"How good is Carolyn Bivens' grasp of the game and business she is charged with running?"

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An unbylined commentary from The Golf Wire became the first to focus on the role of Commissioner Carolyn Bivens in the LPGA's speak English brouhaha:

After all, this is a woman with an allegedly strong media background who managed to achieve near media blackout of the first event under her care in 2006, the Fields Open, because she thought it was a good idea to flout a century of accepted media business practice and attempt to appropriate ownership of stories and photos produced by media outlets at LPGA events. Despite the presence of Michelle Wie, who was still a media darling back then, both Honolulu newspapers, The Associated Press, Sports Illustrated and Golf World magazine were among those who did not cover the first round on Oahu.
Eventually, she had to relent. You know how testy people can get when they take on all the expense and risk, and then someone else wants to reap the benefits.
Clearly, she's gearing up next for a government job.
Her latest brainstorm attempts to nullify talent and hard work - also known as "merit" - in exchange for a better marketing and communications platform. And here we thought a commissioner's job was to create MORE opportunities for her constituents - you know, the players - and not fewer.
Speaking of the Commissioner, Doug Ferguson notes:
Strangely absent during this debate is LPGA Tour commissioner Carolyn Bivens. According to Golfweek, Bivens held a meeting with only the South Koreans last week in Portland, which led some to believe they were being singled out.
Galloway said Bivens was returning from the West Coast on Monday and Tuesday, and “I drew the long straw” to handle media inquiries.
The New York Times editorial board even weighed in, calling the new policy offensive and self-destructive.

"The LPGA wants Koreans to speak passable English but the Tour's own leadership can't communicate that fact to the players with anything approaching clarity. How's that for irony?"

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Impressive coverage and diverse views continue to dominate the LPGA's English-only rule coverage, which appears widespread and mostly not positive: Dan Barnes writes:

It should be noted that the message from commissioner Carolyn Bivens was delivered to the Korean players in spoken English. There was nothing presented to them on paper or, heaven forbid, in their own language. How much got lost in translation? Plenty. Some Korean players told Golfweek, the website that broke the story, they believe they will lose their cards permanently if they can't pass the test.
And...
It's all about sponsorship, something Korean golfer Jeong Jang figured out a while ago. She told Golfweek about Cristie Kerr's acceptance speech after she won the 2005 Michelob Ultra Open.
"First thing she said to the camera was, 'I need a beer.' I still remember that. Sponsors must be proud."
Oh yeah, that was a proud Kodak moment, all right. And there could be so many more, if the LPGA's dialectal directive has its desired effect on the international membership. When Soo-Yun Kang wins the McDonald's LPGA Championship in 2009, provided she has taken all her English lessons, she can step in front of the camera and say, "I need a massive influx of fat and calories, so hand me a Big Mac.''
Now that would be a mouthful in any language.The LPGA wants Koreans to speak passable English but the Tour's own leadership can't communicate that fact to the players with anything approaching clarity. How's that for irony?

Leonard Shapiro calls the English-only rule "draconian, xenophobic and seemingly discriminatory." He also writes:

What if the tables were turned and you were sent to a foreign country to conduct your own business, only to be told that unless you learned Korean, or Japanese or Spanish you'd be out of a job? Could you do it in two years, while also putting in 50-hour or longer work weeks? Five years? Ever?
There is more than a little irony here as well. Women golfers around the globe, and particularly in the U.S., have been discriminated against for years. They've been unable to join certain clubs as full members, prohibited from teeing off on weekends until 1 p.m., told that the men's grill was truly boys only and totally off limits and totally excluded from any membership at all in places like Augusta National, Pine Valley and Burning Tree.
And now one of the most powerful women's sports organizations in the world is actually going to discriminate against some of its very own international female members because they're not proficient in English? It's absurd, it's dead wrong and clearly contrary to the Olympic ideal that rewards only the fastest and the strongest, not the athlete who gives the best press conference for the American media.
Ron Sirak shares this from an LPGA player agent:
"Next year there will be LPGA events in Thailand, Singapore, China, Korea and Japan and the tour has said it has its eye on India and the Middle East as well," notes another agent who also asked that his name not be used. "Will Americans who win in those countries be expected to give their speech in the local language?"
Jay Coffin says "good idea, poor execution" but also writes that "Suspension is too harsh a penalty. An LPGA card is earned from talent, now that status can be taken away for a reason other than talent. There’s something fundamentally wrong with this concept."

