Sell Yourself, Not the Deal: Marlene Waldock
The Great Stem Cell Debate Comes to Mercer: Nancy Duff
Passionate Workers Boost Productivity: Thomas Damman
PR Advice from a Self-Made Pro: Richard Laermer
Corrections or additions?
Thewe articles by Bart Jackson and Kathleen McGinn Spring were
prepared for the October 8, 2003 issue of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights
reserved.
Asia on the Bias: Don’t Ignore Civil Rights
We Americans are a nation of protesters. Try to overtax
our tea and we’ll dump it in the harbor. Don’t tread on us. Deny us
rightful employment, a justifiable bank loan, or a seat in the front
of the bus and we will rise up. That’s the stereotype, but does it
hold true for every group? What happens to those who do not complain?
Seven percent of all Garden State residents are of Asian or Pacific
Island descent. Yet interestingly, they account for only one percent
of the discrimination complaints lodged with New Jersey’ Civil Rights
Division. And this despite the fact that the seven percent includes
a number of sometimes misunderstood and politically unpopular people.
“The Civil Rights of Asian and Pacific Island Americans,”
a free seminar, takes place on Thursday, October 9, at 8 a.m. at
Raritan
Valley Community College to help all Asians and Pacific Islanders
take advantage of their new nation’s protective laws. Call
908-526-1200,
ext. 8312, to reserve a place.
Tulsi Maharjan, president of the Somerset County Cultural
Diversity
Coalition and director of Raritan Valley College’s Government
Relations
Institute, has united both these organizations, along with several
Asian community leaders, in sponsoring the event. J. Frank
Vespa-Papaleo,
director of New Jersey’s Division on Civil Rights, provides legal
expertise at the meeting.
“We see this as an important first step in making Asian
communities
aware of the process of protection under the state’s Law Against
Discrimination
(LAD),” says Vespa-Papaleo.
Maharjan believes that far too many Asian Americans fail to report
discrimination, yet he also insists that much of the trouble can be
warded off preemptively. “All Asians, and indeed all immigrants,
have to learn to mainstream into America,” he says. These words
have been Maharjan’s battle cry since he left Katmandu, Nepal, 30
years ago.
Arriving in the United States to pursue undergraduate studies at
Skidmore
College, Maharjan found a home in academic circles, later gaining
a Ph.D. in educational administration from American University.
Throughout
his years with several of New Jersey’s community colleges, he has
labored to enhance trade and to establish not globalism, but
internationalism.
He hosts a series of seminars to help state businesses connect abroad,
and has formed the Friends of Nepal.
In addition to the age old embers of ignorance, two recent elements
have fueled the fires of anti-Asian discrimination. First, we still
feel the specter of 9/11 with its elusive, vague, yet supposedly
lurking
enemy. Too many Americans cannot distinguish a Sikh from a Buddhist
monk, but they are sure our nation’s greatest enemy wears robes and
cloth head gear. Better watch out. Maharjan reports that several
Pakistani
women in Somerset have been harassed to the point where they now just
stay in their homes.
On top of these suspicions comes the fear of economic hard times.
Ever since the building of the transcontinental railroad, established
American residents have resented the flood of more recent Asian labor
taking “our jobs.” Be it well-paid Chinese physicists or
Korean
shop owners, “when bad economic times come,” says Maharjan,
“everyone is naturally looking for a scapegoat. And the last ones
in are the most likely to be discriminated against.”
In the face of all this, why are Asians, in our nation of protesters,
so singularly silent? There are many reasons, explains Maharjan, but
each one has a solution.
