Dean Rotbart's Blog

Everywhere I Look I See 'It': Self-Serving Journalists

Dean Rotbart — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 14:34:37 GMT

Some would say "it" is just one of the perks of being a journalist. "It" is so commonplace, few question the ethics of "it" any longer.

CBS News' Bob Schieffer does "it" quite openly and his colleagues in the media applaud. Literally. Most other journalists are more discreet, but no less guilty.

A recent example is Julie Bain, who writes on health for Reader's Digest. While traveling with her mom not long ago, Julie became worried after her mother complained repeatedly of leg pain.

"Being a health journalist with lots of medical knowledge (although no clinical training), I was worried that she might have developed deep vein thrombosis (DVT), a blood clot in the leg that can block blood flow and cause pain," Julie writes in a September Readers Digest blog post.

Is it acceptable for financial journalists to take their children to special screenings of soon-to-be-released films, when those children don't have a byline and could never get in if mom or pop weren't a journalist?

Worried, Julie did what any concerned family member might well do, she picked up the phone and called DVT expert Geoffrey Westrich, MD, an orthopedic surgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City, who has published more than 20 studies on DVT prevention. The good doctor reassured her that mom was ailing with shingles, not DVT.

Would Dr. Westrich have taken Julie's call if Julie were not an influential health journalist? Perhaps. Perhaps not.

When Bob Schieffer took the stage earlier this week at the Grand Ole Opry and sang to an appreciative, invitation-only crowd comprised of many journalists in town to cover the Presidential debate, he fulfilled a long-held dream.

"Can I say something I've wanted to say all my life?" Schieffer asked the receptive crowd. "I'm Bob Schieffer, and I'm proud to be on the Grand Ole Opry!"

Schieffer's performance, sandwiched between country and western stars Trisha Yearwood and Brad Paisley, is an experience that I'm certain many tens of thousands of other Americans would also enjoy. But they aren't journalists, so they might as well forget it.

Does being a journalist imbue one with the right to accept what is offered strictly by dint of one's chosen profession? Schieffer was not at the Grand Ole Opry to report a first-person story on singing there. He is, after all, not CBS's music correspondent.

No, Schieffer used his journalism renown to buy himself an experience with a currency not available to the bulk of his viewers.

Was it okay for Schieffer to accept the invitation to perform when it has nothing to do with his editorial duties, but everything to do with the stature his job affords him? Is it okay for a restaurant reviewer to use her position to get a hard-to-get table, when she has no plans to review the restaurant? Is it acceptable for financial journalists to take their children to special screenings of soon-to-be-released films, when those children don't have a byline and could never get in if mom or pop weren't a journalist?

A number of years back, Gina Boyd, a reporter working for me, interviewed Robert Thomson, now managing editor of The Wall Street Journal. At the time, Robert was the U.S. managing editor of The Financial Times and seen frequently on national television.

Gina asked him if all the television exposure and recognition ever goes to his head. Robert replied: "I think you have to be careful. One of the things you learn in Australia is to take the piss out of yourself. You have to be self-effacing. Or otherwise, you lose your way. And if you don't have your bearings, in whatever you do, you won't do it well."

Well, I don't know whether Bob Schieffer, Julia Bain, and hundreds like them have failed to take the piss out of themselves or not.

But I do know that journalists, as a bunch, are not held in the high and noble esteem that they should be, and I believe one of the reasons is that they mistake the importance of their jobs for self importance.

"It" means accepting any perk, no matter how trivial or lacking in pecuniary value, that is offered to you that wouldn't be offered just as willingly to the lowliest of your viewers or readers.

I do not ascribe good motives to anyone who facilitates the wishes of a journalist, unless those needs are clearly and openly related to the immediate performance of that journalist's job.

Medill's Richard Hainey

At best, such facilitators are suck ups. At worst, they are dolling out well-disguised bribes for which they expect to collect at a future date. And any journalist who accepts is a co-conspirator.

One of my journalism school professors and mentors, the late Richard Hainey, used to lecture us at Northwestern University about being seduced by journalism's perks and privileges. Like Robert Thomson, he warned us in sometimes colorful language about those who might dangle goodies in front of us, be they gifts, meals or experiences unavailable to others.

Professor Hainey might have liked to sing at the Grand Ole Opry (though I doubt it) or to harvest the best medical minds anytime a family member took ill. But he never would have done it.

No. In his best inimical editor's voice, Professor Hainey would have told anyone who offered him a chance to sing along with Trisha and Brad exactly where they should shove "it." Would that more journalists follow suit!

PR: A Game You Can't Win Playing By the Rules

Dean Rotbart — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 14:40:46 GMT

Being nice doesn't work. Being honest is only rewarded, if you say something that is honestly shocking. Asking for fairness is silly. Behaving the way you'd like your competition to behave may get you into heaven, but it won't get you on television.

These are just a few of the many public relations insights I've garnered by observing the profession for more than 20 years. Here are some more that have been in my view of late....

On a scale of 1-10, with five being the truth as you see it and each integer up being the truth "magnified" exponentially, then those who get the most media coverage pitch journalists stories that are 9s and 10s. They don't lie. They just lead with their strongest argument and then magnify it until the media can't ignore it.

When CEOs and PR people tell me "the story" they wish to get press coverage for, I can pretty quickly map for them where the 9s and 10s of their particular tale lie. The visceral reaction I usually get is, "but that is such a simplification" or "that's a gross exaggeration." Exactly. Fives don't get noticed. Tens do.

Here is the formula: Find a message. Your message. Trim it to its core. Your core. Then re-inflate it until it moves from a 5 to a 10. That is, if you want publicity.

Lots of CEOS and PR people think they want publicity, but they want it on their terms. Won't happen. The media have too much to do to bother with stories that can't rise to the top of newsworthy scale. If you won't make your story exciting, reporters and editors certainly won't do it for you.

I really don't know if there is such a thing as 'absolute truth.' But I can tell you this: Those individuals who play by the rules of media relations lose or lose almost always. To win, you have to be willing to play the media relations game the way it really works. Not how you wish it worked.