Alan Shipnuck considers the legality of the rule.
So-called English-only rules in the workplace are an emerging body of law; the Supreme Court has yet to weigh in. One high-profile recent case, still pending, centered on a Connecticut sheet-metal factory that made English compulsory. The attorney for the workers, Steven D. Jacobs, tells GOLF.com: "Over the last 10 years, there have been a number of decisions in this area, and the courts have consistently decreed that it is permissible for an employer to mandate English-only for two narrow reasons: safety" — air-traffic control being an obvious example — "and efficiency" — such as telephone customer service.
"And that's it," Jacobs continued. "With regards to the LPGA, safety is obviously a non-factor. So the issue becomes, is the language a player speaks fundamental to the competition? I would not want to be the one who has to make that case."
Jon Show at Sports Business Daily counters with this:
LPGA Deputy Commissioner Libba Galloway said the policy was vetted with attorneys familiar with workplace laws. “Legal businesses and membership organizations have the right to make certain requirements that are fundamental to their businesses,” Galloway said. A formal copy of the policy was not available, said Galloway, because it will not be finalized until the end of this year.
Can't wait for the day that's leaked!

Larry Dorman says the "policy has touched an international nerve" and writes:
Because of the manner in which the information seeped out, and because the L.P.G.A. tour has not finished drafting a written version of the policy, the organization has been both pilloried and praised around the globe.
If the L.P.G.A. hoped to use this as a trial balloon, it has plenty of material to wade through before a final document is forged. Harrington, for example, raised many questions those in the L.P.G.A.’s headquarters in Daytona Beach, Fla., might want to consider.
“Do you have to pass an exam?” said Harrington, an Irishman who has won three of the last six major championships. “Surely if you can say hello, that’s English. Is that good enough? Who draws the line about how many words you’ve got to know in English?
“Obviously some people are natural talkers and some people aren’t. What if you have a person who genuinely struggles with learning new language, they have a learning disability? That’s tough to ask somebody with a learning disability who might have found golf as the saving grace in their life, to ask them to learn a different language or else you can’t play.”
And it didn't take long for the satirical columns to start. Bill Nichols in the Dallas Morning News:
As a public service, here are five more requirements for LPGA consideration:
•Minimum score of 1,350 on the SAT or 31 on the ACT
•2,000-word essay on character construction in Finnegan's Wake
•Minimum height of 5-3, maximum height of 5-10
•Change a flat tire in 20 minutes (using an American car, of course)
•Look like Natalie Gulbis

Brand Lady: Learn English Or It's Sayonara!

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This story has the potential to explode into one of those Jimmy The Greek, Ben Wright-style clashes where the PC police take on the perpetrator, in this case, the LPGA Tour. Frankly, I might actually not blame the PC police on this one. Beth Ann Baldry reports:

At a mandatory South Korean player meeting Aug. 20 at the Safeway Classic, the tour informed its largest international contingent that beginning in 2009, all players who have been on tour for two years must pass an oral evaluation of their English skills. Failure would result in a suspended membership.
“Hopefully what we’re talking about is something that will not happen,” said Libba Galloway, the tour’s deputy commissioner, of possible suspensions. “If it does, we wouldn’t just say, ‘Come back next year.’ What we would do is work with them on where they fell short, provide them the resources they need, the tutoring . . . and when we feel like they need to be evaluated again, we would evaluate.”
Galloway said the policy takes effect immediately, but the “measurement time will be at the end of 2009.” There are 121 international players from 26 countries on tour; 45 are South Koreans.
Hilary Lunke, president of the Player Executive Committee, said much of this initiative stems from the importance of being able to entertain pro-am partners. Players already are fined if the LPGA receives complaints from their pro-am partners. Now the tour is taking it one step further.
“The bottom line is, we don’t have a job if we don’t entertain,” Lunke said. “In my mind, that’s as big a part of the job as shooting under par.”