Distrust of government. Asian immigrants by-and-largehave left lands where any level of government is less than excitedabout defending individual rights. Previous personal experiences haveproved that government is wholly to be feared and life is best livedinconspicuously. Just try dumping overtaxed tea in Beijing harbor.”It takes a lot of education and outreach to break the wall offear,” says Vespa-Papaleo. “We are trying to reach into thevarious Asian communities through their leaders,” he says,”butthey must spread the word that we want to protect their civilrights.”Vespa-Papaleo, originally from Venezuela, has spent the last twodecadesdefending discrimination as an attorney in several New Jersey lawfirms, and for the past 15 months has headed up the Civil RightsDivision.Ghetto blasting. Resettling in a foreign country istraumatic.Finding and clinging to a little enclave of folks from your homelandis natural and helpful. But like birds in the nest, there comes atime to venture out beyond. “People can dwell in an Indian orKorean community, and never know the rest of America,” saysMaharjan.”They fail to learn of the government, the language, and worstof all, to meet the people beyond their own ghetto. This invitessuspicionand ignorance on both sides.”At least twice a year, the Islamic Society in South Brunswick runsan open house in its mosque. The newspaper “India Abroad”actively supports several English as a Second Language groups.Blendingtraditions does not mean loss. Cultures, like fine wine, are bestwhen shared.Business bigotry. Unfortunately, a host of undeservedstereotypes follow Japanese importers, Indian doctors, Chinesetraders,and others well beyond the first impression. Emancipation from thesestereotypes must, of course, be individual, but Maharjan adamantlystates that ethnic communities can reach out much further to help.A great many shops and firms actively solicit business from theirown ethnic group, while ignoring and even shunning inquiries fromnon-ethnic companies. “If your business is known as a Thai companyor Korean company,” states Maharjan, “you are not reachingfar enough.”For Vespa-Papaleo, the solutions to discrimination are more swift,legal, and direct. His department, under the New Jersey AttorneyGeneral’soffice, exists to determine discrimination and enforce the 58-year-oldLaw Against Discrimination and the 1993 State Family Leave Act. Over20,000 inquiries are made to his department annually, of which 2,000develop into actual discrimination complaints. These include biasin employment, housing, or access to public places on the basis ofrace, religion, gender, age, or other stereotyping.Discrimination complaints may be made in this area by calling theRegional Civil Rights Office at 609-292-4605. After a complaint isreceived, the complainant meets with an investigator who will workto determine if a case really exists. “Throughout the entireprocess,”says Vespa-Papaleo, “our office does not take anyone’s side. Wework merely to enforce the law.”The complaint then undergoes a set process:A claim. Investigators go far beyond listening tohe-said-she-saidarguments. In the case of employment, for example, they examinerecordsfor disparate impact. That is, if your firm has 85 percent Pakistaniworkers and not one has ever received a promotion, the next bypassedPakistani who complains has a strong case.Mediation. Mediation is the next and typically final stepin most negotiations. Here, under the eye of a Civil Rights Divisionmediator, anything goes. One time, recalls Vespa-Papaleo, a man lodgeda complaint about being passed up for a job in advertising wherebyhe would dress up as a pickle and tout the company’s product. Thefinal settlement, which left both management and the unhiredindividualsmiling? A year’s supply of pickles.Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). Most employers,landlords, and store owners are happy to settle quickly, but whenmediation fails, the case is given one final try with the ADR unit.This legally-required last ditch effort seeks final conciliation.By this time, Vespa-Papaleo’s office is actively seeking a findingof probable cause of discrimination. If it is found, the case becomesone of only five percent that land in court.Before the bench. Discrimination hearings are non-jurytrials where the judge makes the decision. The defendant in thissituationfrequently faces a two- pronged attack — from the complainingindividual seeking damages, and from the state seeking to enforcethe LAD codes.Not all Asians bear discrimination lightly. In l990 Miye Sano, a namedplaintiff with relatives in the Princeton area, received a check for$20,000. Along with 70,000 other claimants, she was paid thisreparationas part of a $1.65 billion settlement for America’s shameful interningof the Japanese people during World War II. It was a small price forthe confiscation of all the property she and her now-dead husbandowned, along with the destruction of their livelihood. Sano, and theother Japanese-Americans, won their settlement the old American way— they protested. Loud and long. And their government heard theircries.Those most likely to reap the benefits of their adopted nation arethose who most actively join it.