What's Wrong with WSJ. Magazine Cover?

Dean Rotbart — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 17:53:47 GMT

It's a businessman's fantasy: Sexy model Diana Dondoe clad only in recent editions of The Wall Street Journal that have been contoured to fit her sumptuous figure by none other than fashion bad-boy designer Roland Mouret.

Okay, so forget about the printer's ink that Diana no doubt later had to shower off will a Brillo pad and the fact that the dress couldn't be very perspiration friendly.

What really kills the fantasy for newsroom junkies such as me is the fact that the bylines appearing on Diana's dress are outdated. In fact, Jackie Calmes, featured on the front-page story that adorns Diana's left should (along with June Kronholtz) now writes for The New York Times and hasn't graced the pages of the Journal since June of this year.

Other discernible bylines on the cover of WSJ. magazine include:

Suzanne Craig -- precariously close to Diana's left breast.

Valerie Bauerlein and David Enrich -- folded over Diana's heart.

(Article dated June 3, 2008 on the forced departure of Wachovia Corp. CEO G. Kennedy Thompson.)

Monica Langley, deputy Washington bureau chief -- whose bylines is punctuated by Diana's right...um....nipple.

Sarah McBride -- barely visible adorning Diana's right shoulder.

Two of the articles visible on Mouret's dress clearly focus on Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama.

Celebrities Unplugged: A Few Unrehearsed Moments wth Will Ferrell and Minnie Driver

Dean Rotbart — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 12:09:55 GMT

WHO ARE THEY: Strangers on a Plane, Faces in a Crowd, The Driver in the Rear-View Mirror?

I suppose that living in Los Angeles, I should expect to have that periodic encounter with a genuine celebrity. Yet each time I do, I'm wowed by the convergence of circumstances that must take place in order to put me and some famous entertainer, business leader or politician in the exact same location at the exact same time.

Yesterday my wife and I were running late, rushing to an appointment in a multi-story Beverly Hills office building located a brief stroll from Rodeo Drive. We both boarded an elevator only to realize we didn't know what floor our meeting was on, so we made a hasty exit to consult the building directory.

Scurrying into the next elevator we joined a single occupant, standing along the back wall at the far left, humming to himself. "We've seen a few of your movies," I said casually, trying to distance myself from the ordinary star-struck fan. "Our whole family is a big fan."

This is true.

A Chance Encounter: Will and Talya

A year earlier, I, my wife and our two kids made a day of it standing in line and waiting endlessly as movie extras, just so we could watch Will Ferrell film Semi-Pro in a mock stadium constructed near Chavez Ravine, not far from where the Los Angeles Dodgers play baseball. At the time, the closest we got to Ferrell was row 135A.

Now we are standing alone with the movie star and Saturday Night Live alum in a closed elevator. He is my captive audience. At least for another 15-30 seconds until the elevator deposits him on the next floor. (We got off with him and he kindly and warmly agreed to pose for a picture with my wife.)

Coincidentally, it's not been a week since my kids and I were standing in the checkout line at a Malibu coffee shop and I glanced over to recognize a very pregnant Minnie Driver paying for her order in the adjoining line. Like Will -- (having shared that elevator moment I'm now on a first-name basis with him) -- Minnie seemingly went unrecognized by others. Either that, or the Malibu crowd was just too cool (jaded?) to acknowledge her.


The paparazzi were so focused here...	...they missed Minnie and her pooch

As we watched Minnie leave the shop and recover her dog -- which had waited obediently outdoors for her return, we found it funny that 100 yards away a swarm of paparazzi were waiting to catch a glimpse of some lesser-light models who were doing a promotional gig for some cosmetic or fashion designer. They were oblivious to Minnie, who wasn't wearing makeup and was quite unplugged from the usual celebrity trappings.

Beyond Will and Minnie, in the past year I've been at a urinal at LAX when TV and movie star Craig T. Nelson pulled into the stall at my left; sat behind legendary Cleveland Brown's football star Jim Brown on a flight from Newark to LA;

Even the 'Hulk' can't hurry the luggage

browsed for magazines at a newsstand with 3rd Rock from the Sun's John Lithgow, and waited to retrieve my luggage with Lou Ferrigno, who played the Hulk on the 1966 television series.

Actually, my most memorable celebrity encounter of late came about six months back when driving on Los Angeles' congested surface streets. I glanced into my rear view mirror only to see that I was being followed closely by Hugh Laurie, aka Dr. Gregory House. Dr. House, em...Hugh Laurie, was driving a vintage two-seat red Porsche and glaring at me as if I were responsible for the miserable traffic.

I'm a regular fan and viewer of House M.D., so it was both exciting and a little eerie to think that for a few exhaust-fume filled minutes, House and I were bonded in inconvenience.

Besides giving me the opportunity to let you know how many cool celebs I've spotted, I was motivated to write this post because of a thought I had after sitting with (okay, near) Jim Brown on a plane, and then again when we ran into Will Ferrell yesterday.

I recognized these celebrities and struck up conversations with them. Being inquisitive and I hope friendly, I regularly strike up conversations with people on planes and in elevators who I don't recognize.

Hugh Laurie, in the red Porsche at right, got
tired following me and eventually passed.

But most people don't. My plane flights and elevator rides are typically marked by encounters with silent strangers who not only never engage me, more often than not they look vexed when I nonchalantly engage them. What a missed opportunity.

The next time you fly or find yourself alone in an elevator with a stranger, ask yourself, 'Who is this unrecognized celebrity?'

Maybe she's not a movie star, but perhaps she is an awesome 5th grade school teacher. Or a cardiosurgeon? Or an expert on mid-evil art? Or the spouse of the Governor of Montana. Or an heiress. How much do you risk by striking up a conversation?

All of us - whether we live near Hollywood or not -- have unplugged encounters with genuine celebrities everyday. Most of the time, we just don't know it.

Also See: My Lunch with Tom Hanks

Walter Tittle: Writer, Sketch Artist, Bon Vivant!

