As food safety, animal health, natural disasters and rising costs converge, the communications risks add to the operational challenges. The cyclospora surge has become the defining food crisis of the summer. CDC now reports 4,173 laboratory-confirmed domestic cases across 41 states, 308 hospitalizations and more than 7,400 additional cases still under review. State-reported totals indicate […]
Category: Brand
CEOs & CISOs Need a Crisis Communications Plan
Cybersecurity readiness is no longer just an IT function. It’s a leadership function. When a cyber incident happens, an organization is judged by more than how quickly it contains the threat. Employees want clarity. Customers want candor. Regulators want timely information. Reporters look for gaps. Investors, partners and board members watch for signs of control. […]
Why BEAD Success Depends on Building Trust
The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program (BEAD) represents a historic investment in rural broadband. The $42.45 billion federal grant program is designed to expand high-speed internet access in unserved and underserved communities across the country. But BEAD success will not be measured by construction alone. It will be measured by whether people subscribe once […]
Love Your Mother
Earth Day storytelling used to be easy. Companies made commitments, built campaigns and reported progress in ways that aligned environmental goals with business strategy. Sustainability was not just operational, it was reputational. Done well, it built trust, strengthened brands and signaled long-term thinking to customers, employees and investors. That alignment has broken. The broader context […]
Crisis Planning is an Operational Imperative
When a serious incident occurs, most organizations assume they will have time to figure out how they should communicate. In reality, the first hours of a crisis are often chaotic. Information is incomplete. Decisions must be made quickly. Stakeholders begin forming opinions before leadership teams fully understand the implications of what has happened. Those early […]
Raising a Glass to Great People, Beef & Wine
As we say goodbye to the National Western Stock Show this year, we reflect on one of our all-around favorite events within the weeks of entertainment and ag education, the 4th Annual Stockyards Beef Festival. The evening was a celebration of everything we love about agriculture—premium beef, exceptional wine, and the community that brings it […]
Corkboard Co-Founders Join NAMA Rocky Mountain Chapter Board
Margaret Fogarty and Leigh Picchetti, co-founders of Corkboard Communications, have been appointed to the board of directors of the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) Rocky Mountain Chapter, which includes Colorado, Montana, New Mexico and Wyoming, serving as Second Vice President and Treasurer respectively. Picchetti and Fogarty bring extensive experience in agricultural marketing, communications and reputation management to their new board roles. They have guided strategic communications initiatives for global agricultural leaders, national networks […]
A Year of Momentum: Corkboard’s 2025 Milestones
This year marked a pivotal chapter for Corkboard Communications, one defined by building momentum, creating connections and defining the work we set out to do. We built Corkboard on a foundation of more than 50 years of combined experience across communications, brand strategy, digital innovation and creative excellence. Our mission has remained clear from the start—help organizations navigate complexity with clarity and confidence. The response from clients, collaborators and advisors has […]
Colorado Startup Week 2025: Marketing & the AI Edge
Last week, Colorado Startup Week 2025 brought together founders, investors and innovators to explore what’s next in building and scaling businesses. While artificial intelligence (AI) was a headline topic, broader themes around marketing strategy also stood out. Here are the key takeaways, reinforcing many best practices we use when helping our clients define their brand […]
Before You Tell Me to Get Off Your Lawn, Hear Me Out on AI
In 1995, I called my Uncle Eddie from my dorm room phone in Currier Hall at the University of Iowa. It was a corded wall phone, the kind that lets you pace a few feet before the cord snaps taut. I had just started building my first website for a freshman class project, it was […]