— Bart JacksonTop Of PageSell Yourself, Not the Deal: Marlene WaldockAll buyers are liars. They’ll swear on a stack ofaccountingledgers that the bottom line is all that matters; that they’ll dealwith the devil herself if she’ll sell it to them for five cents aunit cheaper. Ah, but follow the purchase orders. Almost invariably,the money lands in the hands of the individual the buyer knows andtrusts.Earning that enviable position as a trusted business compatriotentailsa logical yet delicate process is the topic of a talk, “PersonalRelationship Marketing,” on Thursday, October 9, at 6 p.m. atthe Merrill Lynch Conference Center. Cost: $35. Call 609-924-7975.Sponsored by the New Jersey Association of Women Business Owners’(NJAWBO), this meeting features Marlene Waldock, NJAWBO’s newpresident and the host of New Jersey Business, a weekly televisionprogram on News 12 New Jersey.Those unable to attend on October 9 can catch Waldock’s talk atNJAWBO’sMiddlesex Chapter dinner meeting on Monday, October 20, at 6 p.m.at the Sheraton Raritan Center Hotel in Edison. Cost: $43. Call732-287-4111.”You don’t sell the deal, you sell yourself” is a credoWaldockhas employed in conquering some of business’ stiffest self-marketingchallenges. Shortly after graduating from the University of Pittsburghwith a degree in psychology, Waldock found herself working forClairol.As director of Southwest sales and training, she recalls, “I wasrunning around giving training sessions that lasted four-and-a-halfhours. I had to develop a program that would make audiences moreinspiredto sell than lynch the speaker.”In l987, Waldock founded her own marketing and communication trainingfirm, 1st Impression Communication Services, in Morristown.So what are the magic words? What’s that secret approach thattransformsstrangers into friends and trusted clients upon first meeting? ForWaldock, if such a verbal elixir exists, it would be “Establisha Self Marketing Plan.”First: Reach in. Before you reach out to potentialclients,Waldock suggests that you ask yourself some questions. What have Ipersonally got to offer — beyond my product? What are my values?What is my vision? What am I really seeking from the individuals Imeet: Advice? sales? contacts?”Rather than just blindly networking,” says Waldock,”definewhat you are and what you seek.” Then, with bold pen and paper,just as you plan the marketing of your product, write a program formarketing yourself. Research and determine what sort of organizations,clubs, and institutions are good places to meet people who might meetthe needs you have listed. Strategize, and then prepare to mingle.Use a low-key approach. Want to sell some stranger inthe worst way? Cross a crowded room, make a beeline for some potentialclient; grasp his hand, introduce yourself and your product, and thenstart pitching.What happens? Shields up! That unsuspecting client will stiffen likea wall. His every ounce of sales resistance will be focused on youand your display of desperation. Such a negative response is obviousand understandable. Yet this worst-way approach, notes Waldock,remainsoverwhelmingly the most popular. “Make it a marketing rule,”she says, “never, never try to sell during your introductorymeeting.”Hone an introductory conversation. Introductions are thebirth of a relationship, not a sale. So why not shake hands and begina conversation? Waldock terms this first meeting, however brief, an”an opportunity to align like minds.” Perhaps commenting orinquiring cogently about the other person’s field may produce commonground. But by whatever means, take this chance to examine thisindividualwith an eye toward possible future dealings.In the late 1980s when China’s trade door squeaked open, Americanbusinesses poured in and found themselves stymied by the number ofmonths it took to close the simplest of deals. The reason was lessbureaucracy than the age-old Chinese custom of determining the contentof a business partner’s character before signing. Developing suchtrust saves legal fees and ulcers, and in the long run builds profit.If mutual interests spark, follow up with a phone call and anappointment.Even at this phone call stage, ask for a chance to chat or “tocontinue our conversation.” If you truly are meeting to developa business relationship, it will take time. “It is a long-terminvestment,” states Waldock, “and you’ve got to havepatience.”Be a Giver. Several months back, Waldock met with a thepresident of a real estate firm, who she saw would ideally suit theneeds of another business associate. She called them both togetherand introduced them over lunch. They sparked. “Now I am seen asthe creator — the giving connector,” she