By Flickr William Warby

Rather overshadowed by news of the impending mega-billion Facebook IPO was an actual public offering earlier this week by casino operator Caesars Entertainment.

The gambling company’s small offering — less than 2 percent of iits shares went public — was snatched up and tradrs drove the initial price up by 70 percent the first day of trading, USA Today reports.   That sounds like upbeat news but in proof that investing news isn’t always what it seems, some analysts according to BusinessWeek posit that such a tiny offering is intended to let private investors in the casino company – which under its former name, Harrah’s Entertainment, was taken off the market in 2008 by private equity firms – cash in on demand artificially inflated by a limited number of shares.

The cynical take on the shares’ surge makes it tough to draw a conclusion about the demand for casino stocks.  But in light of the growing casino market nationwide, it makes sense to take a fresh look at gaming activity in your region and how revenue is dispersed throughout the economy. 

It’s also worthwhile – especially if you cover personal finance or public policy – the  irony of states and municipalities using what may be the most absolutely discretionary of all discretionary consumer spending to make up for losses in revenue from taxes on real property, taxes on income and other productive sectors.  I like a turn at the slot machines just as well as the next person, but find it somewhat sad that as state and local budgets are slashed due to declining residential property values, governments are looking to the proceeds from goofy games to prop up ailing budgets.  Detroit, for example, reportedly is considering a gaming surcharge to out-of-town winners. 

Fifty-ish miles south, in the Toledo area, conservative Ohio soon will succumb to the lure of the gambling parlor when the first of that state’s newly authorized casinos open.  Ohio isn’t alone among states hoping to reap benefits from humankind’s urge to wager, but according to a Federal Reserve study cited in this Kentucky.com article, casinos are no cure-all.   Especially intriguing is the notion that ‘every dollar dropped into a slot machine is a dollar not spent elsewhere.’ 

It might be time to explore that notion if you’re in a market anywhere near state-regulated or tribal gambling halls.  I have chatted with casino patrons, for example, who admit to spending all of their Social Security checks at casinos; some visit every day.  If they didn’t have the gambling outlet, would the money go to QVC, or bingo, or grandhcildren’s college funds?   Who knows, but it’s an interesting question to ask. 

Another good angle: What happens to unclaimed winnings?   For the uninitiated, most slot machines these days spew bar-coded tickets instead of jingling coins; the tickets can be cashed in via ATM-like machines or at an ever-dwindling number of cashier stations.  Or, they can be tucked into wallets and purses and forgotten.  It beats me how slot-machine systems that can track a player’s every move down to the split second can’t be bothered to credit an outstanding balance to a player’s slot account (I’m sure they could, if the casinos wanted to) but the tickets do expire.  State laws on what happens to the balance vary and you’ll turn up a very riveting little story if you ask about the fate of these unclaimed winnings.  (Check on the policies for lottery and horse/dog track winnings, as well.) 

Here’s a look at the Top 20 U.S. casino markets by revenue; the results may surprise you.

That’s a blow to a stumbling jobs market and a hit to consumer and worker confidence, though investors probably love the idea of trimming 20 percent of labor costs.  (There’s always a ‘who benefits?’ silver lining story somewhere…)

In 2011, tens of thousands of workers in the financial sector lost jobs, along with other big job cuts at companies like Pfizer, Cisco and Delta. While American Airlines is the first big job-cuts announcement of the year, it’s a sure bet it won’t be the last.

And with the New Year just under way, you might want to consider some sort of tracking feature — a blog, a standing graphic in your publication or online, or a monthly roundup — to chronicle mass layoffs this year in your region.   Seek out the pink-slipped workers and document their job searches, career retraining, personal finance challenges and other aspects of unemployment.  Joblessness and the mismatch between corporate expectations and what candidates have to offer is one of the most unexplored stories of this era, as I mentioned in a previous blog post about the so-called talent gap. 

Readers love longitudinal features that let a story unfold throughout the year, and they are great background for presenting ongoing economic data and statistics.  Why not give it a try this year?

