I vividly remember driving into Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, in September 1984 for my first day of work as Southern Division Director of Media and Community Relations for the electric utility that served the area. I learned in that first week that many of our customers clearly hated the "power company," known as Virginia Electric and Power Company (derisively called "Vepco" by locals). The company was well-known in North Carolina for poor service and very high rates. Locals hated being

News coverage the past few days has caused an overflow of emotions for me and family members of those who died at the Sago Mine. I am one of those family members. The events of January 2006 seem like yesterday to many of us. Those were two days of my life when I was lifted up by the compassion of people I'd never met before, experienced utter joy and then numbing sadness. I lost my uncle, Junior Hamner, at Sago.  Prior to the accident, Junior was looking forward to doing more of the things he

In the past 36 years, I have directed communications for nearly every crisis imaginable -- from major hurricanes to potential terrorist attacks and even environmental events. I have learned a lot, some of it through trial and error.  Through my work at Shillingburg Consulting, I am now able to share what I've learned with others. So, what are my major takeaways after over three and one-half decades of work in this area? Be Proactive The tendency by many is to try to keep things quiet during

Winning. Our President has brought the term, "winning," back into the national spotlight. Without turning this into a political debate, I would like to take a few minutes to examine what is "winning" and what is the difference between winning teams and those that struggle.   What Is Winning? To me, winning is the ability to create a positive change in the direction of an organization or team.  During my 36-year career,  I have worked with numerous winning teams and I have also led a large