Dean Rotbart — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 08:23:10 GMT

By Maxwell Rotbart

I am a 21st century blogger who recently searched for my name on Google to see how many results show up.

A modest four websites mention me. I then entered the name Walter Tittle, a virtuoso from the first half of the 20th century who is not very well known today. (He is so little known that I was able to purchase www.waltertittle.com for six dollars and eighty-five cents, before fees.) Much to my astonishment, his name appears on 4,370 websites picked up by Google. Not bad for a man who died well before Al Gore invented the Internet.

I first stumbled upon Tittle's name after reading an article (Personalities in a Parisian Salon: More Portraits in Pencil and Pen) that he wrote in 1925 for Century Magazine. In the article, Tittle speaks of the different social graces among the "Anglos" and all other cultures (namely the French). I was fascinated by how vividly he depicts the streets of Paris.

At one point, Tittle describes the Marquis de Castellane, a guest at a Parisian party, in the following terms:

"He is still quite handsome, with his patrician cast of features and exceedingly erect carriage; his salient chest suggests military training, and his blond hair is still worn high, though time has thinned it considerably.

He was clad in light tweeds, with white boutonnikre and kerchief in evidence, the note being repeated by white spats, which he always wears. He had a bulldog in leash, smart with its curious clown-like ruff of heavy leather trimmed with monkey fur, and the frantic greetings between it and Mme. Carolus-Duran's dog, one of the same litter, stopped all conversation temporarily and threatened the physical equilibrium of guests and furniture alike."

And yet, despite Tittle's artistic and unique compositions, he is best remembered by the sketches and portraits he drew.

Tittle was born in Springfield, Ohio in 1883 at a time when Chester A. Arthur was President, and impressionist Claude Monet (1840-1926) still was decades away from painting his Water-lilies series. Tittle married Neva Smith in 1932, and they had two children, both boys.

Tittle studied under art legends Robert Henri and William Chase, and came to sketch celebrities such as Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford, as well as four US Presidents (William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson, Calvin Coolidge, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt).

In fact, Tittle met with FDR so many times that Tittle published a book in 1948, Roosevelt As An Artist Saw Him, containing the transcripts of his conversations with the 32nd President.

Perhaps Tittle is most famous for his portraits of British author, Joseph Conrad, and Rear Admiral Richard Byrd, the first man to reach the North Pole.

Although Tittle spent much of his life in New York and Connecticut, he moved to Pacific Grove, California in his later years, dying at a nursing home there on March 27, 1966. Despite the fact that Tittle is no longer well known in the United States, the portraits he drew of this country's leaders remain classics in the art world.

Eyewitness Heaven: What Do You Think the Almighty Had to Say to Leona Helmsley?

Dean Rotbart — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:32:33 GMT

I would like to be the heavenly correspondent who witnessed Leona Helmsley when she went to meet her maker last year, at the age of 87.

I doubt that He would probe her deeply about her 1989 conviction on federal income tax evasion or even on her haughty disposition when it came to employees and others less fortunate than she.

But I do think the Almighty would have some important questions on why Mrs. Helmsley wrote indigent people out of her $5 billion to $8 billion will in favor of directing that all the money go to the care and welfare of dogs.

No doubt Mrs. Helmsley loved canines and no doubt dogs deserve our respect for their companionship and loyalty. But I seriously doubt that God has the kind of sense of humor that would appreciate Mrs. Helmsley's total disregard for the good her funds -- which she earned by the grace of God -- could do for two-legged humanity.

Perhaps, in our capitalistic system, we have no right to tell the über rich how they should allocate their estates. Perhaps. But I doubt that heaven shares our free-enterprise sensibilities.

No, my suspicion is that all her money did not buy Mrs. Helmsley a first-class ticket to eternal bliss. Quite the contrary, if there is justice in the afterlife, she will be spending eternity picking up after the canines she was so devoted to in her mortal life.

Making the Routine Extraordinary: Wall Street Journal Karen Richardson

Dean Rotbart — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 16:10:55 GMT

Writing a stock market column for the Monday edition of a business newspaper always requires a certain amount of creative imagination. A journalist can't really report on what happened during the previous (Friday) trading session -- that's old news -- and how much can one freshly forecast about the upcoming Monday morning trading session? By the time most readers crack open their Monday morning financial dailies, the markets will have rendered moot any forecasts anyway.

So that is why I always teach my public relations clients that one way to help measure how savvy a financial columnist is, is by reading his or her Monday morning offering. Based on that formula alone, I think The Wall Street Journal's Karen Richardson is one sharp scribe.

Her most recent Ahead of the Tape column, on Monday, June 9, is a fine piece of financial journalism. Karen points out that so far every all-star private equity or sovereign-wealth fund that has ponied up billions of dollars to bolster distressed U.S. financial institutions has watched a serious portion of their balance sheet evaporate.

In Where Will U.S. Banks Beg Next?, Richardson notes that rescues from Corsair Capital, TPG, Temasek Holdings, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, China Investment Corp. and Warburg Pincus have left all would-be heroes with a lighter wallet.

"Given the performance of these investments so far, how much worse does it have to get before pension trustees and university endowments and the top-tier private-equity firms they back ask whether it makes sense to keep doing this?" Richardson asks. "How long before rich overseas funds stop giving cash to Wall Street firms that lose their money?"

Those are good, insightful questions and ones investors and securities firm executives need to weigh. If the A-team funds do get wary, Richardson suggests State investment funds in less politically 'pc' places such as Algeria, Angola, Libya and Zimbabwe may be the only true alternative.

"Selling stakes to funds of authoritarian or unstable regimes in frontier markets doesn't quite mesh with Wall Street's lofty image of itself," Richardson concludes. "But it created this mess, and beggars can't be choosers."

Now that is just plain, good writing!

Time to Give CNBC's Dennis Kneale His Own Show

Dean Rotbart — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 13:50:32 GMT

Memo: Roger Ailes, Fox Business News and Mark Hoffman, CNBC

Subject: What Are You Guys Waiting For?

Perhaps the two of you über news craftsmen didn't get the memo, so I'm resending it. Step up and give Dennis Kneale, currently Media and Technology Editor at CNBC, his own show.

