Most recently, Rebecca Sypin and Jane Bingham, two women whose lives have been impacted by cancer, created a petition to encourage Mattel to create a “Beautiful and Bald Barbie” with whom children with cancer and hair loss illnesses could identify.  They also proposed that Mattel create accessories such as wigs, head wraps, scarves and hats for these dolls.  All of these accessories are items cancer survivors use to help cope with their illness. 

Despite over 141,000 Facebook fans and over 400 articles written about the movement, Mattel has yet to address the issue publicly.  The only response these women received was a letter claiming that Mattel doesn’t accept ideas from outside sources. But this is one of those times when a rule should be broken.

I don’t know if the people over at Mattel have ever seen how cancer affects a person, let alone a child.  Let me tell you from experience, it sucks.  Hair falls out, tears are cried, “why me” questions are asked, and breaking points are reached.  My father passed away from bladder cancer in May 2011. My 5-year-old cousin was diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma, a malignant round-cell tumor, last year and is currently in remission.  It’s an emotional roller coaster for the patient and the family alike.  No matter how you are involved, it’s one of life’s hardest experiences.

Cancer doesn’t discriminate.  It can and will attack any one – mothers, fathers, children, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends.  In this day and age, it’s very rare to meet a person who doesn’t know someone who has been affected by cancer, which is why it greatly surprises me that the people of Mattel can’t sympathize with this petition. 

From a PR standpoint, Mattel is in trouble.  First of all, Mattel needs to address this issue publicly and quickly.  This isn’t one of those issues you can just sweep under the rug.  The news is out and someone needs to address it now.  What will Mattel do?  Will it continue following its rule on not letting outside sources submit ideas?  Will it work with girls who have cancer to design this new Barbie?  The issue needs to be addressed now before the public’s perception of the company becomes more negative.   

Secondly, aren’t children Mattel’s target audience?  According to the National Cancer Institute, in the United States in 2007, approximately 10,400 children under the age of 15 were diagnosed with cancer.  Are those 10,400 children excluded from Mattel’s target audience?  Are Barbie and Ken immune to cancer?  Barbie can be a mermaid, but she can’t be bald?  This doesn’t make any sense to me.

Lastly, when it boils down to it, sometimes money isn’t everything.  In October 2011, Mattel reported a profit of $300.8 million, up from $283.3 million a year earlier.  In the long run, how much will it really cost Mattel to produce a limited edition Bald Barbie or Ken Doll?  The company manufactured much more controversial dolls such as Pregnant Midge (equipped with a baby in the Barbie’s stomach), Growing up Skipper (pull her arm and she hits puberty), Teen Talk (“math is tough!” is one of the lessons this doll teaches children) and Totally Tattoos Barbie (she comes with a tramp stamp in honor of Ken).  With money like that to spend, there’s no reason the company can’t afford to create these Bald Barbies and Kens and submit a large portion of the sales to a children’s cancer organization. 

Mattel lost out on a great opportunity to show its customers just how important and relevant children with cancer are.  They are loving, feeling human beings – despite their cancer diagnosis.   And the overall societal lesson that Mattel could have taught would go a long way toward showing all children that the disease does not define the person.   Hopefully, the company will reconsider and do the right thing to help these children cope with what will be one of the most difficult times of their lives.

The Girl Scouts Councils of New Jersey kicked off their celebration of the 100th anniversary of girl scouting in a big way, with R&J securing comprehensive event coverage of their ceremonial “bridging” event on November 13, 2011, during which thousands of Girl Scouts joined together to walk across the George Washington Bridge and enjoy a full day of fun, crafts and activities.  R&J worked with each New Jersey council to coordinate localized media interviews and promote the councils’ collective dedication to the organization’s mission to empower girls of courage, confidence and character.  R&J secured broadcast event coverage on CBS, FOX, ABC, NBC, WPIX, PBS, NY 1, News 12 NJ, WCBS-AM, and WABC-AM – effectively “hitting for the broadcast cycle” by landing every major TV and radio station.  In addition, R&J landed the event over 50 print and online placements, including features in the state’s three largest newspapers: The Star Ledger, The Bergen Record, and The Asbury Park Press.

I recently read an article that helped confirm my worst fears about coming generations.  They’re mistakenly under the impression that life’s completely up for their interpretation.  Don’t get me wrong, I certainly spent my fair share of time combing through the rhyming dictionary to beef up my epic poetry, measuring syllables to perfect the art of Haiku, and painting a plethora of little masterpieces my parents deemed true works of art.  But then I had an English professor who refused to join my fan club, and I shook the cold hand of Reality.

I remember being handed back papers, which I was sure intimated true philosophical gems, and staring down the barrel of editing marks.  I was brought up on charges of semicolon misuse, comma negligence and grammatical carelessness.  I spent a few nights coming up with what I thought a surefire defense; I would plead creativity.  But when I entered the classroom the next day, my professor found me guilty and sentenced me to the basics.  Looking back on my run-in with English language law, I attest that learning the basics only helped me in the end.

Your work can only be as good as it can be communicated.  If you can’t express your thoughts and suggestions in a coherent manner, you won’t succeed in convincing others of the commendation you deserve.  Don’t think of writing as a boring, dreadful task whose only place is in academic institutions.  Think of writing as your chance to be heard and your means to being creative.  Take the time to learn the basics of language law so you can be sure your audience understands you and your messaging successfully carries the value you’re assigning it.  Words carry an important power and have the ability to earn you either a positive or negative name.  You want to ensure that you’re consistently using language to your advantage, not unwittingly using it to diminish your credibility.