Okay, so they learn some rudimentary English, which actually gives them a leg up on the Commissioner.

Is the pro-am conversation really going to get beyond "good shot" and "left edge" and "nice meeting you"? Unbelievable.

This, is going to get ugly.

"It's a travesty that the LPGA would allow this happen"

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Thanks to reader Jim for this Michael McGarry story where he gets in touch with the former ShopRite Classic folks to see if they'll be getting the band back together now that the Ginn event has folded.

"It's a travesty that the LPGA would allow this happen," former Classic executive director Ruth Harrison said Friday. "We were there for 21 years, and (the LPGA) trashes our event for one with no track record."
At the time the decision was made, Classic officials questioned how long the Ginn Tribute would last.
"I would never wish for the LPGA to be unsuccessful," former Classic director of communications Rodger Gottlieb said Friday. "That wouldn't give us any degree of satisfaction. But this (the demise of the Ginn Tribute) validates a view we've had all along."
Bivens issued a written statement about Ginn on Friday. It did not mention the Classic.


"The AP did neither, it contends, but that's not the main thrust here."

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In last week's "message from headquarters," LPGA Commish Carolyn Bivens made a big fuss about the AP running a corrected story, when, as was pointed out here, there wasn't much to correct.

Seems, the AP did not correct the story, as Thomas Bonk writes in his LATimes.com column:

Four days later, in a two-page memo from Commissioner Carolyn Bivens to LPGA members (but leaked to news agencies all over the place), Bivens explains the incident, defends the rules official and says the Associated Press misquoted the official and ran a correction.
The AP did neither, it contends, but that's not the main thrust here. Why such a memo was necessary in the first place is an issue, but then so is a potentially greater after-effect, such as, why give the impression that you're picking on Wie again when the thing is already done?

Brand Lady Strikes Back With Series Of Bruising Rhetorical Questions

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Smarting from that new 3-year contract extension, LPGA Commish Carolyn Bivens announced a de-branding of the LPGA Championship and a likely move to a summer date in the Northeast U.S. Naturally, she was quite humble in announcing the move, as reported by Ron Sirak.

"The LPGA has been surviving for 58 years," Bivens told Golf World. "Now is the time to move into the world of major sports." She said that while the tournament will have no title sponsor (other than the LPGA), it will seek presenting sponsors to help with the cost of running the event -- and hope to be part of a television package that will generate revenue.
And she seems to have really mastered the rhetorical question.
"Could the proceeds from the LPGA Championship be the beginning of a real retirement fund?" Bivens asked rhetorically. "Could it grow into an LPGA version of the Masters? Could it contribute two, three, four, five million dollars a year to the pension fund? The business plan we have for 2010 can take this tour to a new level of financial stability."

 

Blackberrying From Lausanne

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We learned last week that Tim Finchem let USGA-Executive-Director-in-hiding David Fay and LPGA Commish Carolyn Bivens inside his PGA Tour jet for the low cost, minimal upside trip to Europe to pitch the IOC on the ridiculous notion of golf in the Olympics. I'm sure the PGA Tour's rank and file would be thrilled to see the price tag for this pricey little excursion. 

The jet took on extra weight with PGA Tour's Ed Moorhouse and after a stop in London, Euro Tour headman George O'Grady, who joined the braintrust for the final leg to Lausanne, Switzerland. 

My NSA sources were able to intercept Blackberry messages sent by three of the passengers after stepping down in Lausanne, starting with Bivens writing to top lieutenant Jane Geddes.

