Sunburn — The Morning Read Of What’s Hot In Florida Politics — 12.14.21

By Peter Schorsch

Good Tuesday morning.

The Sachs Media team grew by three this week, with the addition of Taylore Maxey, Chloe Swicegood, and Natalie Hernesman.

They join an already impressive lineup of top communications professionals who offer a full suite of capabilities, including strategy, public relations, public affairs, crisis communications, research, digital and social media, creative, marketing, and video production.

“As we’ve navigated many organizations through the pandemic, our roster of clients has continued to grow — and so our roster of communicators has grown with it,” said firm founder and CEO Ron Sachs. “These newest colleagues add knowledge, skills, and abilities that will make an important difference for all our clients.”

Maxey joins Sachs Media’s public relations team as an account manager. The Troy University alum most recently served as press secretary for the Florida Housing Finance Corporation, where she oversaw communications and marketing campaigns for the state’s affordable housing programs and resources.

Hernesman, who graduated from USF with honors earlier this year, was hired as an Account Coordinator. She comes to the firm from the USF NewZRoom, where she worked as a reporter uncovering newsworthy content across the Tampa Bay area, including political reporting during the 2020 elections.

Swicegood will also be serving as an Account Coordinator. Before joining the Sachs Media team, she graduated from FSU with a bachelor’s degree in English, concentrating on editing, writing, and media, and with a minor in political science. During an internship, while pursuing her degree, Swicegood worked for a Florida-based nonprofit, where she helped veterans obtain career opportunities in STEM fields.

“These three communicators are a tremendous addition to our team and will help serve our diverse clientele,” said Sachs Media President and Partner Michelle Ubben. “With their diverse backgrounds, they’ll bring unique and individualized perspectives to our agency.”

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Did you hear the ding when Sunburn hit your inbox? First, why are you awake? Second, get decent and step outside so you can catch the back half of the Geminid meteor shower.

The celestial event, named for the Gemini constellation, is thought to be a Palladian asteroid with a “rock comet” orbit. It and the Quadrantids are the only major meteor showers not originating from comets.

And, unlike those born under the Gemini zodiac sign, it’s reliable and predictable — it happens between Dec. 4 and Dec. 17 every year.

Trekkie-sounding lingo aside, there will be as many as 160 meteors streaking across the sky every hour. It peaked during the 2 a.m. hour, but the show isn’t over. It doesn’t matter where you are, either, as the Geminid shower can be seen from anywhere in the world.

Moonlight can make it difficult to see the meteors, as can light pollution, so make sure to turn off the lights and your phone screen — after you finish scrolling through Sunburn, of course — to up your chances of seeing the action.

It may sound like a hassle, but according to Bill Cooke, the top astronomer at NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office, it is one of the “only two meteor showers worth going out for.”

For those who slept in, the other one is the Perseids. You can catch it in July.

 — Elon Musk named Time Person of the Year: “In 2021, Musk emerged not just as the world’s richest person, but also as perhaps the richest example of a massive shift in our society,” wrote Time Editor-in-Chief Edward Felsenthal of the Tesla and SpaceX CEO. 2021 was a good year for Musk. He became the world’s wealthiest person, buoyed by rises in Tesla stock, and launched the first-ever mission to Earth’s orbit with a crew consisting only of tourists and no professional astronauts. Person of the Year was birthed in 1927, then under the heading “Man of the Year,” and has since grown to consider groups, movements, or ideas that wielded the most influence. Last year, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris shared the honor. But it’s not always an honor to be named. For example, Adolf Hitler was named Time’s Man of the Year in 1938 for wielding negative influence. Indeed, Musk’s notoriety isn’t always seen as a positive. As Felsenthal noted, Musk is often “a blunt instrument that often seems to revel in division and aggressive mockery.

 — Donald Trump’s planned social media upstart has money, but no product: Sticking it to ‘Big Tech’ in October, the former President announced he was launching a new company, Trump Media & Technology Group, to provide “a fountainhead of support for American Freedoms” and “even the playing field” in a media market that has “swung dangerously far to the left.” But there are some glaring problems. Its “proprietary” technology turned out to be a rip-off from Mastodon, an open-source social network anyone can use and an existing conservative social media network, Gab, already uses. TMTG also planned to launch a beta version of TRUTH Social in November to invited guests, but that never happened. The company also has not announced anyone involved in building its technology, listing officers merely by a first name and last initial. Further, U.S. Rep. Devin Nunes, a California Republican and big-time Trump fan, is leaving Congress to be the company’s CEO. Nunes has no experience in the media business and once sued a fictional cow for making fun of him on Twitter. Read more about this massive social media mirage here.

— SITUATIONAL AWARENESS —

—@kakape: Denmark’s @SSI_dk just released a new risk assessment on #omicron. It estimates that #omicron will become the dominant variant in Copenhagen this week, with more than 10,000 cases per day expected — an all-time pandemic high.

Tweet, tweet:

—@RichardGrenell: I had stage 3.5 non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. I also had COVID, so I work hard to NOT wear masks. Stop telling people what to do. My body, my choice.

Tweet, tweet:

—@OnePeloton: if we can put that spot together in 48 hours, you can do your workout today