A PR Legend

Hope you all get a chance to read PR Week’s special Career Guide supplement out this month. There is a lovely tribute to legendary PR veteran, Harold Burson of Burson Marstellar.

Many years ago when I was with Cohn & Wolfe (then a sister agency to Burson Marstellar) I had the unique opportunity to actually meet and talk with Mr. Burson. I was in Connecticut on a three day training session (the agency was well-known for internal education) and during one of the session breaks we had a special visit by Harold Burson. There was a sea of people crowding Mr. Burson in a scrum formation and I thought I would never get a foot into the conversation. I waited patiently, then got my turn. Here I was face to face with the master of PR, the “father of modern PR” and already a legend back then. What do I ask this accomplished man? The role of PR in the 21st century? Corporate citizenship? What makes a great leader? The secret to a solid client/agency working relationship? My mind was racing. But when I opened my mouth, all I could muster was, “So Mr. Burson, what makes you get out of bed in the morning?”

He smiled and chuckled then told me how much he just loved the business. Everything about the business interested him. The clients, the work, the people, staff. He was hard-pressed to say anything negative and he said he felt lucky and blessed at the same time to be doing something that gave him so much satisfaction. As he spoke there was such a quiet elegance about him. Dignified, classy, a real gentleman. Here’s a guy running the world’s largest PR agency and you’d think you were talking to your dad. I wish there were more leaders like him in the world (or at least in PR) that can inspire and lead with such grace and intellect. They don’t make them like that anymore ... sigh.

Before he left I managed to get one of the photographers snap a pic of us. I keep the photo on my desk to remind me I have a long, long way to go in this business ... and why the hell was I dyeing my hair red!!

Recession proof your PR job

Well, talk about a productive first day on the job! If President Barack Obama was working in a PR agency, he’d have a banner first day of great billable hours. No long lunches for this guy on his first day in the White House. He put pen to paper from the get go.

And speaking of productivity, agencies talk a lot about billable hours, simply because staff are the primary revenue streams for the agency. At my agency, I review billable hours and capacity levels weekly against client budgets. Not my favourite part of the biz but if there is a part of the engine not functioning properly, we flag it early. As a general rule, most agencies don’t carry around extra baggage in the staff department.

But what happens in an economic climate like a recession when clients start to cut back budgets or worse, halt work altogether and it starts to cut into your personal billability levels?

If you’re worried about your billability, don’t be too worried sick over it. There are other ways to recession proof your job at your agency.

Here are five things your boss is looking at besides your billability level:

5. Special skill set. Ok, this one is key if you have a special skill you bring to the agency that is needed time again. Perhaps it’s a strong second language skill, or you’re the best editor in the place or better yet, you’re the social media guru. Your boss may find it hard to replace these special skills and keep you on staff.

4. Your a new biz “whiz kid.” If your hours are lower than normal but you’re a cracker jack at developing presentations, RFPs, research etc. Stay calm, your boss will recognize that new business development is expertise that is much needed in a recession. You’ll be safe for now.

3. Volunteer for special projects: Don’t be out of sight in tough times, don’t close the door to your office too much. Be visible. Be heard. Volunteer for internal events, develop new content for the web site, write new cases studies, work on pro bono clients etc. Show a meaningful contribution to the agency in other ways.

2. Seniority and track record: This one is a no-brainer. If you have more than five years in the agency (some consider that a “lifer’) and your track record has been impeccable for most of it, I can safely say your job is not in peril. You’re a seasoned practitioner to the agency and once things pick up, you’ll be the first to be billing up a storm and contributing to the bottom-line once again.

1. The boss likes you! Now some of you might be rolling your eyes at this one, but if you and the boss have a unique or special relationship – you both love to sail, have a lot in common, kids have play dates together .... it will be tougher for your manager to axe you because your billables are a little lower. But don’t suck up to your boss at this time either, he’ll see through that little game. Just stay in his face and keep it business as usual and don’t show any fear.

Hopefully some of you will sleep better tonight.

If anyone has other points, please share them, I know this is an important discussion for some of you out there.

Don’t kill off my print magazine!

