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May 29, 2008
Graduation Day
I had breakfast with Reverend Jesse Jackson about two weeks ago. He was in New York City to visit foundations, trying to secure support for the fall launch of a program designed to reverse the dire drop-out rates of African American males from high schools. In fact, one third of all Americans drop out in the course of high school and half graduate without adequate skills for college or a “decent job” according to the Alliance for Excellent Education. Fifty five percent of African American males did not receive diplomas with their cohort, according to the Schott Foundation. Also in New York City, Miami, Detroit and Chicago, 65-75% of black males do not graduate with their class. White males are twice as likely to graduate from high school as black counterparts in New York and Wisconsin (76% and 38% in NY, 84% vs. 38% in Wisconsin).
For global comparisons, the Alliance for Excellent Education says the US ranks 18th for high school graduation rates, 15th in reading rates and 25th in high school math. Even worse, according to Rev. Jackson, 90% of the 1.1 million African Americans presently serving time in US prisons are high school drop-outs. Janice Hale, author of Learning While Black, says “For many black males public schools are a one way ticket from the school house to the jail house.”
Reverend Jackson attributes this malaise to a “crisis in effort.” He believes that there can be a virtuous circle created, starting with Attendance, then Attention in the classroom, Graduation then Employment. “The foundation of this must be the parent,” he contends. “I want parents to sign a pledge with teachers to do the following:
• Parents take their children to school at the beginning of the year to show the importance of education in the home
• Parents and teachers exchange home or cell phone numbers
• Television is off in the home for three hours a night
• Parents are involved with homework, making sure it is done and done well
• Parents pick up the report cards from school
• Parents take children to church or synagogue
What can be done by the PR community to reverse this dynamic?
Bob Herbert of the New York Times wrote on May 17, 2008 about a $100 million gift by the AT&T Foundation that aims to “address high school drop-out rates and improve the readiness of American teenagers for college and the real world of work.” The CEO of AT&T, Randall Stephenson, said he was having “trouble finding enough skilled workers to handle the 5,000 customer service jobs he had promised to bring back from overseas.” Whether initiated by the internal PR team or by our worthy competitor Fleishman Hillard, this program is a perfect example of PR leading through good purpose.
Another alternative, albeit at a lower price point, was when Edelman began offering paid after school internships for high school students through the Inner City Scholarship Fund in the early 1980s. Never have I been so proud as seeing Lazaro Benitez, who began his career in PR as one of those interns, running the communications office for NYC 2012, the city’s bid for the Olympics. Last year, more than 60% of Edelman's summer interns were minorities. Whether through our creativity or our job creation, by tying in with Rev. Jackson’s fall initiative or initiating others, we have a responsibility to be part of the solution, not simply bystanders on the sidelines. I appreciate your suggestions on how we can help.
Posted by Edelman at 8:44 AM |
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This dilemma is about behavior change and is reminiscent somewhat of a wonderful campaign I had the privilege of helping a PR firm with media monitoring for: "Click It or Ticket". When it first started, it was local/regional, involved PR and advertising, and proved itself through measured behavior change (people literally counting seat belt wearers before and after campaign). Having seen this annual campaign, which started in the late 90's I believe, go from local/regional to national, with proven results in increased seat belt use, I bet the same model can be used to gradually achieve, and measure, Reverend Jackson's goals. The messages/behaviors are simple enough, like seat belt use, and I'm sure a "stick" equivalent to a ticket could be found.
Posted by: Steve Shannon at June 4, 2008 3:13 PM
Richard -- As a former employee, I read this particular column with great interest. You see, after a 35-year career in the public relations agency business, half of which was happily spent with Edelman, I'm now serving a nonprofit organization in Chicago that has been addressing the educational needs of inner-city kids for the past 42 years. Midtown Educational Foundation helps disadvantaged youngsters ages 8 thru 18 become better students and better people through after-school and summertime programs that integrate academics with lessons in character building. And it involves parents in the process at its Center for girls in Greektown and Center for boys in Bucktown. Is MEF's approach working? You bet. Ninety-eight percent of its alumni graduate from high school and enter college at nearly five times the national average.
