One of my greatest pet peeves is an absolute hatred for the forwarded email. Of course, not all forwards are created equally. The obvious jokes are an inconvenience, the warm and fuzzy moments of zen are trite, but the unsubstantiated political reports are downright infuriating.

Certain members of my family love to forward these things on. The other day I got one reporting on the fact that Barrack Obama was raised a (God forbid) Muslim and educated in a Madrasa. Turns out that this was a story that only Fox News and internet journalists would touch- and hence 100 percent innacurate. John Stewart had a great explanation of the story.

These kinds of stories have become much more than a mere annoyance. The fact that any schmuck with an axe to grind and an internet connection can publish and disseminate this type of junk is scary. These posts are typically unsigned (an obvious mark of journalistic integrity) and get passed around by otherwise good meaning people (or not).

Luckily for Obama, he understands the absolute necessity of quickly addressing this new virtual rumor mill. He immediately launched a full frontal assault and stemmed the momentum that this type of attack had on John Kerry’s 2004 presidential campaign.

The danger of this type of bad PR is not isolated to political campaigns. Business interests worldwide are equally susceptible to this type of attack; even golf courses. There are an increasingly large number of online golf course ratings sites and blogs. It is imperative to know where your customers are getting their information and what type of information is being disseminated. This can be a difficult proposition. The sheer volume of content on the web makes this increasingly difficult.

The ideal solution to this problem is to hire professional help. Modern public relations is more than just sending out press releases on the latest happenings at your course. Today, PR will have a new media component, and a good PR person will have the knowledge and resources to address any attacks on your course- online or off.

Short of that solution, here are a couple of tricks that can help you monitor and contribute to your online presence-

1) Create search term alerts- services like Google Alerts will automatically email you notifications when your course name shows up within standard searchable web news services and dynamic content sites. Set up an alert.

2) Learn the hotspots for this type of information and monitor. Sites like the 40 or so sites created by GolfPublisher Syndications (e.g. Travelgolf.com) host dozens of blogs and online columnists. Search these sites for mentions of your course. For many blogs and articles, they provide a venue to respond to criticisms and attacks.

3) Create your own content. The best defense is a good offense, so start publishing positive content about your site. Create a blog on any number of the free blog sites out there (Google has a great one), and link back to your site (this improves your search engine optimization). You will need to register your blog with as many blog directories as possible. Here are some good places to start.

This is a start. At a later point we will talk in more detail.

I am a techie freak. I love all the latest gadgets and toys that are marketed to make our lives easier. I am an admitted sucker for shiny objects with lights and buttons and useless features, but I am a self aware sucker. I do realize that all these gadgets do very little to make my life any easier. In fact, when going through airport security trying to juggle my laptop, Blackberry, Ipod and PS2, I have repeatedly been struck by my own absurdity.

That being said, Steve Jobs unveiling of the new Apple - iPhone filled me with more than the usual anticipation. This device could actually be different. It might actually make my life easier. Why, you ask? Integration. This single device combines the functionality of all my assortment of gadgets into one. I have a feeling that this is the one device that finally gets me organized and efficient.

That might be a bit of an overstatement, but I am very much a believer in the concept of integration and centralization.

Last week I met with the leadership of a New York based golf management company to talk about their communication program. One of the primary challenges of a mid to large golf operation is the same as any other mid to large sized company- good communications. We talked in some detail about the need for integration between the varied communications programs needed by any organization.

Here are some of the keys of a good plan:

Marketing and PR are flip sides of the same coin- all good marketing plans have a public relations component. PR is a separate discipline, but relies on the same information and must be formulated utilizing the same overall branding umbrella.

Internal Communications are as important as External Communications- companies, particularly those doing business in multiple locations will receive better service from employees who feel that they are part of something and that their opinions and ideas matter.

Communications with your audiences require good listening skills- you must be willing to listen as well as enunciate. If you are doing email blasts to members- ask for input in polls or surveys. The same is true for employee communications. Utilize technology to start a dialogue.

All communications need to go through a centralized gatekeeper- it is imperative that a central person or committee review and approve all content that is going out to various publics. This is particularly true if you are working with an outside agency or agencies. If you are forced to have separate PR, web and advertising firms (which is certainly not the ideal), you will need to work a bit harder to coordinate the efforts of all of these entities. If you can work with a full-service firm, that is always a better way to go.

After all- the less devices you have to juggle, the less absurd you will look.