Finding laid-off workers is easy; visit your area’s workforce commission, go to job fairs, ask financial advisers to refer clients, call executive recruiting firms, talk with local union leaders and consider soliciting reader stories through a blurb in the publication or online.

Meanwhile, bookmark this Bureau of Labor Statistics monthly mass layoffs report; it’s really a trove of data that slices mass layoff numbers by industry, occupation and by state.  (A mass layoff is one involving 50 or more workers.)  Perusing the report, it’s surprising how many events fall under radar screens; according to the BLS report there were 2,433 layoff events in December alone.  (Note that this report lists layoffs of any duration; it may be that some job losses recorded are not permanent; that’s an important distinction to make when ferreting out local events.) Contact the BLS and your state labor department for documentation about the employers reporting the job cuts.

And check out the federal labor department’s WARN pages — the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act requires employers to provide 60 days notice of plant closings and mass layoffs, among other provisions.  It’s another way to keep tabs on pending job cuts in your area.

Computer technician Audric Fox of Mitchell Technology Group reinstalls a computer hard drive. Photo: Memphis Daily News

Every February, myriad events nationwide commemorate and celebrate the country’s African American citizens.  And while many observances focus on history, heritage and culture, there are plenty of angles for business writeres, too, in the experiences of black Americans.

Profiles and features of are a natural fit.  If you generally only cover incremental changes at companies run by African American business women and men, like earnings reports or real estate deals, delve deeper for ineresting stories about career trajectories or entrepreneurial endeavors.  I especially like stories about multi-generational businesses because of how the firms are generally so entwined with the history of the region and community and revolved around the basic needs of life, like restaurants and funeral parlors.  Flash forward to last year’s Inc. Top 10 Black Entrepreneurs and you’ll find IT, telecom, real estate and aviation consulting firms.

As this Cincinnati Business Courier article points out,  in some areas still ‘there are not a  lot of multi-generational black businesses.’ Talk to experts about why — lack of access to capital, institutional racism, market factors, and more — and what conditions or factors may be helping to change that.   Dont’ forget to tap academic experts; this article notes that last year for Black History Month the University of Maryland business school held a diversity seminar — the participants and those at similar events in your region would be likely sources.

Unemployment.   African American males — especially young men — are suffering the most from our moribund jobs market, as this Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article reiterates.  And with the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ employment situation report due out Friday (Feb. 3) –  including detailed tables on unemployment by race, sex and age — you might want to start exploring the issue and drill down into numbers for your region via the BLS regional reports.  Talk with employers, job-seekers, educators, advocacy groups, community leaders and others about the roots of this drastic mismatch between the market and the men who aspire to its jobs.  What apprenticeship, mentoring and other programs are businesses creating to address the issue?

The African American consumer.  Despite reporst like this one from the Memphis Daily News about the economy’s effect on black wealth, the African American consumer still has rising purchasing power — check out this Nielsen page about its State of the African American Consumer Report, which details factors like income growth, TV use, mobile phone use, Tweeting and more among the black community.  How are consumer goods firms, advertising agencies, small businesses, service firms and others adapting to the growing market and wooing African American customers?  I’ve been struck, for example, by the candid Ancestry.com commercial where the spokesman says something like “As a black man, let’s face it, I knew where my family tree might lead..”  That’s laying it on the line and in some ways even turning a potential liability for Ancestry.com into an opportunity to connect honestly with potential customers.  How are other companies — from health care to retail — similarly tailoring their messages?

Be sure to check out the U.S. Census Bureau’s Black History Month gallery for a plethora of ideas, many business-related.

By Duygu Ozen

Coming off a year with a welcome 10 percent increase in sales, the nation’s auto dealers are prepped for an even better 2012, according to the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA). 

Its “Top 3 factors why U.S. auto sales will increase in 2012″ suggests that aging autos, available credit and plenty of incentives from dealers and automakers will spur sales even more this year.  With the January tally of auto sales due out Wednesday and expected to show a 6-percent-plus increase, according to TheStreet.com, you might want to think about tracking sales for the year as a sort of local bellwether. 