While president of the Chicago office in the late 90's, I served on the Board of MEF for three years. During that time, one of our staff served on the Junior Board and we had more volunteers participating in the Walgreens one-on-one mentoring program for 4th thru 6th graders than any other firm in the city. I'm proud to be able to continue my association with MEF in a development capacity today.
Since Edelman has continued to build such a strong and dynamic presence in the Chicago market over the years, I encourage you to help MEF do what it does best -- help students succeed in school and in life -- through a renewed commitment of people and financial resources. I welcome your call at (312) 420-5846.
Posted by: Bob Kornecki at June 6, 2008 5:57 PM
Richard,
I am so sorry to bother, but I recently had the pleasure of re-reading your blog on the Edelman website from May 29, 2008 titled "Graduation Day" regarding your breakfast with the Reverend Jesse Jackson and the efforts on both your parts to help young males from the inner city get educated and make something of themselves. I saw my name mentioned there and wanted to take this opportunity once again thank you for that vital opportunity almost twenty years ago through Edelman and the Inner City Scholarship Fund.
In short, that internship made all the difference in the world to me and I will never forget that. Nor will I let you forget that act of generosity on your part. So thanks again!
Regards,
Laz Benitez
Posted by: Laz Benitez at September 22, 2008 4:09 PM
I agree that internship is a good way to encourage these individuals to strive harder. Support groups can make a huge impact on someone's life.
Also, a number of these younger people end up in jail because of the quality of life they are living. Having more job opportunities for their family members could also aid in the reduction of the juvenile crime rate. Desperate people turn to desperate measures and if there is food on the table everyday for everyone and a support group such as the internship program, I know this would really help give these young adults a brighter future.
Posted by: Sonny Oldner at January 17, 2011 8:33 PM
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| TrackBackMay 23, 2008
Dear John
I wanted to respond to your letter of May 5. Since you have provided approval to do so in a public manner, I am posting both on my blog. You raise important issues of ethical standards and business conduct that are relevant to the entire PR community. (Disclosure: Business Roundtable is an Edelman client).
On your first point--the issue of commercial competitors being represented by a given PR firm, whether for product marketing or corporate reputation--you posit correctly that “these are the easiest conflicts to avoid.” The standard must be “disclosure and protection.”
The question that remains is how to define a conflict. Is the relevant criterion presence in a category or is it a head to head competitor? Can a PR firm be held to a global exclusivity when the client only assigns a brand in a given market? Similarly, should a client asking a firm to conduct product marketing assignments assume that the firm should rule itself out of employee communications or public affairs assignment for a competitor? I suggest that conflict should be considered in the context of head-to-head competition -- a firm should not take on two beer brands but could work on a wine and a beer or spirits-- and that global exclusivity should apply with the award of global business. Protective walls can be erected between geographies with overlapping clients. Firms can assure separation of marketing and corporate assignments in a given geography by sending work to distinct offices. I do want to be entirely clear that a firm should not work simultaneously, as an example, for a trade association and a private interest opposing that association’s views; my late colleague, John Scanlon, referring to a competitor with this type of conflict, suggested that the owner had “an ethical bypass.”
On your second point--the possibility of conflict of interest when multiple arms of a “public relations conglomerate” work on clients with different aims. I think there are two tests: first is the work within a holding company by different PR firms; second is the use of specialist services to support a PR company’s work. As you know, nearly all the large PR firms are owned by communications conglomerates; Omnicom has more than 50 individual PR firms. Martin Sorrell, the leader of WPP, refers to a “kiss and punch” mentality between units of his company. I believe that there are more than sufficient safeguards for clients managed by separate units of holding companies because they are truly individual businesses. On the use of subsidiaries in research, digital or other areas, it is absolutely a fair request to insist that there be protections akin to those mentioned in the previous paragraph that govern work for competitors.
