While I relish a challenge as much (or maybe more) than the next person, the reputation management challenge I’m thinking of may fall into the “careful what you wish for” category.

Well-known transgressor Tiger Woods, who I understand plays golf from time to time, evidently has an event planned for Friday that is loosely described by his handlers as a “press conference.”

Not to step into the shoes of a few of my former journalism or English professors, but in order for a “conference” of any kind to take place, one party must confer with another. That will not happen on Friday. Tiger evidently is planning on making a statement and not taking any questions, thus stretching, along with the news media’s patience, the definition of the word conference.

During Friday’s event the Tiger camp will be taking the public’s temperature for the first time in quite a while. Not to make this sound like a political campaign, but the public’s reaction likely will shape Tiger’s message and communications strategy during the foreseeable future.

Even though Tiger’s people will engage in some very hard strategic thinking during the upcoming months, at least a little bit of strategy went into the scheduling of Friday’s event.

You see, Friday’s press “conference” just happens to be scheduled during the Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona. Accenture was a long-time sponsor of Tiger’s and the first to drop him (with some very pointed and critical rhetoric) following last November’s domestic dispute which launched his stunning fall from grace. The cynics among us might suggest that Tiger’s handlers planned the announcement in a petty effort to steal a little of the spotlight from the Accenture tournament’s media coverage.

It is likely that on Friday Tiger will announce the time and date for his return to the PGA Tour. Brace yourselves. While Tiger’s marketing and public relations folks have been engaged for several months in a reputation challenge for the ages, the next time he swings a club in public will launch a media circus for the ages.

From a strictly strategic point of view, I will find it very interesting to see how Tiger and his advisors navigate the media storm that is headed their way.