Also, with the NADA’s annual convention about to kick off in Las Vegas later this week, you have a timely peg for checking in with dealer executives, industry lobbyists and other stakeholders about the state of auto retailing in your market.

Naturally car sales determine the fortunes of retail dealers, and that’s an important angle – especially when you factor in related businesses like service, detailing, accounting, transport of cars to and from dealers and other support services – in fact it might be instructive to ask a local dealer for an educational look at its accounts payable books, to get an idea of the myriad other firms that revolve around car sales.  Not to mention newspaper ad sales, and that’s always a tightrope of a topic for business journalists to cover. 

The NADA has plenty of informational material on its website, including a state-by-state look at how car sellers contribute to the local economy; you might want to browse around the site for other pertinent data and background.

One reason for the rosy sales outlook is pent-up demand; according to the Polk research firm, average vehicle age reached a record high in 2011 of 10.8 years.  But the annual decline in domestic vehicle population ended, with some 500,000 cars boosting the July 2011 ‘vehicles in operation’ number to 240.5 million.  Talk with auto mechanices, parts suppliers (Pep Boys just got snapped up by private equity for some $790 million), oil-change stations, car wash companies and detailers – any entity that helps keep old cars running – about what the aging fleet has meant to them and how they’ll be affected if predictions of sales jumps in 2012 hold true.   Again, this is a golden opportunity to start a longitudinal story – a mechanic’s blog, or monthly check-in with any related business about the ebb and flow of customers. 

Another angle: Who’s buying what in your region?  In addition to anecdotal reports from car salespersons, try your DMV for available registration records.  I poked around and the info seems to vary by state, but getting monthly records that reflect make, model, year and ZIP code seems like a reasonable FOIA request in most states.  Your readers would devour a monthly feature showing which neighborhoods are buying the silver Lexus vs. the bright green Ford Fiesta vs. the sexy ‘Imported from Detroit’ Chrysler semi-muscle cars.   Call the DMV and ask what records are available.

By Flickr user Nancy Pelosi

Hard to believe it’s been 18 months since President Obama signed financial regulatory overhaul into the law that was prompted by the collapse and/or near collapse of what’s now known as America’s too-big-to-fail financial institutions.

Pundits, critics and observers differ on the need for such legislation and now, whether it’s made our economy safer from the ripple effects of speculation, complicated trading, conflicts of interest and other practices that many feel led to the debt bubble and the 2008 collapse of investment banker Lehman Brothers which rippled out through global financial systems.

The bill known as the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act – here’s a summary - is so complex and far-reaching that covering its effects could be a full-time job.  Chances are  you don’t have that luxury, but if you want to take a look at the milestones in the long roll-out of new rules and regulations, below are some resources and suggestions that will arm you with interview topics for the banks, investment firms, securities analysts, regulators and consumers in your region.

A note of caution; many of the provisions of the bill concern the behind-the-scenes investing and trading activity at financial institutions; some of the terminology and practices mentioned are so sophisticated that even MBAs and industry veterans might feel a bit befuddled.  There’s also a major political or ideological element to much of the regulation; be sure to be clear on your sources’ loyalties and agendas when quoting praise or criticism of Dodd-Frank.

Here’s a hot-off-the-press progress report on Dodd-Frank by the DavisPolk law firm; the 17-page PDF notes that 75 percent of rulemaking deadlines have been missed by the agencies responsible for writing new regulations; note that the organization has implemented a Twitter feed that will augment its monthly progress report; this is a must-follow if you plan to cover Dodd-Frank at length.

If you have time for more in-depth reading, the U.S. Government Accountability Office has issued a 118-page PDF on the Dodd-Frank regulations, including cost-benefit analyses and conflicts of interest.  This report concerns rules that were in effect by July 21 but its format can help you develop questions on any of the regulations you might be following.