On your third point--the matter of a PR firm representing “private and political clients under the same umbrella”-- I agree with your assessment. “The conflict presented by the same company representing a political candidate with a perspective that bears on other corporate clients’ positioning is wrought with potential for conflict,” you said. There is a real benefit to our people in working on campaigns outside of the office, whether political or non-profit. The simple solution might be to provide some time for voluntarism; should a person become very involved, he or she should go on an unpaid leave-of-absence. It is too difficult to navigate conflicts on a case by case basis between political and business interests, especially when the media will always take a quite aggressive view of events.
John, I am very aware that public relations must earn trust every day by operating in a transparent manner and in the public interest. We bear the burden of skepticism borne of hype and spin. I like your suggestion that an organization, such as the Public Relations Society of America, discuss and define these issues. PRSA, which is practitioners’ organization, do provide guidelines around conflict of interests, though they’re fairly broad. Since these issues are at the center of a PR firm’s responsibilities, as with other top consultants from the advertising, legal, accounting and financial fields, we need provide and publish clear principles of ethical behavior. We will update our code of conduct to address the issues you raised.
Thanks for your note; I trust we will have further conversations on this subject.
Posted by Edelman at 1:09 PM |
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| TrackBackMay 16, 2008
Half Way There
Thirty years ago, on a Monday morning, I began my career at Edelman, working as an account executive in the Chicago office. I had finished classes at business school on the Friday, counting on a long vacation with a much sought after young woman through the capitals of Europe. I was informed by my father, Dan, that the firm had won the commodity futures company, ContiCommodity Services, and that I was the best qualified person to work on the business. Therefore, I was to start immediately. You can imagine the phone conversation with the jilted fellow traveler. So much for the cushy job at a family business! My father had an offer in 1978 to be acquired by DDB Advertising but preferred to carry on as an independent on the premise that I would try the business for a year. So here I am at age 53, half way through my Edelman career-- my dad is 87 and works every day-- prepared to tell a few stories.
Funniest Client Event—The Lubbock Cotton Conference for ContiCommodity where I learned about donkey baseball, where each player is riding a jackass, and each play takes five minutes. They also held the chicken fly-off, where two fowl are colored in food dye (I bet on Wild Blue Yonder, the blue entry), thrown off the roof of a barn and the one flying the farthest wins. I also met up with Rocky Mountain Oysters, the chewiest, least delectable food item ever ingested; only my honeymoon dinner of the local specialty in Southern China, civet comes close.
Most Inspiring Pitch—In our bid for Fuji Photo Film’s 1984 Summer Olympics program we were joined by featured Sports Illustrated photographer Walter Iooss, who we thought might be able to capture American athletes training for and competing in the Los Angeles Games. While Jody Quinn and I nervously waited for one of the Fuji executives to trip over the power cord for our projector in our small conference room in New York office, Walter charmed the clients and helped us win our breakthrough assignment, “Shooting for the Gold.“
Faith intervened—Our pitch to the coalition of long distance telecom companies, interrupted by a snow alert in Washington, DC, which required all buildings to close but enabling us to come back the following week with a much improved proposal; Leslie Dach and I agreed it was divine intervention.
You Get What You Pay For —With the Fuji win, we had to expand the NY office. I hired a friend’s small construction firm to help us go into the space next door. Sitting at my typewriter at 6 pm on a Friday night, I heard and then saw a sledgehammer come through the wall over my desk. Shrieking at the top of my voice in English then Spanish to no avail, I ran outside to learn that the construction crew spoke Greek. So the wall came down and we moved the furniture by ourselves.
Client Most in Denial—Walking across the hazardous waste dump at Love Canal in upstate New York with my client from Hooker Chemical, with boarded-up homes around the perimeter closed by order of the Environmental Protection Agency, he said, “It doesn’t really smell that much, does it?” This was topped by my mother’s comment that night, “You wore your galoshes when you were on the site; we don’t want mutated grandchildren.”