states. Thus, quitenaturally, when one of these friends saw that Waldock was strandedfor a guest on her New Jersey Business show, he quickly hustled aroundand supplied a candidate.If you are invariably the one seeking advice or pushing the product,you will be viewed as a leech. The shields will again go up and peoplewill wince when you call them on the phone. Focus on needs beyondyour own.But, acknowledging that you do have needs, Waldock points out thatevery person you help is likely to have a network of family andfriendswho just might be able to help you.Be open, honest, and clear. In business, as in everyvenue, people favor those who communicate clearly. Speak openly andhonestly. Realistically assess your capabilities and offer them. Ifyou are going to become that trusted business compatriot, you mustpromise only what you can deliver, and deliver at least what youpromise.The old rules apply: trust is forged not by rank, but by those whocontinually prove themselves dependable.Finally, Waldock advises that each of us first market ourselvesto ourselves. “Too often we don’t recognize and acknowledge ourown achievements,” she points out. Some time very soon, take amoment, write down all your accomplishments and then write”Congratulations— good job!”When you believe in your product, after all, it is easier to sellit.— Bart JacksonTop Of PageThe Great Stem Cell Debate Comes to Mercer: Nancy Duff“My task is to make sure people withdifferent points of view get heard,” says Nancy Duff. Aprofessor of Christian ethics at the Princeton Theological Seminary,she is speaking of her role as moderator of an upcoming conference.The event is entitled “Should We Place Limits on MedicalResearch?:A Look at the Stem Cell Debate.” Sponsored by the ConferenceCenterat Mercer, it takes place on Friday, October 10, at 8:30 a.m. atMCCC’sWest Windsor campus. Cost: $35. Call 609-586-4800, ext. 3856, formore information. Among the speakers:Dr. Wise Young, founding director of the W.M. Keck Centerfor Collaborative Neuroscience and a professor at Rutgers. A leaderin spinal cord injury research, he serves on, or has served on,advisorycommittees for the National Institutes of Health, the National Academyof Sciences, NICHD, and on the boards of many spinal cord injuryorganization.Barbara Johnson, who wrote for Princeton’s Town Topicsnewspaper for 22 years and who is the mother of actor ChristopherReeve.Harold Shapiro, former president of Princeton University,chair of the board of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and chair ofthe National Academies of Sciences Committee on the OrganizationalStructure of the National Institute of Health. He has served as chairof the National Bioethics Advisory Committee.Marie Tasy, director of public and legislative affairsand primary spokesperson for New Jersey Right to Life, who worksextensivelywith federal and state legislatures on pro-life legislativeinitiatives,including the NJ Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act, the NJ ParentalNotificationLaw, and the NJ Safe Haven Infant Protection Act.Father Michael Manning, a physician who became a Catholicpriest and who has written a book on physician-assisted suicide.Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll, a New JerseyAssemblymanwho sits on the Consumer Affairs Committee and the Law and PublicSafety Committee.Duff praises Mercer County Community College for taking on thischarged topic, about which there is little middle ground. Stem cellresearch is controversial in large part because it intersects withthe Right to Life debate.The stems cells that are thought by most scientists to be most helpfulin medical research are those from embryos. Should embryos be createdsolely to aid medical research? Should stem cells be harvested fromaborted embryos for the purpose of medical research? Few people answer”maybe.” Positions on each side tend to be passionate.Duff lays out the two sides of the argument. “Some people believenascent human life has the same status as human life,” she says.”It’s a dilemma because of what stem cell therapy could address— MS, spinal cord injury, Alzheimers, Parkinsons. Devastatingdiseases, absolutely devastating.”The stem cells found in embryos, because they have not yet developedinto specific organs, could potentially be grown to replace damagedcells in any part of the body.”It’s so exciting,” is how Duff characterizes the promise.At the same time, troubling issues are raised. Human life, at anystage, should not be treated callously, she says, declaring, “it’sa dilemma.”Duff’s life revolves around the examination of moral quandaries. ATexas native, she grew up in Tyler, a little town in the eastern partof the state. She attended Austin College in Sherman, Texas, andgraduatedin 1977 with an English degree. She then attended Union Seminary inRichmond, Virginia, where she was ordained as a Presbyterian minister.After two years as a campus minister back at Austin