnb and AHLA Argue About Use and Impact

The American Hotel and Lodging Association reports "83% of Airbnb revenue in Boston-or $40 million-comes from operators listing units for rent more than 30 days per year." This is damming criticism because it claims that operators (or "hosts," which Airbnb prefers) are more like hotel owners avoiding taxes. 

But Airbnb disputes the data and told the Business Journal that 86% of Boston hosts share their primary residence and earn an average of $5,900 for sharing 45 nights each year. 

It's difficult to know where the truth lies. The AHLA study was sponsored by the association and data were gleaned from Airbnb by John W. O'Neill, a professor of hospitality management and director of the center for hospitality real estate strategy at Penn State University's School of Hospitality Management. 

Airbnb spokesperson Christopher Nulty called the report "factually inaccurate" and said, "The AHLA is out of touch with the increasing number of consumers and cities embracing the tremendous benefits of home sharing. Airbnb is working with cities across the country and around the globe to create clear, fair home sharing rules and to collect and remit hotel taxes on behalf of our community, and we support similar efforts in Boston and across Massachusetts."

Fights for and against Airbnb continue throughout the country. Airbnb has reached agreements with some cities to automatically charge a 3% tax on all rentals, but other cities are hoping to ban short-term rentals entirely. New York City already prevents rentals for fewer than 30 days, but a proposed measure would fine owners for posting properties online. 

Image source.

Discussion Starters: 

• What could explain the discrepancy in Airbnb data?
• Compare persuasive strategies used by the AHLA and Airbnb. How does each use emotional appeal in addition to data to support their argument?

Responses to Boy's Death at Disney

A two-year-old boy was taken by an alligator at the edge of a lagoon at a Florida Disney Resort. His body was recovered 16 hours after the attack. 

Jacquee Wahler, vice president of the Walt Disney World Resort, said, "Everyone here at the Walt Disney World Resort is devastated by this tragic accident. Our thoughts are with the family. We are helping the family and doing everything we can to assist law enforcement." Wahler also said, "We are conducting a swift and thorough review of our processes and protocols. This includes the number, placement and wording of our signage and warnings.''

The president of Walt Disney World also posted a short statement: 

There are no words to convey the profound sorrow we feel for the family and their unimaginable loss. We are devastated and heartbroken by this tragic accident and are doing what we can to help them during this difficult time.

On behalf of everyone at Disney, we offer them our deepest sympathy.

Disney did display "No swimming" signs around the lagoon, and people are questioning whether this is enough. Alligators are common in the lagoons, but attacks are rare.

Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings was interviewed on the day of the attack and then announced when the body was found, on June 16.

Image source. 

Discussion Starters: 

• Should Disney do more to protect people? Research the situation before you respond. 
• Beyond the statement you read here, what else, if anything, should Disney say? 

Email to LinkedIn's Staff

In addition to the news announcements about Microsoft's acquisition of LinkedIn, LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner wrote an email to staff. His tone is excited and a bit bewildered: 

"No matter what you're feeling now, give yourself some time to process the news. You might feel a sense of excitement, fear, sadness, or some combination of all of those emotions. Every member of the exec team has experienced the same, but we've had months to process. Regardless of the ups and downs, we've come out the other side knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt, this is the best thing for our company."

Weiner described several benefits of the acquisition, including increasing LinkedIn's reach, expanding into other human capital solutions for companies, and integrating Lynda.com courses. Employees are probably happy to read about LinkedIn's ability to stay independent, which may mean less change and fewer layoffs.

Weiner, by the way, will walk away with almost $30 million from the sale.

In a video with Weiner, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella talks about his interest in LinkedIn and says he had been thinking about an acquisition for a long time. 

Discussion Starters: 

• How would you summarize the benefits of the acquisition? Are you convinced by these communications that the move is positive for LinkedIn? 
• How would you feel if you were a LinkedIn employee? What concerns would you have? What is the best way for the CEOs to address them? 

Communications About Orlando Tragedy

The tragic shooting at an Orlando, FL, gay club has brought communications from local politicians, global mourners, and of course, presidential candidates. The killer's motive could be homophobia, terrorism, or both, depending on your perspective. With 50 people dead and another 53 wounded, this is the largest attack since 9/11 and has left people wondering how and why.

Here's a summary of communications about the event:

• President Obama's statement. Sadly, this isn't his first speech following a shooting tragedy in this country, and his message is consistent about needing more gun control.
• The National Rifle Association's op-ed in USA Today.
• News conference with police chief, FBI, and mayor, June 12 (below)
• Police chief's news conference, June 13
• Orlando college statements offering condolences and support.
• Presidential candidates' statements:
  • Bernie Sanders
  • Hillary Clinton
  • Donald Trump

Image source.

Discussion Starters:

• Compare the presidential candidates' statements. How do their positions differ, and which do you most support?
• Assess the news conference. How are the officials sharing responsibilities, reporting on events, demonstrating sympathy, and so on?