Proudest Achievement—Working with NY office colleagues Russell Dubner, Loretta Ucelli and Justin Blake to create LowerManhattan.info, a web site for the City of New York on the rebuilding of Ground Zero and surrounding area, within two months, so that it was ready for the first anniversary of 9/11. This web site eventually became an important destination and the primary source of facts for more than a million visitors in the first year, and 8 million in the past six.
Oddest Meeting—Michael Morley and I were summoned to a Midtown Manhattan hotel for a sit-down with two gentlemen in trench coats. They asked us about Edelman, in particular our global experience. We were convinced as we left that they were from the CIA or FBI. It turns out they were respectively chief marketing officer and global communications director for Ernst & Whinney, which intended to merge with Arthur Young to create Ernst & Young, the largest professional services firm in the world. We worked in secret quarters for six weeks, making excuses to fellow staffers and spouses alike, to prepare this announcement.
I have led a charmed life. I was fortunate to have several mentors, including the late John Scanlon who taught me so much about crisis management; Dick Aurelio who turned me into an adequate writer; Michael Morley who convinced me that there was a big world to consider; the late Michael Deaver who informed my executive style and commitment to excellence; Leslie Dach who taught me how to put doing good for society at the center of a corporation’s purpose; my partner from the beginning, Pam Talbot who showed me how a powerful creative idea could change everything; and my father, Dan Edelman, who gave me the chance to run the New York office well before my time and stood by me as I learned to be regional manager of Europe, then CEO of the company. I am so grateful to our clients and to my colleagues who have made this possible. Now it is on to the next thirty years.
Posted by Edelman at 10:53 AM |
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Richard, congratulations from Down Under on your 30th anniversary. I was pleased to read that Dan is still going in to the office every day at 87 - please convey my best wishes to him.
Posted by: Robyn Sefiani at May 18, 2008 7:39 AM
Congratulations on this important landmark in your career. I'm pretty sure that you feel as enthusiast and perceive as many if not more challenges than 30 years ago, because it reflects in the philosophy of the company today, reinventing, upgrading in order to gain competitive advantage and benefit our clients. Never knew that you spoke Spanish, hopefully you can come by the Mexico City office sometime and practice it!!! Regards, Julio.
Posted by: Julio Gil at May 18, 2008 5:01 PM
It's interesting that the first post I've read on your blog would be this highlighting career touchpoints. I'm the same age and remember driving though Love Canal (I'm from Rochester) and seeing first hand what a mess it was-definitely smelled bad.
Congrats!
Posted by: Martin Edic at May 19, 2008 4:22 PM
What great stories, Richard! Thanks for sharing them. Congratulations on your 30th anniversary. Know that you have many admirers inside the company and out who can't wait to tell our own stories! (We have some on you, you know!)
Posted by: Marilynn Mobley at May 20, 2008 12:59 PM
Richard, many congratulations, and I'm glad you appreciated the inspirational figures you met during your career. Who knows what the next 30 years will hold, and how much of it will be for the good of us all...
Posted by: Ellee at June 16, 2008 3:47 PM
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| TrackBackMay 8, 2008
The Candy Bombers
On my way to Seattle today, I picked up a new book by Andrei Cherny, The Candy Bombers, the story of the Anglo-American airlift of supplies to Berlin in 1948-9, that thwarted the Russian blockade of the German capital. Interwoven between high-stakes diplomatic and military maneuvering by the Cold War antagonists is the story of individual charity and heroism by American pilot Hal Halvorsen, the legendary Candy Bomber. How the American high command managed the most unusual behavior of this pilot provides a guide for business executives seeking to connect with stakeholders.