College, she movedto New York City to earn her Ph.D. from the Union TheologicalSeminary.There she met her husband, David Mertz, a Methodist minister, nowserving in Princeton and in Rossmoor.Duff, meanwhile, had been called to teach ethics at the PrincetonTheological Seminary. “I absolutely love teaching ethics,”she exclaims. “I’m in the wonderful position of never having toconvince students that what I teach is important.”In her ethics classes, Duff strives to create understanding. Fewissuesmake this more difficult than those surrounding stem cell research.Her students are “all over the place” on the issue. She isnot out to change anyone’s mind, but rather to open minds enough tosee the merit in at least some of the points the other side is making.”We don’t have to scream at each other,” she says. “It’sfrustrating when people can not listen to one another.” At theupcoming conference she is going to ask panelists to identify theopposing argument they disagree with the most, and then to identifyan argument that really has some merit.”There’s room to acknowledge that one’s opponent has a valuableperspective,” she says. The all-too-common tendency to reducethe other side to a caricature is not helpful. “When we do that,we’re arguing with the weakest argument,” she says.Duff cannot recall a case where a passionately Pro Life or Pro Choiceperson ever went over to the other side, but she has seen positivemovement. “I had a student who wrote a paper on abortion,”she recalls. “It was so mean-spirited, so unfair.” When shegave the student a low grade, he asked for an opportunity to re-writethe paper. The new attempt retained the same arguments, but presentedthem without the meanness. Duff raised the grade, and the studentagreed that the change was for the better. “I had no idea Isoundedlike this!” he told her.His paper, stripped of vitriol, was not only more acceptable, it wasalso more persuasive.Duff doesn’t want to give away her own position on stem cell research,but she does say that her experience of motherhood has given herinsightinto the issue.Marrying relatively late in life, in her mid-30s, Duff was notespeciallyeager to have children. “We were ambivalent about children,”she says. While discussing the issue in a desultory — “Whatdo you think?” — manner, she was surprised to find herselfpregnant. “It came out of the blue!” she says.At age 38, she gave birth to McKinley, now 14. “It was the bestthing that ever happened to us,” she says. “I just shudderto think we might have missed this.” McKinley gained a siblingtwo years later when Adam was born.”My biggest regret is that I would have liked to have a thirdchild,” says Duff. “We did go through the adoption process,but it fell through.” She and her husband had hoped to adopt achild from China to round out their family, but could not afford the$20,000 that they were required to put down upfront. “It shouldn’tbe so hard,” says Duff.Bearing and raising children has convinced her that there is a placefor “bringing the language of experience into the moraldebate.”The gradations of feeling a mother has for her unborn child, and thenfor her children, belong in the debate, in her opinion. As thepregnantmother of a small child, she realized which way she would go on stemcell research if it could save “the child I rocked to sleep.”Now, as a mother of two growing children, she says there could neverbe any choice.Says Duff, “We’d all walk into the sea together.”Top Of PagePassionate Workers Boost Productivity: Thomas DammanIn a company of 100 people, it is a good bet that 80percent of the work is done by 20 percent of the employees. Thisbreakdowncomes from Thomas Damman, founder of the Cornerstone Group ofconsultants. “These are the people whose work is most alignedwith who they are,” he says of the 20 percent.He talks about how to get employees more productive when he speakson “How to Connect People with Their Passions” at the HumanResources Management Association on Monday, October 13, at 5 p.m.at the Yardley Inn. Cost: $40. Call 973-208-9083.Damman has zigged and zagged a bit on his way to his ideal work. Hegrew up in Michigan, the oldest of 10 children in a family that ownsa chain of hardware stores in the Detroit area. His grandfather, oneof six children, founded the chain. This wealth of potential businessheirs took the pressure off him. Although he, along with his siblingsand cousins, spent some time working in the stores, the family wasnot at a loss for the next generation of management. So, when heannouncedthat he wanted to be a priest, he found nothing but support.After attending seminary for high school and for the first two yearsof college, Damman decided that the priesthood was not for him afterall. He completed his degree at the University of Michigan, wherehe studied psychology. He then joined the Navy, served in Vietnam,obtained an MBA and a CPA, and signed on as a systems consultant withPrice Waterhouse. After seven years