Preview of Tomorrow's Conclusion

The heart of my presentation is a comparison of the crisis events at TCU and Arkansas from this spring, and a third-party distant look at the perception of the way they were handled.  At the end of the PowerPoint, I've got this closing monologue.

It is very easy to sit back and dissect what happens in these events, but in the end, key driving factors in these events were the understanding of, and the respect for, what we loosely call social media.

One administration that worked in concert versus one coach who was less than forthcoming at the outset.

Ending on this shot of Richard Nixon reminds us -- coaches, administrators and media relations -- that a presidency that gave us Title IX is also the one that became defined by the phrase:

What did the President know, and when did he know it?

I am reminded of that Charles Dickens opening that I used to title this presentation, but not the famous first line; instead, the next two:

It was an age of wisdom

It was an age of foolishness

It was an epoch of belief

It was an epoch of incredulity

Speaking to us from his 19th century world, Dickens perfectly captured the chaos that is a crisis here in the 21st century.  One group worked as a team from start to finish while the other struggled initially against itself.

I hope the takeaway today is to return back to your campus and as was pointed out by Jeff Nelson of Penn State yesterday, go home and take some time to meet with your university relations team.  Remind your coaches and key administrators that in this era of networked communication, information flows like never before.  The days of unverified details are over.