Lieutenant Halvorsen, wandering around Tempelhof Airfield in Berlin after making a delivery of flour to the embattled city, finds a group of German kids standing at the fence. He gives them his two remaining sticks of Wrigley Doublemint Gum, tearing each in half so four kids could have a treat. He said, “The expressions on their faces were incredulous, full of awe. If I brought back thirty cents of candy, I could put these guys on Easy Street,” he said. So he promised the children that he would drop candy down to them; they would know his plane because “it will be the one that wiggles its wings.” On his return to his base in Frankfurt, he and two friends bought their weekly allotment of gum and candy, then found junk twine and an extra handkerchief “to fashion a miniature parachute.” Good to his word, he made his “candy delivery” the following day, then twice more. Within days, a stack of mail appeared at Tempelhof, envelopes addressed in crayon to the “Onkel Wackelflugel (Uncle Wiggly Wings) or “Schokoladen Flieger” (The Chocolate Flyer).
About two weeks later, Halvorsen is ushered into the office of the US Commanding General Tunner, anticipating a court-martial or other discipline. Cherny writes, “Tunner beckoned him forward, and rather than giving him a court-martial, he offered his congratulations. He had realized immediately the enormous psychic boost the candy drops could have on Berliners. In this new kind of war they were fighting, a battle for allegiance and affections as much as for territory…Tunner did not send him to the brig, he sent him to go speak to the press.” Halvorsen coined the phrase, “Operation Little Vittles” to describe his one man kids’ campaign. From Associated Press to ABC News, the media made Halvorsen a military hero, “the public face of the otherwise anonymous pilots flying the airlift…representing a larger idea, the moral responsibility to help humans caught in a struggle.” Then Halvorsen was sent back to New York City in September, 1948 for a media tour, including an appearance on CBS’ “We the People” show. On his return to Germany, he found over 800 pounds of candy and hundreds of handkerchiefs donated by viewers of the program, which were delivered by 30 other pilots. Cherny states that, “Hal Halvorsen and the Airlift had showed that for democracy to take root it required a change in hearts and minds more than in economic conditions, that America’s strength is not just military muscle but an undisputedly moral voice.”
What are the lessons in this for business? Grassroots sentiment is best changed by spontaneous actions of individuals prompted by strong convictions. These acts may stray outside of the corporate codes of conduct but the nobility of purpose overwhelms the technical violation. This applies both to employees and to those outside, including communities and civil society. Business is best served by being open to these types of entrepreneurial acts, recognizing that brands are expected to have a broader social purpose. To harness this energy, business will need to be open to change and to compromise, to co-creation of a better mutual end point. The benefits in brand sales and corporate reputation make this the wise course. I would appreciate your comments as always.
Posted by Edelman at 10:14 AM |
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Having been raised not far from Lt. Halvorsen's hometown of Garland, UT, I've heard his story since grade school. But I never thought of the business applications before. Thank you, Richard, for reminding me of this great story and for sharing your insights.
Posted by: Jack Shirts at May 8, 2008 4:24 PM
I was reading your blog and saw the post, “The Candy Bombers.” I enjoyed the post and the heartfelt story. I think that Hal Halvorsen demonstrated extraordinary character and sense of humanity in a difficult situation. You are very right in your assessment that these acts may have strayed outside the codes of conduct, but the motivation was much stronger than the violation. Hal Halvorsen became known for his kind heart and decency, which may have been contradictory to the military image that may have been perceived by the public. Businesses are expected to focus on brand, profits, revenue, and growth. However, that should not be their only focus. A focus on corporate and social responsibility is good for the soul of the company and will contribute to the overall success of the company.
This leads me to the reason I am writing you. By the way of introduction, I am Laurie Stafinski, marketing associate for RainToday.com (http://www.raintoday.com). I thought you might be interested in new research we just released, Fees and Pricing Benchmark Report: Marketing, Advertising, and PR Industry 2008.
The following are key insights that I thought might be of interest to you:
Does Brand Really Make a Difference?