I read one of those “quotable quotes” from Ballmer who recently said that the print industry will die off in ten years. We’ve all seen the digital effect on newspapers as they continue to scale back on editorial pages. But books and magazines? I really can’t see my favourite magazines going solely online in ten years.

I don’t mind reading short current news bites, weather, sports scores and headlines off my BlackBerry or computer. But for full-feature coverage complete with photos, please give me my magazines.

My favourite magazine of all time has to be Vanity Fair. It is brilliant. Everything about the magazine is flawless. The writing, photography and even the ads are simply sublime. I look forward to my copy in the mail every month. This month’s issue did not disappoint as usual. The brilliance of Vanity Fair is how they seduce the reader with a glossy, Hollywood front cover and then take you inside some of the most outstanding writing and research on subjects ranging from war, presidents (past and present), current events, socialites gone mad, actors who kill, and European philanderers. Their writers have no problem digging up sordid details and going deep into issues. Last year I read the story about that beautiful thoroughbred horse named Barbaro and how his trainers and owners had to put the lovely creature down. The article celebrated the life of this horse and captured the pain and suffering of everyone who loved him. Not one television story or newspaper article captured the essence and the human-like soul of Barbaro than that story in Vanity Fair. Because this is what Vanity Fair is all about: in-depth, provocative writing that sets the standard in journalism.

This month’s article on President Clinton is a real page turner, too. This is the same article that prompted Clinton to call its writer a “scumbag.” The article is hilarious and a bit shocking. Apparently Clinton’s best buddy is some jet-setting billionaire whose private plane is aptly nicknamed “Air Fuck One.” And another piece of the puzzle is put into place … poor Hilary.

I realize that Vanity Fair also has a dotcom site chock-full of content. But it’s just not the same reading experience.

So are you to tell me that my favourite high-gloss magazine that I can take to the beach, on a plane and curl up with in bed will become extinct in ten years?

Say it ain’t so! I have no desire to ever, ever, ever go to the bathroom with my laptop propped up on my knees!

Mourn today, Debate Tomorrow

The Virginia Tech shootings this week made more than just gruesome headlines. It has resurrected the issue of gun control laws in the U.S. and, no doubt, there will be ongoing debate of this heated issue on both sides of government policy.

I’m a self-professed news junkie (occupational hazard) when it comes to plane crashes, school shootings or mass destruction of any kind. You name it -- I have an insatiable appetite for getting all the facts. For me, it’s about understanding how this can happen (I still don’t comprehend murder-suicide school shootings) and, more importantly, how we can prevent this from ever happening again. As a parent, a school massacre like this hits home to me in a very personal way.

The next night, I watched hours of television coverage from various stations including CNN, CBS, ABC and BBC World News. I flipped constantly to gather as much data as I could. When I turned to CBS, I saw Katie Couric interviewing President Bush and the First Lady. “Well,” I thought to myself, “this should be interesting.” I had just watched the President’s address to the university that he gave earlier that day and thought he did a fine job in his attempt to console a grieving community. His speech was eloquent and had some strong faith messages which is what I think that community needed to hear from the President at that moment.

Couric asked a few questions to the President about his message to the university and then, out of nowhere, she tried to goad the President into a discussion about gun control. Huh? What? Thirty-two innocent victims lost their lives and left thousands grieving the world over, and you want to spark a debate about gun control the next day after the shootings? I was floored! Not only was it neither time nor place for that question, but it was clearly inappropriate to bring up a gun policy discussion when there is so much healing to be done.

This horrific crime will no doubt spur a debate about the second amendment (as did Columbine) and it’s probably happening right now in every corner of the United States. But the next day was clearly a day of mourning and it fell to the President to act as the nation’s consoler, not an arbiter on gun laws.

I like Katie Couric and think she has found a home as anchor on CBS News. But I would have liked to see a more soulful dialogue between her and the President and the First Lady without her having to resort to a tactless question about gun control. Obviously, even the most rigid gun laws would not have prevented a lunatic assassin from carrying out his rampage this week.

Bush declined to answer the gun policy question. And rightfully so.

Let us mourn and remember these innocent victims and honour them the best way we can.

We can dispute the second amendment another day.