I would have loved to continue living in a world that gushed over my haikus and extolled my epic poetry, but the truth is that pleading creativity will only advance you so far.  In order to succeed in a constantly communicating world, you need to be able to strategically position yourself in the conversation.

Throughout my career, I’ve heard numerous people say, “There’s no such thing as a dumb question.” I would like to disagree. There definitely is such a thing as a dumb question. In my experience, at the root of the dumb question is laziness. Too many of us ask questions because we are too lazy to attempt to find the answers ourselves. Not only are we inconveniencing our co-workers, bosses and clients, but we’re doing a disservice to ourselves.

I won’t lie; I’ve fallen victim to asking dumb questions and I’m sure have infuriated bosses, colleagues, and clients in the process.  To avoid being a victim yourself, try these simple steps to asking smarter questions and improving your overall communication skills.

1.       Think before you ask: Most of us ask questions that we can easily find the answers to ourselves. It seems obvious but many of us fail to take simple steps to quickly research something online or look at past emails or documents for the answer. Do some legwork before you ask your question, and most likely, you’ll be able to find the answer on your own without becoming a burden to others.

2.       Be proactive: If you’re asking a question as a way of finding a solution to a problem, don’t just ask, “What should I do?” Be proactive and develop solutions to your own problem prior to asking someone else. This provides an opportunity for you to potentially impress the person you are seeking advice from and also opens up a dialogue where both parties can discuss solutions.

3.       Consider who you are asking: Identifying the right person to ask is also critical. Most likely not all questions need to be run past your boss, and he / she doesn’t have time to answer all of them. Know who you need input from, and consider tips 1 and 2 before you engage.

4.       Use questions to look smarter: It’s true, asking questions can make you seem smarter and look like a star performer. Sometimes just asking someone to expand on their idea or give their opinion on a timely topic not only makes you appear more intelligent but shows that you are engaged and are listening.

Have a tip on how to ask smarter questions and improve your communication skills? Share it here.

Every day, I feel like I hear something in the news about a hospital revolutionizing the way surgery is performed.  Yes, this is certainly important for gaining patient referrals, but now more than ever it seems that each and every physician is claiming to have the latest and greatest technology.  So how do patients confidently know which doctors to trust with their surgeries?

Further complicating the debate, social media has seemed to finally make its way into the healthcare industry, allowing for additional patient discussion of the best doctors, practices, and hospitals.  There are doctor ranking websites, Ask-a-Physician.coms, and social media forums created for discussing recent hospital experiences.  With so many different ways to “judge” a local doctor, and so many outlets to monitor and consider, how does one make sure their business reputation remains both positive and noticeable?

Healthcare companies are turning to industry experts to monitor and ensure that their names are on the top of Google’s most popular list.  The question is, why?  “Google Juice” is becoming a powerful tool for millions of Americans who search for physician rankings online, and it is extremely difficult and takes an unimaginable amount of time to rise to the top.  A practice that was once glorified for its good service and friendly staff is now judged by an online database, and thus determined to attract a thousand Facebook fans.

Do a thousand fans really mean that you’re the best practice or hospital in the area?  I’d argue no.  There are companies out there that buy (yes, I said it; they buy) friends, fans and followers simply to establish a suggestively appealing online presence.  Does this reflect the facility’s overall mission?  What will they do with an out-of-control online world that can generate a hundred bad reviews simply because one patient had nothing better to do but complain about the wait being too long in emergency room?

Public relations agencies around the country are working with doctors to ensure their brands are being controlled in cyberspace.  From blog postings to Facebook fan engagement, public relations agencies work tirelessly to communicate with physicians, nurses, managers, administrators, and patients – all of a hospital’s stakeholders – in order to properly and accurately promote the hospital’s mission and to raise awareness of the organizations capabilities and values.

Allowing the trusted engagement disciplines of public relations to control a healthcare company’s social media approach can not only help build a solid reputation with patients, but can also showcase and promote individual doctors and push them to the very top of essential search engines, including Google.

The sad truth is that if companies, especially those in the healthcare field, do not implement a strong, proactive and thoughtful social media strategy, they are leaving the brand of their company in the hands of their patients.  Having a public relations agency behind your social media will ensure that your message (and not that of some rogue poster) is distributed across the web with the quality information you want to share.

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“During her time as an intern, Tracey proved to be a terrific communications professional, in addition to being hard-working, self-motivated and an outstanding contributor to our team,” said John Lonsdorf, President of R&J Public Relations.  “We look forward to her continued growth at R&J, and we are confident that her contributions will lead to the success of both her clients and the agency.”
Prior to joining R&J, Benjamini worked as an intern for Breslow Partners, a public relations agency in Philadelphia, where she provided account support for clients in the restaurant and entertainment industries.  Benjamini also completed an internship in the public relations department of K. Hovnanian Homes, gaining valuable experience in media relations.  Benjamini graduated magna cum laude from Rutgers University in May 2010, earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Political Science.  She is a member of Lambda Pi Eta, the National Communications Honors Society and Pi Sigma Alpha, the National Political Science Honors Society.



“We pride ourselves on hiring and retaining the best and brightest talent in the field of public relations, and Tiffany is an excellent example of that,” said Scott Marioni, executive vice president of R&J Public Relations. “Tiffany’s strong leadership style and strategic thinking have made her a valued asset to both her clients and her coworkers during her tenure with R&J. We look forward to her continued success as she takes on expanded responsibilities.”

A resident of Metuchen, N.J., Miller received her B.A. in Communication with a concentration in Public Relations and Journalism from Monmouth University, where she is a member of the Alumni Mentor Program.  She is also a member of the Jersey Shore Public Relations & Advertising Association.