Firm marketers are always touting the value of establishing a brand…and now they can have the hard data to back it up.
Making the financial case for branding – our research shows:
• Brand leaders were more likely to price their services at a higher level than their competitors in the market (41% of brand leaders were premium-price vs. 24% of lesser-known firms). And, they were more likely to actually get higher fees by up to 35%.
• 79% of brand leaders experienced revenue growth in the last two years versus 65% of lesser known firms
• 69% of brand leaders are profitable versus 56% of lesser known firms
According to the data, brand leaders have a better chance of generating premium fees, growing their business, and realizing a profit than lesser known firms.
I thought that you and your readers might be interested in some of these results for your blog.
The media page for the report is here: http://www.raintoday.com/mediapagemarketing.cfm
I would be happy to provide you with a PDF review copy of the report.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Best regards,
Laurie Stafinski
Posted by: Laurie Stafinski at May 9, 2008 12:27 PM
Richard --
Thank you for your incisive post about my new book, "The Candy Bombers." I very much appreciated the points you made. I have also been thinking about the lessons the story holds for business and other leaders. The folks at Washington Speaker's Bureau asked me to write up a blurb for possible talks on that subject which I have included below. Thank you for helping me expand my thinking.
Best,
Andrei
Leadership Secrets of The Candy Bombers: What we can learn from Harry Truman and the men who saved Berlin and prevented World War III.
The Berlin Airlift was not only the greatest humanitarian operation in history and the closest America ever came to World War IIII, it is also a story of leadership on the edge with much to teach us. In this presentation, Andrei Cherny introduces the group of history’s second-stringers who rose to the occasion in a moment of crisis and recounts their lessons. Harry Truman, struggling in Franklin Roosevelt’s shadow, overruled his entire all-star military and foreign policy team to stand on principle in Berlin, did not allow conventional wisdom to dictate his options when it came to the Soviet blockade, and refused to accept defeat when everyone thought he had lost to Thomas Dewey in the 1948 election. Bill Tunner, a forgotten man who was one of history’s great organizers, forever transformed air travel by banishing its “fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants” style and bringing it into the age of assembly lines in the Berlin Airlift. His administrative innovations made it possible to feed the largest city on earth completely by air – and can be applied to any business or organization, large or small. Finally, Hal Halvorsen, the young pilot who dropped candy to the children of Berlin, taught us the value of inspiration and the transformative power of human kindness.
Check out:
www.AndreiCherny.com
www.TheCandyBombers.com
www.DemocracyJournal.org
Posted by: Andrei Cherny at May 20, 2008 1:06 PM
I thoroughly enjoyed your summary of The Candy Bomber and the lessons it can teach us in today’s business world. Going forward, companies and the brands they portray will need to show a broader social purpose because the 'conscious consumer' is awakening. This is happening throughout all age groups but is especially prevalent in Generation Y. As a member of this generation, I understand that we want to buy from companies that strive to have a larger social purpose. We like google because it is a great search engine, but we are loyal to it because they try to ‘do no evil’.
Your goodpurpose study shows the need for companies to find their social purpose before their competition beats them to it. I look forward to one day reading your second goodpurpose study, comparing the results, and seeing how you use them.
Posted by: Stuart Perkins at June 10, 2008 7:41 PM
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| TrackBackMay 1, 2008
Chicago 1968
I was walking through Lincoln Park on Sunday en route to the Chicago Historical Society and came upon an old water trough on the bridal path, used by equestrians for their horses. It also was the watering hole for the Chicago Latin football team circa 1968 as we struggled back from our summer practice sessions in 90 degree heat. As I passed through the Society’s new exhibit on the history of Chicago, I watched a video on the two riots in 1968, one in April provoked by the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King, the other during the Democratic Convention in August. There was Mayor Richard J. Daley, defiantly ordering his police department to “shoot to kill arsonists, shoot to maim looters,” during the April upheaval, and again in August defending the police action against protestors seeking to upstage the Convention. I will never forget our football coach, formerly a professional with the San Diego Chargers, telling us, “Gentlemen, strap on your helmets. We are going to go onto the field through these hippies.” We subsequently ran wind sprints with tear gas hanging in the air and the chants of, “Ho, Ho, Ho Chi Minh, Ho Chi Minh is going to win,” in our ears from the activists storming police positions.