Jane,

Greetings from Lausanne by way of London by way of Daytona and Teeterboro!!! We just touched down in the tour jet. What a cool ride. Thankfully we had George O'Grady to liven things up on the flight from London to Lausanne. It was just Tim, Fay and Ed Moorhouse on the first leg of the journey. Tim and Ed pretended to fall asleep about an hour into the flight, but I know they were awake because Ed kept kicking Tim's seat every time Fay mentioned the Yankees. Which reminds me, could you look up who this Joba guy is that Fay kept talking about needing to come off the DL? Is this a Star Wars reference I didn't understand?

CB

PS - how did Corning go, are they going to bump up their purse or are we going to have find another sponsor willing to pay full market value? 

PGA Tour Commish Finchem wrote to VP of International Affairs, Ty Votaw.

Ty,
Be grateful you didn't make this trip, even though the bottle of PGA TOUR cab we opened is just stunning. Nice sunny, smoky flavor, probably from the California wildfires? And please thank Chef for the cheese production, very appropriate selection with the cab. Hope the Corning HOF induction ceremony went well. Ed and I got some much needed rest on the flight over. Not much in the way of coterminous interfacing with our guests. Bivens and Fay looked lost when I suggested ways of monetizing and value modulating the Olympic movement. I finally had to take a nap when Fay kept reminding me that he'd love to run the Olympic golf federation if we are successful. I explained that we need to get golf in the games first, then we would codify the resource structuring.
Ed sends his best,
TF

And David Fay wrote to USGA CBO Pete Bevacqua, who apparently has created some fascinating new rules for staff.

Pete,

Just arrived in Lausanne. Even though this wasn't an official USGA function, I only had two drinks on the flight over from Teeterboro per the new company policy. That okay? Or does the two drink max not apply to me and the XC? Either way it was fine, Tim opened a bottle of the PGA Tour's new cab and it tasted like the fire hydrant runoff from a building fire on the upper eastside. I had to talk to Bivens most of the way. She tried to convince me we needed to hire her branding firm for this Olympic golf movement. She talks about branding more than you do. As I explained to you, President Rogge would not be interested in that at his point. Let's hope she doesn't bring it up at the meeting. Well, that's my update, I look forward to your response in less than two hours, again, per your new policy.

DBF


"I have told the players we are going to make them play faster."

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John Hopkins reports on the slow play epidemic, and though he says the final pairing at The Players took only 4:15 (according to some readers it was 4:40), he offers this:

The answer lies partly in easing the set-up of some courses but more in harsh penalties for slow players. The LPGA Tour in the US recently introduced a policy of penalizing players who took more than 30 seconds a stroke and, furthermore, penalized Angela Park when she was only one stroke out of the lead. Compare this with the PGA Tour's policies under which a player has not bee fined for 15 years.

Tim Finchem, Commissioner of the PGA Tour in the US, said in an interview with The Times last week: "I have told the players we are going to make them play faster. I think we owe it the sport, to the players who play at this level and to the fans that we are doing everything we can to analyse and take steps on this issue."

Well, it's something. This isn't so hot:

Last Monday the World Golf Foundation, a body incorporating the United States Golf association and the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, the professional tours from around the world as well as Ladies Professional Golf Association (in the US), met in Jacksonville. I understand that slow play was on the agenda but nothing substantive was discussed even though slow play was an item on the agenda.
Thankfully, there is great news. According to Doug Ferguson, the big execs in golf are working on the real priorities at the expense of their carbon footprints. What for? To grow the game with 72-holes of stroke play once every four years. 
PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem headed for London this week, stopping along the way to pick up USGA executive director David Fay and LPGA commissioner Carolyn Bivens.

They were to join R&A chief executive Peter Dawson and European Tour chief George O’Grady at a meeting with the International Olympic Committee, the first step toward bringing golf back to the Olympics.

It was not a formal meeting, but no less important to show the IOC a unified front in golf’s desire to be part of the games.

“This will be a protracted process,” Fay said. “But this is an important first step.”

Vital. Just vital.

IM'ing With The Commissioners, Vol. IX, Goodbye Annika

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My sources have been lacking, but after The Players and Annika's retirement announcement, they finally procured an instant message exchange between our beloved Commissioners.

