Steve Rubel

Rubel moved to the Edelman public relations firm in February 2006 to help it use blogs more effectively. The firm later came under criticism when one of its clients, Wal-Mart, helped pay for a couple to blog their cross-country RV trip on which they parked at local Wal-Marts. The blog, [http://walmartingacrossamerica.com/ Wal-Marting Across America], was quite favorable toward Wal-Mart, but the extent of the financial support was not fully disclosed (any RV can park overnight for free at Wal-Mart, but the company also paid for renting the couple's RV, along with gas and other fees). As the firm's blogging expert, Rubel was a focus of some of the criticism, but he said he was not personally involved in the project.