Similarly, here’s a Securities and Exchange Commission timeline for implementing provisions of the act, highlighting the next six months.  This is fairly fertile ground for local reporters since corporate governance, independent compensation committees and other nitty-gritty elements of Dodd-Frank proposals will effect executives, shareholders and workers at a wide range of publicly traded companies, apparently, not just the financial institutions or household names.  It would be interesting to interview a sampling of medium-sized and lesser-known public companies in your area about how any changes have or will affect them.

The Federal Reserve board’s regulatory reform portal also is a font of information, from  milestones to public communcations.  Don’t forget your district federal reserve bank officials as a source, too.

And finally, look for ancillary sectors that might not immediately seem affected by Dodd-Frank.  Here, for example, is a recent press release by the American Guild of Appraisers expressing alarm at Dodd-Frank related fee reductions that the appraiser are protesting.  It’s not an occupation that would spring to mind as being affected by financial regulatory reform, but it’s a pithy example that many readers will be able to relate to.

By Flickr user Like_the_Grand_Canyon

Nearly a month into New Year’s resolutions, I have a feeling that millions of Americans’ resolve is withering just as grocery ads are touting fattening Super Bowl snack foods and bistros are starting to advertise succulent Valentine’s Day specials.  Between now and Lent, more than a little noshing will take place – so take advantage of the zeitgeist to do a little update on trends and tribulations among your region’s restauranteurs.

We all buy food and eat, and nearly everyone has been or knows someone who has been a food-service worker at one time or another, making any informative article about the industry of high reader interest. Nearly 10 million people work in restaurants and other food-service businesses in the United States, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, which offers occupation and wage stats for the sector - the nation’s 61,000 chefs, for example, make a median hourly wage of $18.39, compared to $8.78 an hour for some 2 million waiters and waitresses.

Some angles to look at:

Prices. Food inflation has been a hot topic the past two years, and according to a recent entry by the industry bible Nation’s Restaurant News, menu prices will reflect that in 2012 by rising 1 percent to 3 percent.  And according to the magazine’s latest operators’ survey, 64 percent expect better sales in 2012 despite the higher tabs, with 58 percent predicting a more profitable year for themselves.  There are other nuggets in the survey well worth taking a look at.

Food trends.  Market research firms and trade groups are out with 2012 trends predictions that make for fun follow-up stories; this article from QSR Magazine (serving quick-service restaurants, hence the acronym) forecasts a variety of consumer behaviors that business writers can latch on to – from more lunch visits and business meals in 2012 to social media to competition from grocery stores and convenience stores selling food-on-the-go.  (My supermarket, located near several office and light-industrial parks, just remodeled to add tables, more coolers for ready-made sandwiches and fruit cups, a huge olive bar, self-serve salad buffet, deli/cheese area and prepared food counters; I’ve often been curious as to who’s buying those $6 twice-baked potatoes and $17 slivers of gruyere for lunch.)

Other trend stories have predicted that meatballs are out and meatloaf in, that cupcakes are history and layer cakes are this year’s indulgence.  The the New York Daily News quotes trendspotters as saying that – yikes! – pigs’ ears and bone marrow are among fads to watch in 2012.  Why not poll local chefs, food distributors, grocers and restauranteurs about food trends on the local scene?

Home delivery.  Burger King was sizzling in the news recently with news that it will test home delivery, encroaching on territory generally ceded to the more travel-friendly pizza products.  You can use this peg – and the notion that, as the LA Times reports, 48 million food deliveries will take place on Super Bowl Sunday– to take a look at the market for home delivery of ready-to-eat food and groceries in your area.  From traditional dealers like Schwan’s to new attempts by Amazon to services like SendAMeal.com that promise to whisk steak and other delicacies to doorsteps on demand, the market for COD cuisine seems to be on the uptick.

By Flickr user Benny Mazur

There’s a hip new name for the secondhand goods deals that long have been dear to the heart of garage-salers, estate-sale mavens and consignment-shop connoisseurs: Re-commerce.