Dennis is bright, funny, telegenic (he's gotten better having traveled from the print world) and enthusiastic. He used to be managing editor at savvy Forbes and before that was a top editor at The Wall Street Journal. So he's not only entertaining, he knows business and financial news.

When Dennis joined CNBC in October 2007, Jonathan Wald, CNBC senior vice president for business news, said it himself: "He's one of the best connected journalists in the business."

Although Dennis started out with media and technology as his core beats, he's expanded that role significantly -- and now is a go-to commentator on every variety of business and economic story from early morning to late night. He's often showing up on Kudlow & Company and periodically hosts the show when Larry is off.

Dennis gets it wrong sometimes and he gets it right a whole lot of the time. Is that any different than Jim 'Mad Money' Cramer? What I like so much about Dennis are his reportorial skills and his willingness to bare-knuckle fight with anyone and everyone who disagrees with him. CEOs and other reporters get no slack from Dennis.

When Dennis used to show up regularly on Forbes on Fox, he was impossible not to watch. Just the kind of host television networks covet.

I suspect the question of whether or not to place a bet on Dennis has crossed both your minds. Perhaps you think he needs a little bit more on-camera seasoning. Perhaps. But having watched the best and the worst on both your respected networks, I am convinced that Dennis is already closer to the top than the bottom.

So get with it gentlemen. One of you needs to give Dennis his own show. And I'd say better hurry. Business news is not the only venue where Dennis could thrive. The other news networks, without a doubt, could use a journalist of Dennis' caliber, too.

See: Dennis Kneale's NewsBios Home Page

See: NewsBios

H.C. Chatfield-Taylor's Coverage of the World's Columbian Exposition

Dean Rotbart — Fri, 30 May 2008 18:48:37 GMT

At a used book store the other day I picked up a hardbound copy of The Century Magazine from 1925 and found within it a wealth of early 20th century journalism -- most of it lost to the dusty stacks of libraries and their microfiche rooms.

H.C. Chatfield-Taylor in 1897

One article that was too good to let lie in obscurity is When the World Came to Chicago, a reminiscence by Hobart C. Chatfield-Taylor of his time spent as a host of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition held in Chicago. The great fair drew 27 million visitors, including some real characters who Chatfield-Taylor saw up close.

Anyone who loves Chicago and especially anyone who loves its rich literary and art history, really will enjoy reading this 83-year-old feature. It includes mentions as well of local and national politicians, doyennes, and actors.

I was particularly struck by the timelessness of a letter that Chatfield-Taylor quoted written to him in 1891 by Eugene Field, the essayist and children's author. Field, after whom many public schools in Illinois and Missouri have been named, served as editor of the defunct Denver Tribune for two years.

"If you intend to follow writing as a profession, you must cultivate your skin until it becomes hide - the hide of a pachyderm," Field told Chatfield-Taylor. "I believe it is better to be antagonized than to be patronized. Go right along doing the best work of which you are capable and you are bound to succeed in spite of the ill will of some people. There are in the midst of us many who, incapable of ambitious endeavor, themselves, envy and hate those who do try to do somewhat and to be somebody. Do not let these creatures worry you. After a while they will be only too glad to fawn upon you."

Sadly, Field died in November 1895 at the age of 44 and Chatfield-Taylor served as one of his pallbearers.

Bob Dole Calls Scott McClellan a 'Miserable Creature,' 'Weasel,' and 'A Total Ingrate'

Dean Rotbart — Fri, 30 May 2008 12:51:01 GMT

Hurray for former Senator Robert Dole, who doesn't mince words in his email (below) to former First Spokesman, Scott McClellan.

===============

Scott,

There are miserable creatures like you in every administration who don't have the guts to speak up or quit if there are disagreements with the boss or colleagues. No, your type soaks up the benefits of power, revels in the limelight for years, then quits, and spurred on by greed, cashes in with a scathing critique.

In my nearly 36 years of public service I've known of a few like you. No doubt you will "clean up" as the liberal anti-Bush press will promote your belated concerns with wild enthusiasm. When the money starts rolling in you should donate it to a worthy cause, something like, "Biting The Hand That Fed Me." Another thought is to weasel your way back into the White House if a Democrat is elected. That would provide a good set up for a second book deal in a few years.

I have no intention of reading your "exposé" because if all these awful things were happening, and perhaps some may have been, you should have spoken up publicly like a man, or quit your cushy, high profile job. That would have taken integrity and courage but then you would have had credibility and your complaints could have been aired objectively. You're a hot ticket now but don't you, deep down, feel like a total ingrate?

BOB DOLE

Scott McClellan Shames the PR Profession

Dean Rotbart — Fri, 30 May 2008 08:29:14 GMT

The public relations profession should be outraged by former White House press secretary Scott McClellan and his newly awakened sense of righteousness.

As spokesman for the President, McClellan served effectively as First Spokesman, the most visible and most influential public relations practitioner in the world. That he would stand daily at the pressroom briefing podium and espouse a position that he, himself, came to disbelieve and then wait to act upon it until he had the time to write and publish a book is inexcusable.

Too many people already think that the public relations profession is a polite form of prostitution – that is, we’ll say just about anything for money. Now McClellan comes along and confirms our critics’ worst suspicions.

For the record, McClellan is NOT worthy of the designation of spokesman or public relations professional. There is nothing professional about his abuse of his former position of trust to enrich his own career and bank account by betraying those who trusted him and were led by him to believe that he shared their values.

When President Gerald R. Ford pardoned Richard Nixon, Ford’s press secretary, Jerald F. terHorst resigned in protest. Which reflected well on the PR profession. Ms. terHorst told Associated Press this week that she believes “it’s unethical to carry our a job and then turn around and kiss and tell.”

I couldn’t agree more.

As a media relations consultant, I’ve encountered more than my fair share of corporate scoundrels. When I see that my clients lack the kind of ethics and standards that behoove good corporate citizens, I quietly resign.