DaBrandLady: tim, you there?

twfPGATour©: Yes, I'm still unwinding from a busy week. My sympathies Carolyn.

DaBrandLady: for what. i'm doing great! :)

twfPGATour©: Well one of your top-of-the-line products is deplatforming and discontinuing production.

DaBrandLady: oh annika?

twfPGATour©: Yes, what a shame. But I'm sure her Q rating will spike with a pregnancy and we know how that translates for your value streaming and interfacing.

DaBrandLady: hehe i know, it's great news all the way around. we're moving outdated product off the shelves and rollingout in fresh inventory that the targeted demo relates to! speaking of that, congrats on Sergio beating that frumpy non-demo guy.

twfPGATour©:  Thanks. But don't forget that she was is the greatest single product of our time in women's golf, I'm sure you'll miss her a little?

DaBrandLady: naw. her brand was tired, lorena's our macro brand now. more importantly, i wanted to tell you how I loved your 5 tips for managing well in last week's WSJ. it got me thinking that my staff and players might want to know my 5 tips.

twfPGATour©: They might.

DaBrandLady: may i run my 5 by you?

twfPGATour©: Do it now.

DaBrandLady: oh, are you in a hurry?

twfPGATour©: No. Do it now was my No. 1 tip for managing well, remember? I would put one of those eye wink smiley faces here but I don't know how.

DaBrandLady: oh i get it! hehe lololol

DaBrandLady: so okay here's my first tip:  brand it now.  

twfPGATour©: Hmmm...strong, to the point and sound strategy. You might think of punching up with some language on the qualitative analytics of measuring commercial inventory.

DaBrandLady: okay, dutifully noted!  here's no. 2: interface, interface, interface

twfPGATour©: Interesting, resembles the infrastructure of my tip No. 2, Communicate, communicate, communicate.  But I like it. Makes good business sense. I don't particularly care for interface with my players, but someone has to do it.

DaBrandLady: me neither. they can be such a problem. and so slow on the course!

DaBrandLady: moving right along, here's no. 3: seek brand strength at all costs, but recognize when to sacrifice value streams for cohesive platform interractivity.

twfPGATour©: That's strong. I haven't used interractivity in a long time. Such a vital concept.

DaBrandLady: i thought so too!

DaBrandLady: here's no. 4: remember that, as the leader of a charitable organization, you must also generate bench strength through constant refreshment of said organization.

twfPGATour©: That sounds much like some of the language we cooked up for last week's reshuffling press release?

DaBrandLady: well it is, i'm sorry if it makes you uncomfortable. it's just such a great metaphor.

twfPGATour©: You can run with it. I wish I had thought of that for my tip number 5. But you know I had little time to prepare my 5 Tips For Managing Well because I had misunderstood what they wanted and instead concocted my list of 5 Tips For Managing Wellness. I should have known the WSJ wouldn't be asking about my thoughts on Omega-3s.

DaBrandLady: well i would still read them!

DaBrandLady:  okay, finally, no. 5: you can pick your friends, you can pick your brand, but you can't pick your brand's nose.

twfPGATour©: I might end it with "but you can't pick your friend's brand"

DaBrandLady: oh right! that's what i get for reading my old fortune cookies without glasses!

twfPGATour©:  Well I hope the WSJ gives you a shot. I'm having my five tips embroidered to framed placemats for the 8 EVPs, the 22 SVPs and on throw pillows for the 32 VPs.

DaBrandLady: very nice touch! that's a lot of pillows!

twfPGATour©: No kidding. Say, carolyn, I hate to cut you off, but it's been a long week. We had to do over 90 minutes on slow play at a player's meeting last week and I have to write a memo to pretend I am following up.

DaBrandLady: ironical that you would have a long, slow meeting on slow play!

twfPGATour©: I'm really not believer in irony.

DaBrandLady: i'm not sure i know what it means.

twfPGATour©: Say Carolyn, I suppose we will have to keep giving the impression we are worried about this slow play issue. I've crunched value modulations on our network telecasts running long and it's a huge bonus for us when it happens, always good for a solid Nielsen point. So I'm not in any hurry to see things speed up. Is that how you feel?