The new term for turning one’s unwanted possessions into spendable cash turned up on a Trendwatching.com list of 2012 consumer trends to watch.  “For smart consumers, trading in is the new buying in 2012.”  And while their blog post mainly concerns retail swap programs that let patrons sell back used items for cash or vouchers, it’s a good peg for a fresh look at your region’s entire secondhand economy, from used-car lots to Craigslist to thrift stores.  You can check in with an array of retailers on the trade-in scene and any other special promos involving the return of used goods.

It’s more than a retail story.  Aside from myriad personal finance stories about how to spot and snare good deals, the secondhand story is fertile ground for finding entrepreneurs and even tech stories, from flea market merchants to people who design mobile apps like TagSellIt and YardSaleTreasureMap.  Real estate writers can review the local landscape – how many storefronts and vacant commercial sites have been filled with thrift shops, swap-meet booths and other used-good venues in recent years?

A couple of specific sectors you might want to focus on include:

Kids’ goods.  “Mom to mom” events via school or church rummage sales appear to be burgeoning; this Arizona Republic story advises readers on how to “Make cash by selling your kids’ outgrown clothing, toys” and profiles several local establishments – all of which seem to have different business models; a comparison of how dealers make money and the pros and cons of consignment policies from the small business POV could be quite enlightening.  A feature comparing the new/used costs of commonly used baby and toddler equipment, along with clothing would probably grip readers.  (Be sure to check the Consumer Products Safety Commission website for recalls and guidelines about safety considerations and used baby goods.)

Cars.  According to reports, used car prices are expected to rise again.  (In some ways that’s good for new-car dealers because it makes their wares more competitive; be sure to get their input.)  Check in with both private sellers and retailers about trends in used-car buying and financing.

Luxury goods.  Pawn shops, jewelers, ritzy resale shops, antiques dealers; all are worth checking in with as you localize this recent Reuters story which notes that “As recession lingers, well-heeled hit resales shops.”  Don’t limit yourself to small items; check with resellers of big-ticket goods like luxury automobiles, boats, planes, concert tickets and other high-end treats.

Regulation.  Somehow I missed this last fall:  Louisiana actually passed a law prohibiting cash transactions for used goods!  It’s an effort to create a paper trail so crooks can’t easily dispose of stolen goods, but really – I can’t imagine the headaches for legitimate stores and patrons.  And in Knoxville, secondhand dealers now have to get a background check and pay an annual fee for a business permit.  Nose around your state legislature, attorney general’s office, retail trade groups and local councils to see if any similar concerns may soon affect the used-goods market in your area.

Mo' Money Taxes is a tax preparer in Detroit. Photo by Flickr user Pinehurst

It’s a perennial topic and admittedly sometimes pickings are scarce for injecting new life into your coverage.  But a few economy-related ideas for individual filers spring to mind, as well as some angles for using tax time for behind-the-scenes glimpses into business operations in your region.

And be sure to arm yourself with a copy or download of Publication 17, the Internal Revenue Service’s “Your Federal Income Tax” guide.  It makes amazingly good reading and can be the source of ideas as well as the bible for fact-checking  your stories and infoboxes.  In fact, as best I can tell, all of those big softcover annual tax guides put out by various commercial enterprises are merely expansions of Pub 17; you might advise readers to use the free IRS version as a first stop.

Subscribing to tax tips at IRS.gov and perusing the home page from time to time is helpful if you’ll be doing season-long coverage; also note that the IRS site offers specific pages for farmers, military employees, students and other demographics; depending on the employment and business trends specific to your region you might want to check them out.  And be sure to check out the prior years’ tax stats the IRS offers; you can drill to the state level and compare filings, the number of filings in various gross income categories, the number of married vs. single vs. head of household filers, how many of each type of tax credit was taken (sliced by household income levels) and all sorts of other information through the 2009 tax year.

