wavLength: February 21, 2007 Archive

An interesting interview with a corporate crisis management expert on Future Tense today (RealAudio - MP3 - iTunes).

JetBlue Airways introduced a customer bill of rights on Tuesday that promises vouchers to fliers who experience delays, hoping the move wins back passengers after an operational meltdown damaged its brand and stock price.

CEO David Neeleman outlined details of JetBlue's post-ice storm recovery plan in an afternoon conference calls with reporters yesterday. But earlier in the day, Neeleman apologized to customers in a video the company posted on YouTube.

Crisis management consultant Jonathan Bernstein says JetBlue scored points with customers when it apologized on YouTube.

Here's the YouTube video for your viewing pleasure:

Former IBM researcher Frances Allen has won the prestigious Turing Award from the Association for Computing Machinery.

Tomorrow on Future Tense, I'll talk with Stanford University President John Hennessy about Allen's contributions to technology, and why it took so long for a woman to win the Turing.

UPDATE: As promised, here's the interview (RealAudio - MP3 - iTunes).

I used Allen's winning of the Turing Award as a starting point for a conversation with Hennessy about how educational institutions can do a better job encouraging girls and women to pursue degrees and careers in computer science and engineering. Good stuff, give it a listen.