DaBrandLady: wish we had that problem, but we're not on any networks in the late afternoon.

twfPGATour©: Well, in time perhaps. Give my best to...

DaBrandLady: He would say hi back if he were here!


Brand Lady: We Love Asian Women!

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196427.jpgThanks to LPGA Fan for noticing Commissioner Carolyn Bivens's response to concerns that the LPGA Tour has been invaded by Asians. It's good to see her command of the English language still stinks:

"Yes, there is a huge number (of Asian players), but if the LPGA Tour is going to remain home to the best women's golf in the world, the last thing you want to do is put quotas on it," Bivens told reporters during Thursday's opening round of the $2 million HSBC Women's Champions championship in Singapore.
"I am not concerned about Americans getting squeezed out.
"Do you want to have the best tour, do you want to have the most competition, do you want to have the highest level of performance? Or do you want to protect a nationality? We think we are doing both."
Wait, so you are protecting a nationality? Would that be, like, the Oscar party thing?
"I don't think there are any Americans out there today who wouldn't say that Asians have made this tour better and more competitive," she added.

Bivans said the LPGA was working hard to overcome the challenges of limited exposure and media coverage, but she said she was convinced this could be achieved by attracting the world's best to the tour.

"If we have the most competitive tour in the world, we'll draw the best sponsors, we'll draw the most rabid fans and our media challenges will be lessened," she insisted.

"Performance is the very first standard that we have to uphold."

Wow, not one mention of branding. This is disturbing.

IM'ing With The Commissioners, Vol. VIII

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My NSA sources have been busy trying to dig up those destroyed waterboarding tapes, but they did find time to share an enjoyable little chat between PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem and LPGA Tour Commissioner Carolyn Bivens. It seems PGA Tour executives are considering a potential new method of in-house communication...

twfPGATour©: You there Carolyn?

DaBrandLady: shalom tim!

twfPGATour©: Shalom? Is that Hebrew for Commissioner?

DaBrandLady: oh you're such a komiker! pardon me while I brush up on my yiddish!

twfPGATour©: Why's that?

DaBrandLady: didn't you hear about the lawsuit? legal was so excited when they found out!! they haven't been this busy since i deselected several longtime executives last year!!! :)

twfPGATour©: Oh is this in regard to the Jewish-American group you bumped out of the Fairmont for that new event?

DaBrandLady: yeppers! i'm prepping for the depos already. i figure it can't hurt to speak a little of the native tongue.

twfPGATour©:  I see. Well that's why you get the 45% pay raises. If only I could be so lucky.

DaBrandLady: it is unacceptable that you haven't crossed the $10 million threshold yet. especially considering your platform-based market share dynamic q-rating and those great fedex cup tweaks you just, hahaha, delivered.

twfPGATour©:  Delivered! That's an oldie but a goodie! I sure wish you were on the Independent Board of Directors.

DaBrandLady: you don't pay enough. lololololol

twfPGATour©: We don't? Who says?

DaBrandLady: just a joke tim

twfPGATour©: Look, I had a quick question. Do your C-levels have in-house blogs?

DaBrandLady: so funny you should mention that!!! not more than 2 minutes ago i made a note to myself that we need to have our c-levelers sharing their most important thoughts each day for all of the staff to learn from.

twfPGATour©: But you don't really any other C-levels, besides yourself of course.

DaBrandLady: precisely!

twfPGATour©: Well it's something we're looking at but I just can't really see the benefit of Ed or Charles or Henry getting much benefit out of having a blog. Would our staff or the product benefit from hearing their inner most thoughts?

DaBrandLady: no, but it gives the product the perception that executives are working hard on their behalf. 

twfPGATour©: True.

DaBrandLady: but what about you tim?

twfPGATour©: My bandwidth is stretched thin as it is. Between trying to value-stream licensing agreements and bucketizing offshore brand revenue equity, I hardly have time to sit down and write memos much less write a blog post about the negative amortization of Nationwide Tour revenues.

twfPGATour©: Plus, I've used that story about going to that Stones concert too many times now.