Now, for individual filers, there’s a group of topics that will be of interest to those affected by unemployment or reduced circumstances:

The IRS taxes unemployment benefits. Photo: Hair Guy Blog

Unemployment benefits are fully taxable on federal returns.   This probably isn’t an issue for people subsisting on $15,000 or so a year in jobless benefits — but for people filing jointly with an employed individual, the combined income could indeed create some tax liability.  And for people employed part of a year, the lack of withholding on the benefits they did collect could lead to a bigger tax tab than they anticipated.  This Washington Post article includes a good explanation and related tips like  how to deduct job search expenses.

New dependents.  If people in strained circumstances take shelter with other family members, they may end up qualifying as an adult depenedent on the head of household’s income tax return.  Rules are tricky — this Daily World article explains them — but it’s a notion worth passing on to readers.

The medical expense deduction might be per more pertinent this year for people who have lost insurance coverage either through losing their jobs or simply being unable to afford an individual policy.

Social Security.  While not directly a tax issue, it appears that more people may be claiming Social Security retirement benefits earlier than planned to augment reduced income.  The return they file on any income earned in 2011 will be used by the Social Security Administration to revise benefits of those who earned more than the $14,160 allowed.  It’s a complicated subject but this AARP Bulletin article includes a cogent explanation.

Check the IRS site for information about payment plans for those who can’t meet their entire tax bill by the April 17 deadline.

For business journalists, another angle is the business of tax preparation and filing.  This is high season for acounting firms, storefront tax-prep shops and other commercial preparers; they’re often too busy for interviews but periodic check-ins of what they’re seeing in terms of income and deduction trends are worth a try.  (Also consider a piece on tax-prep jobs as a part-time career; is the cost of training worth the result?)

What can CPAs and tax preparation professionals like enrolled agents  tell you about the state of small and medium-sized businesses in your region?   I’m not an accountant but it would seem to me a lot of clues about fiscal health and strategy might emerge from a tax return, like depreciation of capital assets, deductions for employee heath care costs and interest on loans… all can point to the prosperity and momentum of a small business, or lack thereof.

Obviously tax preparers aren’t about to divulge line-item specifics about their clients but they certainly can discuss patterns they are seeing and how trends differ from previous years.

Susie An

Susie An of Chicago’s WBEZ public radio station found some people who couldn’t pay their bills were landing in jail despite laws that prohibit debtors’ prisons.

She starts the segment with the story of Robin Sanders, an Illinois woman who owed $730 on a medical bill. She was pulled over for a loud muffler, but arrested because of a warrant for failing to appear in court. She said she didn’t know the collection agency had sued her, but she still spent four days in jail waiting for her father to post $500 for her bail.

The big issue Susie found with her reporting was debtors and even some judges didn’t know how to handle the issues. I asked her how – in a field strewn with uncertainty – she found her way through the story.

Today’s Tip: Listen to the people who’ve been affected to form the story and determine where to begin your research, Susie says.

The Star Tribune in Minneapolis wrote about debtors in jail in 2010.

Starting with the debtors led her to legal aid lawyers who specialize in these cases to get the “legal nuts and bolts,” she says.

The legal aid lawyers led her to creditors’ attorneys, who acknowledged many debtors don’t know their rights.

“With the creditor I spoke with, he explained that most creditors try to reach out to debtors to explain the situation and help them out,” she says. “But not all creditors are so valiant.”

For the big picture, Susie spoke with the Illinois Attorney General who provided the overview to put her piece into perspective.

In 2010, The Star Tribune in Minneapolis also did a piece about people being jailed for unpaid debts. As Bernie Kohn notes in his post on the story, reporters Chris Serres and Glenn Howatt searched for the keyword, “warrant,” when looking at debt-collection lawsuits.

A National Post headline focused on the words of an Italian Coast Guard chief.

By some web accounts, that command translates roughly to “Get back on board, damn it!” and the man who issued it, Coast Guard officer Gregorio De Falco, appears fast on his way to becoming the Tuscan equivalent of Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, the U.S. Airways pilot who made several searches of his airship and was the last to leave the plane he had to ditch in New York’s Hudson River. 