Sure, I could then turn around and issue a news release highlighting what scum I had worked for. But I believe as a profession – just like lawyers, accountants, and physicians – PR executives are entrusted with client confidences that they must never betray – short of being compelled to do so by court order.

Really, what McClellan should have done if he had any loyalty, professionalism or ethics whatsoever was to strongly and privately argue his position to members of the Bush administration. He was more likely to change the Administration’s viewpoint from the inside – if his aspirations were noble -- than two years later hawking his book on the Today Show as a disgruntled and morally ambiguous former spokesman.

Writing on the subject, AP’s Deb Riechmann noted “presidential spokesmen traditionally have worn cloaks of loyalty to their graves.” Which is how it should be.

In this case, McClellan wore it only to his professional grave. For while I know that some will defend his actions and others will hire him for his experience and insights, in my mind he is stone cold dead as a communications professional.

In my mind, anything he does from this point forward is just intellectual prostitution, gussied up to look legitimate.

A 'Grimm' Welcome to the Society of Manufacturing Engineers RAPID 2008 Conference

Dean Rotbart — Thu, 29 May 2008 09:27:37 GMT

This post was originally published on the Low-Volume Manufacturers Association web site: www.l-vma.org.

I plan to continue to probe my "welcome" and try to better understand what turf Todd is so anxious to protect.

===========================================

Orlando (May 22, 2008): In his official pictures Todd A. Grimm of T.A. Grimm & Associates looks so friendly. He has a warm smile and an earnest disposition. So I was taken by surprise this morning when I went up to Todd to introduce myself face-to-face and discovered a less smiley facade.

Grim, indeed, was Todd's assessment of me and the Low-Volume Manufacturers Association, which I founded and work for as a volunteer. Todd told me flat out -- just an instant or two before he turned his back on me and walked away -- that he views me as "the competition" and doesn't like my style of business.

Fair enough. Todd is entitled to pick and choose who he associates with and if he doesn't want to speak with me it is his option.

The one nit I have to pick, however, is with the fact that Todd also is a senior representative of the SME's RAPID conference and Vice Chairman of its RTAM community. Indeed, next year, Todd will become chairman of the RTAM community steering committee.

Will he choose not to speak to anyone he competes with or anyone who competes with those he consults with during his tenure? I wasn't approaching Todd because I wanted his rapid prototyping consulting and marketing services. I approached him because I wanted to greet him as a highly regarded leader of SME's RTAM. (Indeed, Todd was honored as one of this year's keynote speakers.)

Todd can tell you directly what his problem is with me and L-VMA. You may agree with his views or may not. But as best as I can ascertain, he is most concerned that I may one day find a way to make money from my work with the L-VMA. Not that he, as a respected RTAM leader, makes any money from the high visibility his volunteer work for the group brings him!

In all trade associations I've been affiliated with in the past, the fact that one member competes with another is not grounds for an official snub. I do wonder how Todd can justify this unusual position and who else he has blown off in his role as a RTAM leader because he doesn't approve of their style of doing business?

What do you think is the likelihood that RTAM will give me a speaking opportunity at a future RAPID conference so long as my "competitor" is in charge of the community and won't even stand still to speak with me?

Officially, I am a paid member of SME and don't think it right to be excluded because I may -- at least in Todd's view -- compete with him. Tough.

Douglas B. Mitchell, who currently chairs RTAM and works for Ford, seems to have no problem working alongside Thomas A. Sorovetz of Chrysler in a civil fashion. Why would Todd treat me any differently?

Todd, who provided me a telephone interview for L-VMA some months back, told me he went so far as to call SME members he knows and speak poorly of me and L-VMA, suggesting that somehow I am up to no good. I pointed out that I did free PR for him and promoted his interview without charge -- an offer I extend to any company or individual in the RAPID industry. (Does T.A. Grimm & Associates make a similar free offer for its marketing services?)

Todd would have none of this. Even as I asked him to recall how much I invoiced him for my work on his behalf -- a big fat zero -- he just skulked away.

More about Todd and his consultancy in the coming days.

Photo: Todd A. Grimm by Dean Rotbart

Airlines to Install Pay Toilets to Help Bolster Bottom Line

Dean Rotbart — Sun, 25 May 2008 07:33:53 GMT

Beverly Hills, CA -- In the effort to bolster their bottom lines, some air carriers have begun to charge passengers extra to check their baggage. In the spirit of giving, this site's editors have devised some other steps the beleaguered air carriers might test in order to offset the rising costs of fuel.

"Not everyone who flies needs the bathroom in-flight, so why should everyone on board have to pay," asks HopelessUtopian.com. Instead, the website suggests the airlines could install credit card swipe devices on each toilet stall, allowing passengers to be charged a minute-to-minute rate depending upon usage.

A second popular idea on the HopelessUtopian.com site is to charge extra for experienced pilots. "Just as better hitters in baseball get paid more, those pilots with more experience are worth more than those who just emerged from flight-training school," HopelessUtopian.com writes. "If you want a pilot who knows what to do in an emergency, you should be willing to pay more. It's kind of like life insurance: some people want a lot, some only a little, and others none at all."

The editors at HopelessUtopian.com fielded numerous related suggestions from their readers. Among other frequent suggestions: Charge extra for fat customers and pregnant flyers; make seat belts a paid amenity just like headphones; create seated and non-seat sections on board, charging more for those who don't wish to stand the entire time; make passengers pay extra for on-time departures; and offer bus service for those who can't afford to actually lift off.

In recent years, the airlines have struggled to remain viable, fighting to offset rising fuel prices, stricter security measures, and record new levels of flight attendant dissatisfaction and surliness. Since air transportation is vital to the global economy, HopelessUtopian.com said it believes consumers must carry a larger share of the responsibility for corporate mismanagement and lack of vision.

"Why should airlines take it upon themselves to operate with more efficiency and imagination when their passengers are a captive audience upon whom they can push pretty much any absurd idea?" HopelessUtopian.com asks. Indeed, the web sites thinks the airlines may well serve as role models for other cash-strapped industries, such as hospitals. "Would you like your surgery with (extra cost) or without anesthesia?" may indeed be the next question we all hear.