with Price Waterhouse, he workedfor a number of companies, helping them to structure internal auditgroups.Damman’s overall view of corporate America after serving a 25-yearstint? “There are a lot of unhappy people and ineffectivecorporations.”The reason, he says, is twofold. On the one hand, society on manylevels pressures individuals to fit in. This process starts with thefamily, where there tends to be an expectation that children willchoose a path similar to that of their parents. Damman’s family, hesays, had a business orientation. That was the life they knew, andthat was the direction in which they pointed their young.Another family might have an artistic bent. Growing up surroundedby actors and musicians, a youngster with a yen to tote up numbersmight receive scant support.The molding process continues in school, where self-fulfillment tendsto take a backseat to achieving high test scores, participating insports and activities deemed likely to appeal to admissions officers,and winning a place in a prestigious college.By the time most people hit the workforce, says Damman, they don’teven know what they want to do. What they do discover all too oftenis that they are deeply unhappy, and are just marking time in theirjobs. Part of his practice involves uncovering innate abilities andhelping individuals to identify the work they were meant to do. Justas some insist that there is a soulmate for every person, Damman isconvinced that there is a perfect work match for every person.”It isn’t what you think you want to do,” he says. The matchis not cerebral. It goes deeper than that. “It’sexperiential,”he continues. “It’s a deep sense of satisfaction. Not mind orimage, but how does it feel.” When you are doing work that feelsgood, work that you would do without pay if money were not an issue,you know that you have found the work that is perfect for you. Thecriterion of feeling goes against the grain, however. “We’retaught,”says Damman, “that if it feels good, it’s not good for you.”In addition to helping individuals peel back the layers ofsocializationthat led to poor work matches, Oak Ridge-based Cornerstone Group(973-208-9083)advises corporations on forming productive teams. Here are some ways:Becoming democratic. Even its critics tend to concedethat the United States has been a successful economic experiment.While repressive governments, in the U.S.S.R. and in Cuba, forexample,have crashed and burned, the United States, even in recession, enjoystremendous wealth. As industries slow down or export many of theirfunctions, new industries spring up in a vibrant marketplace.While the economy as a whole operates in a democracy, companies havenot followed a democratic model. “It’s top-down management,”says Damman. “It’s very hierarchical.” The result often isthe kind of disincentive to contribute that one sees in repressivecountries. “People do only the minimum,” he says.Letting go of some power. The main reason that companiescontinue to tap only a fraction of their workers’ abilities, saysDamman, is that managers fear giving up control.”People are afraid of letting the process work,” he says.He has seen that only unusually enlightened managers are able to settheir team members free to attack a project by using their innateskills in a way that suits their work style.Encouraging employees to be who they are. “Find uniqueabilities in the team, and let them go,” urges Damman.”Understandindividual passions,” he says. “Shape team roles to capitalizeon them.”When the creative people are free to come up with newapproaches,and the organizational people are respected for their ability to keepthe project on track, there is far more likely to be the kind ofbuy-inthat boosts productivity. “On a 10-person team,” Damman pointsout, “just getting two more people onboard ups productivity 20percent.”Top Of PagePR Advice from a Self-Made Pro: Richard LaermerD>Richard Laermer’s advice for PR professionalsseeking ties to journalists comes straight from the playground:”Ifyou want to make friends,” he counsels, “make sure you’rethe one they want to be around.”Laermer, founder of RLM PR (www.rlmpr.com) and author of a numberof books, including Full Frontal PR, expands on this topic — andon other ways of getting the client’s word out — when he speakson “Power Tools for Building Buzz” on Tuesday, October 14,at 11 a.m. at a meeting of NJ CAMA at the Doral Forrestal. Cost: $45.Call 609-397-3737 for more information.Laermer built his own buzz early. As a student at Pace University(Class of 1980), he looked around and saw that no one was writingabout New York City below 13th Street. He filled the gap with a columnhe describes as “very funny, no b.s., a lightweight thing aboutdowntown.” The column was picked up by a number of publications,including SoHo News, New York Arts Weekly, and the Washington MarketReview.He had learned a valuable lesson very early in his career: Editors,like businesspeople of all