Like Sullenberger, and in contrast to Schettino who’s being vilified for leaving his ship ahead of passengers, De Falco is being hailed as a no-nonsense, straight-talking hero and champion of maritime ethics.  Someone created a Facebook page that pays homage to him — my rudimentary Italian translates some comments as “you’re a real man,”  “I’d like to virtually shake your hand” and “You showed great professionalism.”  (There’s another Facebook page for Vada a bordo, cazzo! ) As with Sullenberger, I forsee speaking engagements, consulting work and maybe a book contract in this man’s future.

None of which would have much to do with financial journalism except that this story clearly is going to play out as one with terrific potential for marketing, public relations, damage control and disaster preparedness stories.  Some, like the merchandise angles, are interesting and head-turning in and of themselves — others you can localize by finding ties to experts in your community or parallels to companies and individuals that have weathered man-made disasters of their own.  

Maybe your’e in the Gulf Coast region, for example, and it’s time to take another look at the environmental, economic and image rehabilitation efforts by BP and other entities involved in the oil spill crisis.  Maybe your area is home to an amusement park or factory or transportation firm involved in accidents or malfunctions.  Or a product problem, like recent years’ meat recalls, or even marketing gaffes like Netflix’s shortlived Qwikster foray.

Social media and camera phones.  One aspect of the Costa Concordia disaster highlights new problems for companies attempting damage control: The pervasive and swift power wielded by patrons and onlookers with social media tools.  According to some reports, a Facebook posting by the relative of a crew member was one clue that the deviation from the cruise ship’s planned route may have been a deliberate ‘drive-by greeting’ attempt by the vessel’s captain.  We’ve all seen the camera phone photos and videos of the sinking under way; this sort of unfettered and uncontrollable public ‘speech’ by both onlookers and participants is really pretty new to the corporate damage control scene.  You might want to talk with local experts and consultants about how companies are changing strategies based on their inability to control images and messages as much as in past eras.

Here’s a piece from Ragan’s PR Daily noting a study that says most companies are not prepared for a social media crisis; reading it will help you formulate questions for consultants and corporate social media gurus in your region.

The Titanic.  I’d hoped to hold off on Titanic anniversary blog posts for a while longer, but it wasn’t meant to be.  As this Associated Press article points out, we’re not too shy of the 100th anniversary (April 12) of the ill-fated ocean liner’s sinking.  From a business standpoint, you might want to check eBay, Etsy, Zazzle and other online grass-roots retailers (many let you search by ZIP code for local merchants) to find people attempting to cash in on the anniversary.

Technology.   As has been pointed out, the Costa Concordia, like other cruise ships, operates on a sort of autopilot that steers it through a programmed course.  That comes as a surprise to many people; can you find local examples — like robots in a warehouse, or amusement park rides, or cargo trains or other conveyances that rely on innovative technology to steer, drive, park or even land themselves?   It’s rather a tenuous tie but the technology is apt to intrigue people who are drawn in by the story of a doomed state-of-the-art mechanical wonder like the Concordia.

Tourism.  Are would-be cruisers canceling or changing plans in favor of land-based and domestic vacations?   It can’t hurt to check with area tour operators, lodging and hospitality companies about any uptick in inquiries or reservations.  Same goes for travel insurance firms — will they get a boost from vacationers with visions of their jewelry, bankroll and belongings consumed by unexpected disaster?

Opportunism and opportunities.   There’s nothing wrong with earning an honest sale or profit, and the sinking of the Concordia doubtless will create an economic boost for contractors ranging from the Dutch fuel salvagers to ship-breakers who will dismantle the carcass.

Not to be outdone by overseas competitors, one CafePress purveyor already is selling ‘Vada a bordo!’ mugs, bumper stickers and  T-shirts; I predict more to follow.  Books and speaking engagements for survivors, disaster preparedness seminars, you name it — keep an eye out for entrepreneurs looking to grab their piece of the action from an unexpected, chillingly picturesque and larger-than-life manmade fiasco.