I discovered an excellent book on this period at the Society’s book store, called Chicago 68 by David Farber. The author lays out a fascinating theory of public relations as practiced by Abbie Hoffman, founder of the Yippies (Youth International Party), the key protagonists during the Democratic Convention. Farber writes, “The changing form of the mass media changed the way people perceived and thus made their way through reality. Because of radio, people over fifty have to hear it to believe it; because of TV, people thirty to fifty have to see it to believe it; and because of the fact that people under thirty had grown up hip to the ways TV manufactured images, in order to get them to believe in something they needed to do more than just hear it or see it—they have to feel it to believe it and that means inventing a whole new medium that begins with and depends on involvement and participation, that defines reality through immediacy rather than through passivity, that replaces explanation with actualization.” So Hoffman changed his language from “well reasoned, polished graduate school rhetoric to a hip patois, redolent with ‘you knows, groovy, cool.’ He also developed a new kind of “public happening, street theater, focused absurdity, startling put-ons,” inspired by performance art that breaks down the barrier between actor and audience and by the live comedies of the TV Golden Age, Farber contends. In Hoffman’s words, “Myth must create a participation mystique. It must have a high element of risk, drama, excitement and bullshit.”
In 1969, both my mother and I had our own experiences with Abbie Hoffman, then on trial as part of the famous Chicago 8, including Rennie Davis, Jerry Rubin and the Black Panther Bobby Seale whose mouth was taped shut before every court session because he shouted to interrupt the proceedings. Somehow my mother was friendly with Judge Julius Hoffman, a Mr. Magoo look alike who was presiding over the court. She went to the visitors’ gallery with two of her friends for a day, only to be lampooned in a New York Times article by famed journalist Tony Lukas as “Judge Hoffman’s Gold Coast Chicago socialite girlfriends.” During Christmas vacation, I also went to court and was harassed by Abbie Hoffman, sticking out his tongue and wildly waving his hands in my face. But the man saw the future and brought it to bear in Chicago forty years ago. Hoffman was working at all levels of consciousness, from in person experiences leading to word of mouth, to creating visual images appealing to mass media. In our present communications world, it is the intersection of mass media based on interpretation by experts and personal media premised on individual involvement. I would appreciate your comments as always.
Posted by Edelman at 4:03 PM |
Comments
Richard, great post! Abbie Hoffman was indeed a genius pioneer of reality-based, multi-dimensional PR, and Chicago 1968 was his masterpiece. His descendents are numerous and active today (see WTO Seattle among other more recent examples). But the problem with such a deeply personalizing, experiential style is the law of unintended consequences, or backlash. After all, who was elected President in 1968?
Posted by: mark d at May 2, 2008 2:02 PM
Richard -
Farber's insights about generational differences in the way we process information is extremely valuable. As communicators, we probably do a better job of considering the impact of historical references and cultural experiences with different age groups than we do with the way information is actually processed. For example, I grew up writing papers longhand, so when I began working on a Wang Word Processor (over 20 years ago) writing speeches for my CEO, I found it to be a real transition to think through a keyboard versus pen to paper. There's something to be said for the way we receive information and are inclined to act on it. Thanks for the great reference!
Posted by: Leo J. Bottary at May 3, 2008 10:01 AM
Richard -
I enjoyed your post. While only eight years old at the time, I'd listened to my share of the MC5 by July '68 thanks to older siblings.
Let's not forget it was Abbie Hoffman who organized antiwar protesters in an attempt to levitate the Pentagon driving out evil spirits! I can't help but wonder what kind of theatre, spectacle he'd be involved in this election year.
