Southwest is about to join Delta, Virgin and American in kicking those doors open. Today they announced that they have outfitted 13 aircraft with Wi-Fi internet access and plan to add the service to more than 60 by the end of the year. Pricing has yet to be revealed, but it looks like being on an airplane will no longer be an excuse to disconnect. Be prepared to get some work done on your next flight!

Be a Leader
Take the lead in spearheading projects, generating ideas and problem-solving. Your employees look to you as a leader in the field, so be the leader that they expect and need. Defend your team when necessary and let them know that you are on their side.

Listen
Listen to the employees on your team. They are much closer to the clients and deal with procedures a lot more often than you do. They may have insight into the likes and dislikes of the clients as well as ideas on making processes more efficient. Even if they present an idea that will not work, thank them for their efforts and don’t discourage them from speaking up in the future. Everyone likes to know that they have been heard.

Be Fair
Nothing will disintegrate a team faster than playing favorites. Treat your team members equally. Of course, dole out praises and criticisms when it’s appropriate, but avoid giving certain employees special treatment such as extra time off. This could cause resentment among team members and a loss of respect for you.

Distrust among employers and employees causes stress and will distract your team from their goals. Maintaining trust will not only make your workforce happier, they will perform their job better and help your business grow. Your employees will speak positive about the company putting it in a favorable light for PR and recruiting.

iAd is sure to be valuable tool for marketing. According to Apple, iPhone users have downloaded over five billion apps and spend at least 30 minutes a day using iPhone applications. iAd also offers metrics, which adds value to marketers seeking to measure their efforts.

For more information on how IAd will affect mobile marketing, check out this blog post from DMNews.

Recently, I was a participant in the pre-market test project for AT&T’s new Microcell 3G product. The Microcell 3G connects to your broadband service and acts as a mini-cell phone tower. During the test we learned that the Microcell 3G device needed to be placed at least one foot from your exiting Wi-Fi device.

Now, the instructions for the AT&T Microcell 3G device clearly state the proper placement for the Microcell 3G device. A simple solution that could have become “Microcellgate” had the instructions not included this needed statement.

So the simple solution for Apple would have been to tell people “don’t cover the antenna area while talking on the phone”. Or you could have been given the reason for purchasing bumpers, which fit around the iPhone and help with the reception issue. Not a big deal. But Apple made it a big deal, by first denying there was a problem. Then, giving a partial-admission of the problem, then a full-admission and then, finally, a resolution. If they had simply admitted the problem and offered a solution immediately, it would not have grown in the PR nightmare we have witnessed. Apple took a simple matter and turned it into a major multi-million dollar disaster that will take years to overcome.

The lesson for companies, candidates, or anyone dealing with the public is to be upfront and honest. Let the public know as quickly as possible what they deserve to know. In Apple’s case, the antenna issue should have been handled in the iPhone 4’s operating instructions.

On a side note, when I ordered my iPhone 4 on the first day, I noticed they were selling bumpers,. In a “Blink” decision, I purchased bumpers for my phone. I’m glad I did. I am perfectly happy with my iPhone 4 and would have bought it even if I did know about the antenna problem. Think about all the money Apple has spent – and will spend – on “Antennagate” when a simple truthful statement about the antenna weakness could have avoided the entire matter.

According to this blog post from SocialFresh, Starbucks started its social media campaign by working with existing unofficial fan pages to consolidate them into one official page at Facebook’s urging.

In the social media space, there are many claiming to be rock stars, but Starbucks is by far the biggest social media success thus far. Companies should look to them as a leader in the space.

On Wednesday, July 7, 2010, Governor Beverly Perdue met with 160 of the top officers in the North Carolina Highway Patrol. Here was her message:

“If you betray your oath, you will be dismissed,” Perdue said. “I don’t believe that since some of these men and women were sworn in 22 years ago that anybody has ever dared get in their face and say that ethics code is a litmus test for your job.” (News & Observer, July 8, 2010)

Perdue’s meeting and comments might make good politics, but it is extremely poor management. Perdue was addressing the troopers and the press after a series of trooper misconduct that has occurred over the last several years.

In managing people, it is my strong and firm belief that you NEVER handle inappropriate behavior by blasting the entire staff. Perdue even admitted yesterday, “I continue to believe that 99.9% of the men and women of the North Carolina Highway Patrol are doing tremendous work.”

Well Governor, if you believe what you say then act accordingly in doing your job as a manager.

Good managers do not treat good and innocent employees as part of a problem.

Good managers deal with problem employees directly, individually, timely, and appropriately.

Good managers do not call group meeting to address the problem – blasting the good employees with the bad.