There Is a World Outside the Media Snow Globe

Dean Rotbart — Fri, 16 May 2008 06:37:25 GMT

It sure is chilly in here. Perpetually gloomy in fact. From where I sit, I see a world in which a large percentage of the population is anti-business and believes that government and increased government regulation is the best answer to the ordeal of their lives.

To this vocal group, life is an ordeal. The planet is overheating due to greedy energy companies. Their health is diminishing due to conspiratorial fast food and pharmaceutical companies. Their right to Internet access is threatened by Internet Service Providers who are not willing to lose money to deliver more high-definition pornography to them. Their privacy - both online and off - has been sold to the highest bidder. And their tea is cold.

These whiners and malcontents, like bacteria, thrive in the enclosed world of the blogosphere, where fresh air and logic are about as jarring as a large meteorite crashing through our planetary atmosphere.

Forget for a moment that their presumptions and facts are warped at best, downright sick at worst. This is a wonderful time - perhaps the greatest time ever - to be alive, and a large part of that thanks rests with the very businesses that these bellyachers disdain.

Their blog posts come courtesy of the ISPs they revile. The furnaces and air conditioners that keep them comfy are delivered via the energy companies they pummel. Those extra pounds around their waists are due to the fact that we live in a marketplace of plenty. What they know of the world - news, music, entertainment, etc. are all provided on demand from the companies they so much enjoy pillaring.

All of this would be laughable - a small brigade of Archie Bunkers in the 21st century - but for the fact that the mainstream media (who never could resist a good sound bite) pay these ne'er-do-wells attention and bestow upon them a veneer of credibility.

Now, the inmates run the asylum.

The mainstream media, forgetting that they are the ones who propped up these faultfinders in the first place, begin to quote them in their stories and link back to their blogs. Opportunists in all walks of life - but especially politicians - seize upon this as evidence that more government and, in particular, their brand of government is urgently needed.

The media write about the politicians, the blogosphere writes about the media, the politicians quote the media who quote the politicians who mimic the blogosphere. Bad enough.

But the worst of this is that the companies who are the targets of all this mythmaking themselves begin to buy into the fantasy world. They become defensive (which is natural). Companies know what the media say about them is often untrue, yet when snowglobers rant about a potential vendor or business partner, many companies become wary of getting too cozy with another company that has run afoul of the blogosphere.

Soon, the companies are playing by and responding to the rules of the snow globe, rather than recognizing the process for the absurd, insulated, isolated, deliberately manipulative universe that it is.

Inside the snow globe, at least for business, it is always snowy. That is the nature of snow globes.

That leaves businesses two very clear choices. Play by the rules of the snowglobers and submit to their tariffs - no matter how illogical. Or make your decisions based not upon the over-inflated views of the few and concentrate instead on the needs, opinions and wishes of the vast majority of people who pay zero attention to the snow globe.

In the outside world, where fresh air and reality are in abundance, this is -- to steal a quote from George Bailey -- a wonderful life.

Milken Institute's Global Conference 2008: Market Movers by Felix Salmon

Dean Rotbart — Wed, 07 May 2008 17:30:20 GMT

I like the rules Portfolio.com's über-blogger, Felix Salmon plays by. Basically, as Felix views it, among those who are pure bloggers, there are no rules. Anything goes.

"Blogging is not a craft which is honored by the good bloggers and sullied by the bad," Felix writes in a May 7th post responding to a proposal I floated. "It's a medium, a conversation, a babble. Its very variety is its strength."

Or, as I see it, its undoing.

On Felix's Internet, bloggers' only obligation is to themselves and possibly to their readers and/or sponsors. He is not alone in that view.

Portfolio.com Blogger Felix Salmon at Milken

On our Econobloggers panel at the 2008 Milken Institute Global Conference, Paul Kedrosky was real clear in stating more than once that he doesn't care who reads his blog, whether they like it, whether they act on it, or anything about them. Reciting the bloggers anthem, Paul says he writes for an audience of one, himself.

Frankly, I think that is double bunk. If he is the only one he cares to please, why not keep a personal journal or a diary? Why bother to vomit your views on the world wide web?

I offered to Felix a proposal to set some standards for econobloggers and even help fund a non-profit group to encourage and recognize the best econobloggers. Felix thinks the idea sucks.

Okay.

His view is that I'd push to honor journalist-like bloggers: "the ones with disclosure and accountability, the ones without gossip and rumor and snark." Ah yes, the three virtues of the blogosphere -- gossip, rumor and snark. What was I thinking?

Look, there is room in the world for The Economist and for the National Enquirer. And, yes, once in awhile, the NE actually gets a scoop that turns out to be factual, although its batting average is far from major league.

Still, I think the public -- especially the investing public, will only have an appetite for the National Blogging Enquirer for so long. There is only so much gossip, rumor and snark that anyone can willingly consume without some solid intellectual nutrition to go along with it.

Economic thought and reporting has needed a livelier delivery for a long time. And the bloggers out there have enlivened the dialogue to great effect. Yet some of what I read, in fact much of what I read, is all snark and no substance.

If the blogospher is a medium, a conversation and a babble, over time it has to be a number of additional things: pertinent, informative, factual (sorry, Felix) and accountable (double sorry, Felix).

You can go to a dinner party and be amused by the slightly inebriated guest who speaks of his financial and sexual conquests. He is certainly more lively than the staid insurance salesman. But after a steady diet month in and month out of hearing about the lush's financial and sexual adventures, I think most people will grow wary. Especially when the boaster shows up night after night in shabby, worn clothes and no date.

There are far more examples in the old dead-tree world of journalism of financially successful credible news organizations than their are of gossip rags such as the National Enquirer. There is a reason for this. The marketplace votes with its wallet and its feet. Over time, serious, well-researched, accountable writing (dare I say 'journalism') has won out repeatedly over gossip, rumor and snark.