And what was chanted by antiwar demonstrators that became a catch-phrase?
"The whole world is watching"
Posted by: Todd McGovern at May 7, 2008 10:47 AM
Richard,
Like Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin was a born with "a flair for the public gesture" and a streak of P. T. Barnum which he used brilliantly to advance the Yippie agenda and other causes later in his life. It's worth remembering that in the '80's, after trading in his radical playbook and embracing capitalism, Jerry Rubin pioneered social networking. The following is excerpted from Rubin's NY Times obit:
"Mr. Rubin was prominent in the riotous protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, which led to the famously unruly trial, in 1969 and 1970, of him and six other radical defendants -- the group known as the Chicago Seven. At the trial he showed up wearing judge's robes covering a blue Chicago police shirt.
"After the 1960's, Mr. Rubin wrote, lectured, sought self-improvement and then worked in New York on Wall Street and as an entrepreneur. In the 1980's, he became known for his promotion of "networking," bringing together ambitious young professionals at parties at the Palladium nightclub in Manhattan. Transformed from protester to businessman but still demonstrating a flair for the public gesture, he held a series of public "Yippie vs. Yuppie" debates with Abbie Hoffman, another former leader of the Yippies, who committed suicide in 1989.
"Looking back years later at the 1960's, Mr. Rubin called himself one of "the anti-capitalistic comics of the 1960's" who used street theater to pursue, without much success, "the radical dream of transforming the system from outside."
"He once campaigned to elect a pig as President the United States, and in 1967 he dropped dollar bills onto the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
"Though he later renounced his anti-capitalism, he defended his fervent opposition to the Vietnam War. "Our nationwide campaign to build public opposition to the Vietnam War succeeded, and the war ended," he wrote in an article in 1990.
"The Chicago Seven trial produced some of the most bizarre courtroom scenes in American jurisprudence. Mr. Rubin and other defendants -- Mr. Hoffman, Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, David Dellinger, John Froines and Lee Weiner -- all charged with conspiracy to disrupt the Democratic convention, taunted the iron-willed judge, Julius J. Hoffman. The judge ordered an eighth defendant, Bobby Seale, tried separately because he was so disruptive.
"During the trial, which was in Federal District Court, Judge Hoffman aimed sarcastic remarks and occasional tirades at the defendants and their lawyers, including William Kunstler. The defendants chewed jelly beans at first and later screamed insults at the prosecutors and the judge, whom Mr. Rubin denounced as "the laughingstock of the world."
"In 1978, Mr. Rubin, a son of a Cincinnati truck driver who became an official in the teamsters' union, married Mimi Leonard, a former debutante who worked for ABC-TV in New York. They lived in a posh apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
"With the passage of time, Mr. Rubin became "a buttoned-down entrepreneur for the 1980's," as one cultural critic put it. A watershed of sorts came in 1980, when he wrote that while he still had "many of the same criticisms and same values" as in the 1960's, he had learned "that the individual who signs the check has the ultimate power."
"I know that I can be more effective today wearing a suit and tie and working on Wall Street than I can be dancing outside the walls of power," he said.
"Indeed, he worked briefly for the Wall Street firm of John Muir & Company and went on to make a new name for himself promoting networking.
By 1985, Mr. Rubin's soirees at the Palladium on East 14th Street were bringing together thousands of networkers. "I don't like to use the word, but every Yuppie in New York comes," he told an interviewer.
"In 1991 he moved to Los Angeles, where his business activities included marketing a nutritional drink named Wow! Forbes magazine reported in 1992 that Mr. Rubin said he was making $60,000 a month as a distributor for Omnitrition International, a Texas company that sold powdered mixes for Wow! and other beverages."
By ERIC PACE, NY Times
Published: November 30, 1994
Posted by: Steven Weiss at May 9, 2008 4:23 PM