It is amazing how often I am asked how to handle employee problems. Sometimes the manager wants to write everyone an email or memo telling the entire staff not to do something inappropriate. Sometimes the manager wants to hold a group meeting. My advice is always the same, deal with the problem directly and NEVER involve good employees when dealing with a something that is none of their business.

This advice is true for any supervisor, manager, or Governor. It is Management 101 and a lesson the Governor of North Carolina needs to learn – if she intends to effectively manage people.

One last point, Management 102 says that the Commander of the Highway Patrol should be dealing with these issues. If the Commander is not doing his job, he should be replaced.

Location-based marketing is used via Smart Phone applications. Examples of Location-based applications are GoWalla, Tri-Out and Foursquare. Since Starbucks is using Foursquare as its location-based marketing platform, we will go into some detail about how it works.

A user downloads the Foursquare application to their Smart Phone and creates an account. When you go to a location (restaurant, bar, coffee shop, etc.), you “check in” using the application. You can link to your Twitter or Facebook account so you can let your friends/clients know where you are. The person that checks into the same location the most amount of times becomes the “Mayor” of that location.

Starbucks among a few other companies have started rewarding their “Mayors”. Starbucks Mayors receive a dollar off of their order. This creates incentive for Starbucks customers to show loyalty to a particular location and it’s also a competition.

Since location-based marketing is new, it has its share of problems. For one, you have to have a Smart Phone in order to participate. As Smart Phones get more popular, this will be less of an issue. Another problem is that Starbucks hasn’t been vigilant about letting their employees know about this promotion. As a result, it creates a negative Starbucks experience when it is supposed to be positive. Also, there is nothing to stop employees from checking in effectively blocking customers from taking advantage of the deal.

Once these issues are ironed out, I think location-based marketing will be the next big thing for retailer’s, restaurants, bars and pretty much anything with a storefront. You can read more about Starbucks’ use of location based marketing here.

The public perception that corporations are getting some kind of payoff by teaming up with a non-profit is not accurate. Everyone wants our world to be a better place, even people who run corporations. Not only does it make the people working for the corporation feel good, it makes good business sense from a Public Relations perspective. The public also needs to give the people working for the non-profit more credit for their integrity. They care about their goals for their organization and would not put it at risk by accepting money with strings attached.

The blog post from Public Affairs offers some good advice for partnerships:

•Both parties should be clear on what they hope to achieve through the success of the project, and discuss in advance where potential issues or disagreements may arise.

•To maintain independence, it should be understood that a direct partnership will not limit either organization’s policy stance on issues outside the specific agreement.

•Funding responsibilities must be clear and transparent to ensure accountability between partners.

•Project outcomes should be measured (and therefore measurable) as well as communicated.

•Have a mutually agreed upon communications plan specific to the project for proactive and reactive media relations, including a crisis plan as appropriate.

You can download the entire Public Affairs Tip Sheet on Partnerships here.

One of the first rules of Crisis Management is to respond quickly. The public heard from BP’s lawyers long before it actually heard directly from BP. It took 15 days for BP to even admit that the rate of the oil spill was like more than 5,000 barrels per day. They did eventually respond with this commercial and have become increasingly better at responding to the media, but some feel it is too little, too late. The economic and environmental damage is more than we can even imagine and it’s doubtful that anything BP says at this point is going to help.

BP has admitted that they are at fault, but their CEO was also quoted as calling the spill “modest”, when anyone can see that that this is a spill of epic proportions. In fact, it is unprecedented. They admit they are at fault, but they almost seem casual about it. This is causing mistrust and anger among consumers. This situation demands compassion and the American people aren’t getting from BP.

Until the spill is under control, it is not likely BP is going to restore consumer confidence any time soon. Many are calling for a boycott of BP. As for moving on, it is going to take years. BP will likely have to deal with litigation stemming from this spill for years to come, much like Exxon. Bouncing back from this crisis is going to be increasingly difficult given BP’s poor response.

For more on how BP is handing the spill publically, check out this interview with Kent Jarrell, Director of Litigation Communications for a Washington consulting firm. Also, here is an interview with Patty Brigulio, president of MMI Public Relations in Raleigh.

To witness such great customer service is rare, but those who have purchased items from Zappos were not surprised. During a time where companies try to curb customer service expenses, Zappos embraces it. Their call center is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They offer “surprise” overnight shipping for several lucky customers a day. Their warehouse operates 24 hours a day which increases turnaround time for orders. They don’t list an item for sale that isn’t available in their warehouse, so there’s no chance of being surprised when you discover (post-purchase) that the item you want is out of stock.

Zappos considers excellent customer service to be important to their brand and this extreme example has solidified it. The company will be forever associated with excellent customer service. Though they lost money with their error, they used it as an opportunity to prove that they are consistent with their values. This will ultimately be reflected in their bottom line figures, which are sure to grow along with customer loyalty and confidence.