There is room in the world for a Matt Drudge. There is room for a National Enquirer and for a Paul Kedrosky. But those shoes are filled. In the inevitable shakeout that will come down the road, most bloggers will go back to keeping journals or shooting the breeze at their neighborhood watering hole. Only quality will survive. And my offer to help nurture those quality blogs and bloggers stands.

I hope Felix will reconsider my invitation to be a part of this movement, although I know that he won't.

Milken Institute's Global Conference 2008: Infectious Greed's Paul Kedrosky

Dean Rotbart — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 09:50:07 GMT

I met blogger Paul Kedrosky face-to-face for the first time yesterday, just before he appeared on a panel I moderated at the 2008 Milken Institute Global Conference.

The panel was titled Econobloggers: Real-Time Information and Analysis From the Keyboard Next Door and Paul was a most appropriate expert, given the large following he has attracted for his Infectious Greed blog. Paul likes to stress in his official bios that he is "a sought after media personality" and no wonder, he is articulate, outspoken, even charming.

But he is, in my opinion, also dangerous.

Paul is one of many econobloggers who build audiences by opining on topics with great zest, but not always great knowledge.

On our panel, Paul stressed more than once that he writes Infectious Greed for an audience of one: him. He maintains that he doesn't really care who reads his blog, how they use it, or whether it lives up to anyone's standards other than his own.

Perhaps that is why he is comfortable passing off hearsay (the polite word for gossip) as worthy of repetition, such as when he called for the firing of Microsoft's Steve Balmer on April 28th, citing Balmer's handling of the Yahoo! bid and relations with Jerry Yang as evidence.

Fair enough, everyone loves a critic and Paul is better than most. That Paul's extensive bio does not give rise to believing that he knows better than Microsoft's board what kind of leaders the company needs now is only a trivial point. Paul told the panel that much of his call to oust Ballmer was his own ranting - not anything he expected the world to take action upon.

It's what Paul wrote elsewhere in his same blog post that unsettles me: "The insider-ish sources I have say that while bankers are still fitfully running up some hours, on Sunday Ballmer and Yang still hadn't spoken in weeks -- and doing a deal will requires (sic) those two to get over one another."

The first part of that sentence isn't opinion. It is either true -- Ballmer and Yang have not spoken in weeks, or it is not true. No perspective needed there.

I questioned Paul on this and you might want to view his answer, as well as the supportive comments of fellow panel members who think that such gossip has a place in the blogosphere. Their oft-cited proof is Matt Drudge, who frequently gets scoops by daring to print gossip that later turns out to have merit. (What we don't hear about as often is all the gossip Drudge and other bloggers publish that later turns out to be utter rubbish.)

Bloggers aren't mainstream financial journalists and my panel of bloggers argued consistently that the world needs both. I remain unpersuaded.

I believe the greatest benefit financial bloggers offer is to express well-reasoned opinion based upon demonstrable logic and facts. I think it is valuable to hear why one smart observer thinks Ballmer should be ousted, even if that observer has not run his/her own mega-giant company and even if I don't share his/her opinion.

Where I fail to find the value is in taking shortcuts with the facts and fact-gathering. Paul knows the unlikelihood that either Ballmer or Yang will bother to correct him if his sources are ill-informed, so he is safe in pretty much passing along any such unsubstantiated information.

Maybe readers of Infectious Greed and other econoblogs know to take such "facts" with a large grain of salt. Maybe. But I am old-fashioned in that respect. I still prefer my facts unsalted.

Milken Institute Global Conference 2008: Watching CNBC's Maria Bartiromo Work

Dean Rotbart — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 07:23:47 GMT

BEVERLY HILLS, CA -- At this year's Milken Institute Global Conference it is hard to miss the fact that CNBC's Maria Bartiromo is covering the event live. She is frequently on the air, interviewing high-powered speakers and attendees at the influential confab or just presenting and commenting on the day's unfolding events.

Like the vast majority of other prominent journalists covering the conference, Maria is a seasoned and savvy financial journalist who understands the financial markets and corporate America and can go mano-a-mano with the likes of Michael Milken, T. Boone Pickens, Steve Wynn and Eli Broad.

But Maria has talent and a skill-set that really towers over other journalists and she makes what she does look so easy that you really have to study her on the job to see how truly impressive she is.

What CNBC viewers see is Maria seated at an anchor desk in the Beverly Hilton Hotel. More often than not, the camera delivers a tight shot, which fills the screen with her and CNBC's various scrolling graphics and charts. When the camera does periodically pull back, one can see conference attendees walking to and fro, oblivious to her presence.

But the CNBC camera lies.

Maria is impossible to miss. Petite and coiffed, she sits at the center of a canyon of lights, teleprompters, cameras, computer banks and production crew members who make her live shots possible. They in turn are front-and-center in the lobby of the Beverly Hilton, right across from the main hotel registration desk; only feet from its main bank of elevators; and just a few more paces from the grand ballroom where lunch and intellectual protein are served.

People are taking Maria's picture. They are standing on the side and in front of her watching her work. They are also standing to her side and in front of her ignoring her, carrying on loud conversations on their cell phones and amongst themselves. In her ear is the audio link to producers back East, who yack at her constantly. Standing directly off camera is a field producer who is either yapping at her or delivering her cues using hand signals.

And in the midst of all this, Maria has to tune it all out and work as a quality journalist.

I contrast this to Andrew Ross Sorkin, the print and digital journalist who is covering the same conference for The New York Times. Andrew walks through the crowds and navigates his way in and out of sessions unnoticed by all but a few. He has no earphone yapper telling him how many seconds until he must again be smart and peppy. He can go off to a corner, unnoticed, and write and file his stories with virtually no interruptions.

I've always respected both Maria and Andrew as excellent journalists. But after watching them at the Milken conference, I must say that I respect both of them even more.

I respect Maria because I don't think I ever realized just how demanding live financial television journalism remains, despite all the technological advances of the past decade that now permit financial journalists to be on scene. That Maria can seize her focus out of the swirl around her and remain composed and articulate is truly amazing.

As for Andrew, well my respect for him also rose after watching him work. After all, he had the good sense to stay away from a multi-tasking job such as Maria's.

