Market leadership is all about positioning, doesn’t matter if that market is IT, consumer or politics.

Today the Obama Administration made former Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel’s departure from the White House official. Emanuel now heads back to Chicago to run for the Mayor’s seat. Talk about your long-term positioning strategy in action — nicely played Dems!

If Emanuel succeeds — and BTW he’s not running against an incumbent as current Mayor Richard Daley is not seeking re-election — he’s in a perfect spot to succeed his now former boss as President, if Obama wins in 2012 that is.

If Emanuel wins, his term as Mayor will expire in February 2015, just ahead of the end of (again if he wins) Obama’s second term, which ends in 2016. Can you say perfect timing to run for President?

By removing Emanuel from the top seat and placing him into a tough-and-gritty city ripe for reform and rescue from the recession, the Dems get to position Emanuel as:

•    A successful reformer (the recession will probably end within the next few years and he will get to take credit for Chicago’s recovery regardless of whether or not he has anything to do with it)
•    A Washington outsider but someone who understands Washington politics (he will have been gone from the Beltway for at least four years by the next Presidential election but has spent significant time within it)
•    Oprah’s neighbor

Again, well played Dems, you should get the National MarCom award for long-term positioning strategy.

One final thought, if I was a Chicago resident, I would be very excited over the prospect of Emanuel taking over my town, talk about a man who could scoop up federal funds. I don’t think anyone since Senators Byrd and Kennedy have ever been in that advantageous of a position.

Happy Halloween from a few of the hard-working, fun-loving gang at Trainer Communications. You won’t find a better bunch of PR and marketing practitioners completely devoted to client satisfaction but also sure to have, at least, a little fun every day.

Mr. and Mrs. Joe and Kim Franscella, on their honeymoon at the Club Med Columbus Isle, San Salvador, BH, May 17, 2004.

Marriage has been good to me, no, it’s been great! I have a great and lovely wife, Kim, and she and I both have stuck to our commitment, which was that we decided to make our marriage work, for better or worse, in sickness and health, for richer or poor, until death do us part.

Over the past five years a lot has happened. We’ve brought a boy into the world, will be welcoming another in August and we raised a daughter through the toughest years of teenagerism. There have certainly been ups and downs, mostly ups, but even the downs have really been just experiences where we have had to learn to live and let live and accept each other for who we are, which is all part of the marriage experience.

At the beginning of this year, I had yet another chance to witness Kim’s utter devotion to our family’s well being. Up until then, I had been commuting to work, leaving home at 5 a.m. and not returning until, on average, 8 p.m. In December, I called her one evening from my office and announced that I had found a house for us to rent that was only a 15-minute walk from work. It wasn’t easy for her to just pick up and leave her home of 37 years, which was in the same town – and in some case neighborhood – as all of her friends and family, but she did it anyway. In the end, she knew that living close to my work meant being able to spend more time at home, which is good for our family.  There are still times when she gets a little lonely for the old neighborhood and the closeness to friends and family, but I know she doesn’t regret the move or have any reservation about supporting me in the decision. This is only one example of her devotion, I could go on, do I have a great wife or what!

Kim and I were engaged exactly 64 days after our first date and although we had only been introduced two weeks prior, I knew when I said goodnight after that first night out that she was going to be the woman I’d marry. We were married nine months after we were engaged and I have loved every minute of it! I can honestly say that I have never looked back, regretted the decision or questioned it.

Meeting Kim has given me the opportunity to become a husband and a father, do well at work and just become an all around better person. Thanks bkim, for all you do to support me and keep our family strong and together, May 15, 2004 to May 15, 2009, happy anniversary Babe!

By the way, if you should happen to respond to this post between Friday and Monday, I may not get to it for moderation, I am trying to take the entire weekend off.

Posted By Joe Franscella

The Kindle V2

I gave in, after not much thought I purchased a Kindle V2. What the heck, I only have to buy about 20 of the half-priced Kindle books to pay it off.

My first purchase – Geoffrey Moore’s classic marketing manifesto “Crossing the Chasm.” I have been meaning to reread the piece for some time and I have to admit, the Kindle experience is making it easier and quicker. The Kindle is kind of like a unified reading management platform (Good lord, have I been in marketing and PR too long or what?). You can read, take notes, highlight and get dictionary access on a single console. The Kindle samples provide more insight into potential purchases as opposed to just a table of contents, forward or book review – a feature I really like. Other books I’ve purchased include SEO for Dummies and WordPress for Dummies, so soon I hope my blog will start to look better and reach a wider audience.

Couple other thoughts:

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about life with Twitter. Fellow blogger Tony Mackey (http://tonymackeypr.blogspot.com) commented but for some unknown reason I didn’t receive notice of it for moderation until today. There has got to be a better, easier, faster way to enable moderation – maybe my Kindle purchases will guide the way. Anyway, I liked Tony’s Seven Stages of Twitter:

1 – Ignorance and disbelief
2 – Denial
3 – Anger and Embarrassment
4 – Fear and Bargaining
5 – Guilt
6 – Depression
7 – And finally Acceptance and Hope

Although I might add an 8th: Productizing and Monetizing

Posted by Joe Franscella

One of the things I enjoy about social media is it provides an opportunity to get to know people on a human level. Thanks to blogs, tweets, Facebook etc … I know Jennifer Jabbusch of Security Uncorked is a competitive dancer, I know Alan Shimel of Still Secure After All These Years enjoys taking his kids to Yankees games, that Mike Rothman of Security Incite is a “Boss” fan, that Rich Mogul of Securosis just had a baby, that Michael Santarcangelo of Security Catalyst is an RVer, and that Martin McKeay of Network Security Blog gets to keep his goatee, for a while longer at least.

So, what about me? What are some of the things that go on in my life outside of work? A snapshot of one of my weekends is a good place to start. Saturday, I will likely be awakened by my 4-year-old son slapping the bottoms of my feet at around 7 a.m., that will be followed up with some Wii “furious” light saber battling (if my back holds out), breakfast, soccer then an attempt to further organize my garage (again, if my back holds out that is). On Sunday, I’ll likely be awakened in the same fashion as I was awakened on Saturday, more Wii, breakfast, park, an hour or two practicing my Rosetta Stone Spanish lessons then the daughter will be paying a visit. This weekend will be extended for me, I am taking Monday off to take care of some personal things, spend time with my daughter (who will be visiting) and to go to the baby doctor to hopefully find out if it’s a boy or girl.

I have a family that loves me, a daughter doing well in college, a son whose first thought every morning is playing with dad, one on the way, a devoted wife and a great job. My “life in general” is pretty darn good! Have  great weekend everyone.

Posted by Joe Franscella