Why not???? That's a loaded question, especially since we all know how you feel about Wal Mart David. Seriously, whenever I walk into WalMart I think, David would be so disappointed in me right now. Not that it stops me, but I do think about it. Have you seen how cheap their toilet paper is?

Well, Eileen, actually I don't know how I feel about Wal-Mart right now. I know I can't stand the stores--I become lost in them and wind up in the fetal position in between the Linens and the Lawn Tractors, cooing like a baby bird fallen from the nest.

But since I wrote that regular Wal-Mart Watch column--which I haven't updated for about a year--this company has miraculously transformed its image and placed itself, for better or for worse, temporarily or permanently on the vanguard of the sustainability movement.

I would consider writing speeches there, if only to have a role in the company's attempt to gain social permission to exist 10 years from now.

So I certainly didn't mean to trap anyone with this blot entry.

Cheap as in inexpensive or cheap as in ineffective?

If someone is truly a "thought leader," do they truly need positioning as such? Just a thought.

Diane beat me to what I was going to say.

If I do the research, have the meetings, and write the speech, doesn't that make ME the "thought leader"?

And if I really FOUND a "thought leader," I would VOLUNTEER my time to write his or her speeches.

While we're on the topic of speechwriting jobs, I got a call today about someone doing a retained search for a speechwriter for a Fortune 100 CEO. They wanted "somebody youngish"--defined as 30s or 40s--who had 16 years corporate speechwriting experience.

I tried to imagine so vapid a creature. I could not do it!

Seriously: When companies ask for 10 or 15 years of "senior level corporate speechwriting experience," why don't they just for a worn-out hack? Because if they stick to that demand, that's very likely what they're going to get.

What does the speechwriter learn in that last decade that he or she didn't learn in the first five years? How to be a hack ....

I think of, say, an Einstein or an Oppenheimer as a "thought leader." I don't think they needed a speechwriter to make that point.

Oh boy! I held off commenting on this one, because everyone who knows me even a little knows I do not shop at Wal-Mart because I do not believe in, and therefore refuse to support with my dollars, what they stand for.

(Caveat: I get that families with limited incomes and children, who's appetites for everything, except vegetables, are unlimited need to shop there to make ends meet. As a single person with a reasonable income, I have the luxury not to and exercise that.)

All this "environmentally friendly" and "corporate citizenship" actitivies they are currently touting are all well and good. But until I see answers to the following questions that make sense to idealistic (you can even call me pollyanna or naive if you want, I can handle it) little me, I won't be shopping there, and I certainly won't be working for them:

1) Are you still buying products from places that use labour that is just this side of slavery, and continue to erase jobs in North America of precisely the people you wish to sell your products to at super-cheap prices?

2) Have you started to pay everyone who works for you a living wage, including health benefits and equal access to promotion opportunities?

Now, I will step down from my soapbox and move along.

Kristen--

What I marvel at is that through reforms and high-profile announcements, Wal-Mart seems to have greatly slowed down what only a couple of years ago seemed like an unstoppable avalanche of bad press.

The company's size and scope make its potential as a leader in social responsibility reform huge. I think that's why they're getting the benefit of the doubt these days--even mine--and why I'd consider working there at this important moment in their history, in the history of business.

From a Reuters story about Wal-Mart's recent employee meeting. Who else is speaking so dramatically?

KANSAS CITY, Missouri Jan 23 (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) must be a "company of the future" that embraces advances such as electronic health records or hybrid cars to drive down costs, keep prices low and tackle issues the government may not be able to solve, its chief executive said on Wednesday.

"We live in a time when people are losing confidence in the ability of government to solve problems," said CEO Lee Scott.

"But at Wal-Mart, we don't see the sidelines that politicians see. And we do not wait for someone else to solve problems that might hurt our business or affect our customers in a negative way."

Instead, Scott said Wal-Mart will use its heft as the world's largest retailer to push for changes in health care, energy consumption and sourcing.

Scott delivered the speech at a meeting for more than 7,000 U.S. store managers, which was held in Kansas City, Missouri. An advanced copy of his speech was provided to the media.

Scott can say all he wants, but Kristen is still correct. Wal-Mart seems to sell to the very people whose once-decent jobs are gone.

Are they still holding a sword over suppliers for unrealistically cheap products?

David - I don't mean this to sound argumentative, but I'm a little surprised at what seems to be a quite dramatic about-face in your position about Wal-Mart.

We communicators (and many of the Ragan articles) talk all the time about how "management SAYS all kinds of things, but their ACTIONS are the only things employees and customers pay any real attention to."

This speech by Scott sounds to me (and my bias on Wal-Mart is clearly stated earlier in this thread so feel free to factor that in) like so much rhetoric - there's lots of positive sounding generalities but I don't see any details about exactly HOW they're planning to do those wonderful things, what the costs will be (there are ALWAYS costs) and how this will impact the various involved parties.

Obviously I don't have the full text of the speech, so maybe those details are provided there, but this sounds a lot like a political candidate making promises that sound good, with no reference to how they will be delivered.

The fact that a CEO of an embattled company would present a speech like this doesn't surprise me. But the fact that you appear to have suddenly become a fan of Wal-Mart just because the CEO gave a good-sounding speech - THAT surprised me.

Is there other information you've seen that has contributed to changing your mind, and can you point us to it? I'm very interested, given that, as you mentioned, you went after them pretty hard for quite a while in RR. I haven't seen any concrete actions by Wal-Mart that would change my mind about them, but you it appears you have?

Kristen, Diane, et al:

Working on something to answer this as thoroughly as I can; will appear on Ragan.com Monday, I hope. I'll post here when it goes up.

Thanks for holding me to my position,

David