Politics Archives

It was a joyous end to our two-day legislative fly-in to Tallahassee yesterday. The state's Board of Governors yesterday approved the creation of a medical school at the University of Central Florida.

This is not just a major success for UCF, it will, literally, change the entire landscape of Central Florida as we currently know it. This is not just a win for UCF, it is a win for Central Florida and the entire state. At the very base level, the school will bring new jobs to Orlando while and expand the availability of quality medical services in our community.

From a PR perspective, there are three keys the led to yesterday's success: organization, coordination and communication.

Organization - From the beginning, the effort was organized. The substantiating research was conducted, a solid strategy developed and a very detailed plan was designed.

Coordination - An initiative of this magnitude takes a lot of people and a lot of support. Countless members of the university, its alumni and the community at large were involved on a variety of levels but UCF served as the central point of coordination for the entire effort. An effort, I might add, that raised over $100 million in funding support from businesses, organizations and individuals.

Communication - A very strong message was developed and it underscores my "3Cs Rule" for message development (Clear, Compelling, Concise). Dr. Hitt, UCF's President, kept the community well informed of the plans and progress at all times while moving through the process. He asked us to hold off on contacting people until the time was right, ensuring we did not go blazing forth with a shotgun approach. He let us know when our assistance was needed and in what format.

Congratulations UCF. Go Knights!!

I'm following Josh Hallett's blog closely today. He's conducting an experiement today: using public transportation for the entire day.

Anyone familiar with Central Florida knows transportation has been an ongoing challenge for years. When I moved here nearly 20 years ago, a local radio station was selling license plates that said "I-4 Hostage," referencing the inherent traffic problems that come with building a major interstate right through the middle of downtown Orlando.

During my Leadership Orlando class, we were encouraged to take the public bus system to class on the day we were hearing from public transportation leaders. It was amazing to realize how much we take for granted the convenience of having your own car to go where you want when you want and be able to change your plans throughout the day without a second thought about how that will affect your transportation needs.

I'll be interested to see Josh's final summary on his experience today.

Read Josh's original post where he discusses his plans for this public transportation experiment.

Well, Orlando is in the national news AGAIN! This time, it's the CBS evening news without (thank goodness!) Dan Rather. It's not enough that we have become daily fodder for cities large and small across this great country with our mayoral crisis. Now we have children in kidney failure because they visited a petting zoo. Two petting zoos, to be exact. One at the strawberry festival and one somewhere else. Calling all crisis management professionals: we have great weather almost year-round, no state income tax, and a veritable plethora of opportunities for those seeking public relations jobs.

As the story continues to unfold, my bet is we learn it's not exactly because they visited the zoos, but more likely what they did at the zoo when the chaperones weren't looking...you can figure it out, you don't need me to explain how children don't obsess like adults do about where their hands have been before putting their fingers in their mouths.

Oh, speaking of Orlando, there's an update on the mayoral crisis. Judge Bronson has dismissed Ken Mulvaney's

Today will be an interesting day in Orlando politics. The local media were hot and heavy last night over four grand jury indictments handed out in the ongoing saga of Orlando mayor Buddy Dyer, and allegations that absentee ballot laws were violated during his campaign last year. These indictments come just a day after the Mayor's testimony before a grand jury.

Our local media wolves have already circled themselves into a frenzy in anticipation of learning who is named in the indictments. The indictments were sealed, and the special prosecutor on the case couldn't say who was listed in the indictments until they were served or in custody. Seems one Ezzie Thomas, who is know for gathering absentee ballots in the predominantly black neighborhoods during many campaigns, is at the center of this storm. There have been repeated reports that he was paid to collect these ballots, which is in direction violation of campaign laws.

The smell of blood is already in the air. I bet the replacement wannabes didn't get a wink of sleep last night as they furiously brushed up on their campaign strategies and visualized how the view from behind Mayor Dyer's desk would look when they were sitting in his chair.

As the day goes on, I'm sure we'll have to go to non-Orlando news outlets to find out anything else going on in the world today. Stay tuned.