DaBrandLady: i don't agree. sure, it was the steel wheels tour and that was about 5 tours ago, but it still connects you with a younger demo, which is why you should blog, tim. it's a great way to communicate with the product and your consumers without actually having to engage in any interface.

twfPGATour©: You really think so?

DaBrandLady: yep. i was just thinking about how my first post was going to be on shtemplen dynamics and Bangalorization of non-essential platform maintenance.

twfPGATour©: I'm familiar with Bangalorization of non-essential platform maintenance. We just set up a new call bank for PGA TOUR© travel in Nelamangala.

DaBrandLady: how's that going?

twfPGATour©: Great, all of our call takers use names like Boo or Bubba or Tiger or Annika. The product gets a big kick out of that.

DaBrandLady: wow, why didn't i think of that!?!?!?

twfPGATour©: But Carolyn, you mentioned shtemplen dynamics. I know that I know what that means, but could you give me an example on the latest in product shtemplenization?

DaBrandLady: oh you shmendrick. a shtemplen is yiddish for brand!

twfPGATour©: Ah okay. My Yiddish never has been what it should be.

DaBrandLady: tim, you are a shtemplen whether you like it or not. you know that any good shtemplen leverages their shtemplen-equity to extrapolate maximized value streams, even if this means sharing details of your personal life as any good blogger does.

twfPGATour©: You put it that way...and, well I'm still not sure. I'll have to think about it and monitor the blog by our non-C-levels to see how that goes. I just have a feeling this will lead to some staff deselection and I know how much it pains Ed and Charlie when they have to fire people.

DaBrandLady: just call me. deselection is one of my favorite parts of the job!

twfPGATour©: Well on that upbeat note, Merry Christmas. Or is it Happy Chanukkah?

DaBrandLady: it's all a mitzvah tim! Mazel tov!

twfPGATour©: Give my best to...

DaBrandLady: He says mazel tov back!

 

Brand Lady Got Big Raise In '06

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Even though she couldn't do much right in 2006, Jon Show reports that Commissioner Carolyn Bivens enjoyed a 45% pay bump.

Tax records show she was paid $690,000 in 2006 after making $238,782 during her first six months of employment in the latter half of 2005. Prorating that amount would have come to about $478,000 in 2005.
Snow notes...
Bivens’ first year with the LPGA was mired in controversy, including the departure of top staff members, disagreements with the tournament association over raised sanctioning fees and cancellation of events, and a tiff with the media over photographic rights. But she has appeared to weather the storm.

“I’m sure there are some things she would like a do-over on, but for the most part, change was necessary,” said one golf marketer, who did not want to be identified. “Looking back, I think she’s done a good job.”
Well, I'm sure a huge increase in reven... 
The LPGA’s revenue for 2006 was $69.7 million, up from $67.4 million a year earlier. That does not include money brought in by events that are not owned by the LPGA. The tour owns and operates the Solheim Cup, which is a biennial Ryder Cup-style event, and now fully owns the ADT Championship, where it bought out IMG’s stake after the 2006 event.

Tournament revenue was up about $1.5 million to $50 million, which includes money brought in from new events and renegotiated sanctioning fees with existing events, as well as increased sponsorship dollars.

And...

Money from television was down $500,000 to $9.5 million. Corporate sponsorship was down from $5.2 million to $4.8 million, which the LPGA said reflected the termination of an exclusive international licensing contract with New York-based Summit Properties International.

Salary consultant Steve Unger questioned Bivens’ 2006 salary in relation to the LPGA’s revenue, but said it is impossible to accurately analyze her income without knowing if there was an automatic increase, or if she met certain parameters for success that triggered more salary.

“The optics of the deal are bad, but it might be totally in line depending on what the LPGA was expecting from her,” Unger said. “It seems like a lot of money for a little revenue.”

But you can't put a dollar value on what she's done for the brand!