Blog

As I prepare to leave cable TV behind, I thought I'd take a walk down memory lane. I feel cable left me way before I left cable. There have been several low moments, but I can say that when the History Channel showed the Planet of the Apes, I was at a loss. I grew up in the late 1970's... in Detroit, the last major

I'm inviting your opinions on the following topic that's foremost on my mind this summer: When do you know it's time to grow? I founded my business just over a year ago. I have been building it slowly, conservatively with the help of great clients (partners, really) and patient, understanding consultants. As you may have experienced, there are only so many hours in the day.

The following is a unpublished article about a wonderful reunion I had last summer. Enjoy! Living overseas is a remarkable experience. In my case, I learned a language, made life-long friends and got to know a beautiful, historic culture. I lived in Vienna, Austria as a 21 year old AHA student in 1988, and returned as a 42 year old in 2009. If that trend keeps

This is an unpublished article I wrote from a recent overseas trip, detailing how a personal touch can make the difference in an evolving business relationship. The Christmas season connects two family-owned businesses with German heritage, thousands of miles apart. The partnership between Bronner’s CHRISTmas Wonderland in Frankenmuth, Michigan and Krebs Glas in Germany has survived the cold war, hot wars and economic downturns through

The past year has been an interesting experience for me as I transitioned from being fully employed, through unemployment and underemployment and now into self employement via my business, Cameron Knowles Creative Services. As you might imagine, I economized as best as possible including cutting out expenses when I could. Below are a list of casual expenses I abandoned and will try not to return to

I'm an inveterate multi-tasker. While this feeds my need for variety in my work day, it has its downsides too. Proofing and double-checking is a must for me. And I'm amazed when something compels my entire attention. I've been capturing silent films recently on Turner Classic Movies. I like older films, and will let them run in the background while I'm working on graphic arts

I've recently embraced the motor-scooter lifestyle. After a handful of days on the road, I'm made some observations about how scooter-riding resembles another passion of mine, playing defense on my adult league hockey team. I Can't Get No Respect Riding the motor scooter is an ego-testing experience. While I think make scooting look good (see photo), http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=11080789&l=8c0ca82f81&... , the fact of the matter is that it's

My dad was a police officer, but I’ve become a firefighter. You’re not going to find that skill on my business website,www.cameronknowles.com, but I’m thinking of adding it. I’m not the kind of firefighters who watch over our homes and neighborhoods, but a firefighter within organizations when a crisis breaks out. There are several things to think about to make sure that there’s a successful

As a native of Detroit, the Motor City, I have watched media coverage of Toyota’s troubles with an air of schadenfreude. I don’t usually take pleasure in other people’s discomfort, but I believe the hand-wringing I’ve seen in media coverage on organizations from CNN to NPR comes from the shattering of blind faith in Toyota’s product. I heard one host ask, breathlessly, “what should I

One of my previous lives involved helping to manage crises (yes, there were many) from a public and/or community relations stance. I don’t remember where I first heard the following phrase, or whether I originated it, but I started to refer to my strategy and philosophy on PR problems as ‘Licking the Toad’. What did I mean by that? Well, my philosophy was a simple