The Lakeview Blog

"Brand" is one of the most-talked about yet least understood must-haves for any business. Join this lively, 90-minute interactive seminar that will debunk brand myths, identify the elements of a brand, and help you discover and build your own. You will leave with tools to help you polish - or change - your brand. A luncheon prepared by Chris Giugovaz, chef and manager of The Grocery Basket will be served. Be sure to arrive by 12:15 to settle in with your lunch. The discussion begins at 12:30, sharp. Colleen Gareau has worked in public relations for more than 20 years. She developed and led the communications department of the RCMP; was a senior consultant for the re-engineering of Canad's pension systems and led communications for departments and projects at al levels of government. Colleen has consulted with such companies as Canada Post, Bell Canada, professional associations, small businesses and nonprofits including the Canada Games and Amnesty Interna

With the corporate mess-ups that have been in the news recently, a few comments about apologizing are in order. Let's suppose you've messed up. A mistake was made. You can't believe it turned out this way, but it has and to make matters worse, people noticed. What are you going to do? 1. Think fast. You won't have days to react. Often you won't even have hours. Figure out what went wrong, why people are upset, how damaging it is and to whom, what the likely impact will be to your customers, your staff, your reputation. 2. Apologize and be sincere. Say you're sorry. Not that you're sorry that people feel bad or that you're sorry that people took something the wrong way. That's the same as telling them that they are to blame, not you. A phoney apology is no apology at all. We've all been on the receiving end of one of these and it only makes us more angry. Say you're sorry that you messed up. Explain what happened. If it's appropr