-- Dean Rotbart

Milken Institute Global Conference 2008: Media Turnout

Dean Rotbart — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 07:53:57 GMT

First journalist I ran into this morning is Andrew Ross Sorkin, the influential founder of The New York Times' DealBook site and newsfeed. This is Andrew's first Milken conference and an early indication of the way in which the annual Milken Institute Global Conference is increasingly attracting A-Team journalists, such as Andrew.


Top Left: Maria Bartiromo prepares for a live CNBC broadcast from the 2008 Milken Institute Global Conference. Top Right: Steve Forbes ready to go live as a guest on Fox Business Channel. Bottom Right: New York Times DealBook editor, Andrew Ross Sorkin, drafts a column in the Global Conference press room.

Andrew, who is based in New York and orchestrates the paper's M&A coverage, tells me he plans to be at the Milken conference for the full three-days -- a serious investment of his time. Truth be told, the conference is a "candy store" of sources for journalists who know how to work it. Besides what happens in the formal sessions, the opportunity to have so many influential sources and potential sources at your disposal is the payoff for journalists.

While the annual Davos conference is still a bigger magnet for top journalists, the Milken Institute Global Conference has many advantages, including that it is more intimate, there are more opportunities to get one-on-one with participants, and on top of all that, you get Beverly Hills.

Milken Institute Global Conference 2008: Opening Thoughts

Dean Rotbart — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 10:34:51 GMT

The 2008 Milken Institute Global Conference is underway and is already off to an impressive start. The annual Beverly Hills-based conference has grown in stature and size with each passing year.

Nobel Peace Prize Winner Muhammad Yunus (r) pauses to have his photo taken
with an unidentified registrant at the 2008 Milken Institute
Global Conference

This year's conference will feature CEOs, entrepreneurs, educators, elected officials, portfolio managers, journalists and an army of other influencers.

Having both covered the annual event as a journalist and participated in it as a moderator and speaker, it is rewarding to see this important conference continue to be a hotbed for new and innovative ideas. One of the great aspects of the conference is that it brings together thought leaders from many different public and private sectors who exchange insights and learn from one another.

Throughout this three-day conference I will continue to post thoughts and photos here.

Mercer Hotel in New York Doesn't Understand the Power of Word-of-Mouth

Dean Rotbart — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 20:23:18 GMT

When I do the math, I figure the Mercer Hotel in New York's Soho made at least a $50,000 mistake in mistreating me during my recent visit. Likely, the price will be much greater.

I had a bad experience at the hotel. Upon check in, I thought my week-long stay was prepaid and presented the hotel with a credit card to cover only incidental expenses. Through no fault of The Mercer Hotel, it turned out that my room had not been paid in advance, and when the hotel tried to charge my entire stay plus incidentals, my credit card company rejected the expense. (Had I known just how much the Mercer intended to 'block,' I would simply have used a card with a higher limit.)

None of that was a problem or should have been a problem. It was a simple misunderstanding.

Yet each time I tried to explain to the hotel's clerk that if I had known the Mercer Hotel was planning to charge the entire fee in advance to my card I would have used another card, she insisted that the hotel's actions were standard operating procedure and I should have been aware of it. She was not at all pleasant about it.

In fact, her tone with me was so rude that I immediately asked to speak with her supervisor. You see, I know from experience, that you can't hold an entire institution responsible for the attitude of a single employee. To my real surprise, the supervisor was no better. Indeed, the supervisor told me that she had overheard the employee's tone and found nothing wrong with it.

What was I to argue in response to that? That the supervisor is tone deaf?

So I asked the supervisor to have the hotel's general manager, Philip L. Truelove, contact me the next morning during regular business hours. I also sent him an email recapping my version of my exchanges with his employee and her supervisor. "There was a nice way for Angela to explain the hotel's actions and position and then their was the haughty way. I feel she chose the haughty way," I wrote.

The next day Mr. Truelove did not call me or stop up to personally apologize. Instead, he emailed me back saying that he had received no previous complaints about the employee in question (which must prove that my version was wrong). "It does surprise me that it was the case and it is the first time that anybody has commented in that way about Angela – many great comments but none about rudeness and unpleasantness," Mr. Truelove emailed.

He, nonetheless, offered to buy me and a guest dinner in the Mercer Hotel restaurant as a "gesture of goodwill."

A true gesture of goodwill would have been to offer me a face-to-face apology. I wasn't gunning for a free meal and I didn't accept his offer.

I found all three employees arrogant and rude. The hotel, I believe, is owned by Andre Balazs, who also owns the Chateau Marmont in Hollywood. I wonder if Mr. Balazs knows how the three employees I encountered are squandering his profits?

Here is my math. I won't ever stay at the Mercer Hotel again. As I told Mr. Truelove, I would have checked out immediately but for the fact that I had already arranged multiple business meetings at the hotel that I would have had to rearrange -- inconveniencing my guests, a colleague and me. But now that I've checked out, I've checked out for good.

My business alone will cost the hotel at least $50K in lost revenues over the next year or two. And the question then arises, how many other people who hear my story and read my reviews -- which I've begun posting on travel sites, will also opt out of the Mercer Hotel?

Maybe it doesn't matter. Maybe the Mercer Hotel is so successful and Mr. Balazs so rich that he need not concern himself with $50k here, $100k there. Maybe he, too, is willing to stand behind his employees, even if he doesn't have the facts in hand.

Or maybe, just maybe, it will all add up. Reputation is an art and subject to change. The Mercer Hotel could have stanched this with a simple, heartfelt apology from the employee, her supervisor or Mr. Truelove. Instead, it has given an incident that could easily have been forgotten a permanent life on the Internet.

It will be interesting to see just how far my complaint -- which went nowhere with Mr. Truelove and the hotel's personnel -- will travel on the Internet and beyond.

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TravelPost.com Review

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Mercer Hotel Has Perfected the Art of Rudeness

Rude, Arrogant, Overpriced

Fodor's: First Class Hotel; Third Class Service

Stay Away From the Mercer Hotel - Not at It!