So the jokes have been funny, the response stinging (and deservedly so) and the fall-out a 24/7 TV festival. But is there anything to say about Weiner-gate that hasn’t already been said? Possibly not. But here’s the takeaway we have, as PR professionals. It was very interesting to see the frozen-in-place reaction that Weiner’s pr staff had when biggovernment.com started reeling out the compromising photos online on Monday. As the compromizing pixels piled up, staffers did nothing, because they didn’t know what to do.

Now Monday morning quarterbacking is super easy (and fun). So it may well be that his staff were ready, but hogtied and prevented from acting. But I’d like to think that, had our team been on the job, we’d have been prepared to respond in some way. Why?

Because there’s one really important service a pr person can play for their client/employer. They can refuse to drink the Kool-aid. And in refusing, they can also allow their minds to imagine the absolute worse, and prepare accordingly. One wonders, then, if the loyalists on the Rep’s team were so trusting of him that they refused to consider a plan that might work, should the unthinkable occur. Which it did.

Every time we write, revise, review a crisis plan, we hope that while we’ll be ready, we’ll never have to implement. Sure, Weiner’s staff hoped they were working for an honest guy. But somebody should have had enough cynicism in them to be ready for anything Brightbart had. Perhaps they were. And perhaps the incredibly compressed timeframes of the social media world prevented any good response.

But it’s always worthwhile for us PR folks to watch these big stories unfold and ask ourselves: what would I do if this were my client? Someday, it just might be!

As a relatively small marketing communications company, Touchpoint manages work flow by partnering up with really great professionals. As a result, we’ve worked with superbly talented, responsive designers, programmers, writers, media planners and others. We learn from everybody, and hope they get something out of it, too (even more than just a paycheck).

Sometimes,though, we’ll run into issues that prevent us from continuing a relationship.On reflection, we can chalk up a few “break ups” to a pretty standard set of practices. Knowing I’ll inevitably leave out something, here’s our list of dealbreakers (what’s yours?):

1. No fire in the belly. Oh sure, this phrase is big now, but we’ve used it for years. And we believe in it. Lacking passion, a professional is, well, lacking. We’d rather field a call from somebody who cares enough to be up in arms about something, than talk to someone who is “meh” 24/7.

2. Exhibits the slightest bit of unethical behavior. This may seem harsh, but if there’s a hint/whiff/shadow of doubt, we’ll cut the cord. Our reputation is defined by what others do when they’re working with us. We associate very carefully. And the minute it feels like something’s just not right, we’re out.

3. More creative than us. Afterall, if we could solve the problem at hand, we’d do it ourselves!

4. Smarter than us. See #3. If we knew how to do it, we’d…

5. Fun. Life is hard. It’s been really hard for the last few years for anybody trying to make a payroll or launch a career. But Debby Downer isn’t who you want to be stuck with in a foxhole. Bring irony, whimsy, an occassional cookie, or even a smattering of good gossip to our relationship, and we’ll all be the better for it.

So one of the things we love about our work is introducing cool new products to the world. Invented by Dr. Ben Yoo, an urgent care physician, BANa packs a lot of rehydrating power in one chilled bottle. It’s become really well known among elite athletes, and word is spreading. Have you BANa’ed today?

Another thing we love is the power of video to help reach people. This four minutes from the Cooper River Bridge Run in April is about all you need to know if you are dehydrated. Oh: and here’s what else you’ll be glad to know: all BiLos and numerous SC Piggly Wiggly’s carry the elixir.