stripes, are inundated with requests, andtend to go with a known quantity. “I got a reputation,” hesays. “It started me on a freelance career. Editors knew me.”Assignments from the likes of Rolling Stone and Editor & Publisherfollowed. Steady work for the Daily News, mostly writing “funnyarts pieces,” followed.Laermer, who has written a book called trendSpotting, says his nextexperience in journalism was especially important to his career. Hewas in on the start-up of USA Today. Running around New York, coveringeverything from Broadway openings to radon scares, he learned toidentifytrends.Using his knowledge of New York, Laermer wrote Native’s Guide to NewYork: Advice with Attitude for People Who Live Here and Visitors WeLike. The book, in turn, gave him an education. “On the firstbook tour,” he recounts, “I learned about good PR.”People,of course, are divided into two species, those who love New York,and those who hate New York. Tapping into the passion, he was ableto get both types to comment on his book, building up its buzz.Laermer added to his knowledge of how business works when he accepteda job as public affairs director of the Columbia Business School.”I became super-informed,” he says. “I could meet everyjournalist, every PR person, any entrepreneur; I could call up thepresident of Harvard. I used the position to become better informedas a businessperson.”He ticks off the two lessons he learned as an employee of one of thecountry’s premier business schools: “Number one, nobody worksvery hard in academia, and number two, entrepreneurs all over thecountry need help with their images.”Sharpening his antennae at every turn, Laermer was ready to starthis own business. RLM PR burst from the gate in 1991, just as theworld’s first Internet companies were starting to toddle around. Thenew company, with a specialty in identifying emerging trends, quicklypulled in business from dot-com trend setters, including Kozmo.com,HBO.com, SonicNet, Rare Medium, the FeedRoom, Bolt, and LowerMyBills.Of course, many of these venture capital rich ventures are no longeraround. Laermer dismisses this happenstance as inconsequential tohis agency’s prospects. For one thing, any number of media companieswent down in the crash, reducing competition. “Most of the PRfirms are out of business, thank God,” he says. And before thebubble burst, he had already begun to focus on healthcare as animage-challengedindustry. “In the late-’90s and early 2000s, we saw that a lotof healthcare PR agencies weren’t handling healthcare as though itis interesting,” he says. RLM PR moved into the breach.As an example, it took on Allergan’s Alocril, a prescription medicinefor the relief of eye allergy symptoms, and turned a potentiallyboringproduct into a boon for golfers. After attracting coverage in Golf,Golf Digest, Fairways, T & L Golf, and Golf for Women, RLM PR isworkingon other lifestyle niches for the product.In a breathtaking trend-spotting feat, Laermer, a lifetime New Yorkerwho got his start singing the city’s praises, has opened a Californiaoffice to supplement his New York and Washington, D.C., offices. Notonly that, but, speaking from the Left Coast, he sounds totallybesottedby the Cali lifestyle. His new orientation comes as critics areremarkingthat New York’s number one cinema poet, Woody Allen, has begun toturn toward the sun, advising the hero in his new movie to seek hisfortune in Los Angeles.”People have been making fun of me all year,” says Laermer.”They’ve been making fun of L.A., but now Woody Allen’s tellinghis character to go to L.A.” Los Angles, trend-spotter Laermerdeclares, is “a lot happier than New York.” And no, he says,it wasn’t 9/11/2001 that plunged Gotham into gloom. “The yearbefore was tough,” he says. “It was the burning off ofgreed.”The stock market plunge, in his opinion, “made 2001 an evilyear.”People, he says, “were in a really bad mood.””I started coming here more,” he says during a phone interviewfrom his 310 area code. “If you’re in a bad mood, the weathermakes it go away. Some cliches are true.” Moving a few steps aheadof Woody Allen, Laermer is in the process of building a house in thedesert outside of Los Angeles where, he says, sounding absolutelyblissful, “it’s always warm and beautiful.”Savvy PR strategies have gotten Laermer to a position where multipleresidences are an option. He shares them in his new book Full FrontalPR (Bloomberg Press). Here is a sample from the “Thou Shalt NotLie — And 27 Other Media Relations Do or Die Commandments”section:Don’t bribe journalists. If your story isn’t good enoughfor the media, or if your pitch isn’t hitting home, regroup, fix theproblem, and patch all the holes. Bribing a journalist is buying yourway into the publication, and if that’s what you want, make lifeeasierfor both of you and buy an advertisement. The best way to get ajournalistto take your story is to prepare and hone the pitch so it deliversyour message and addresses the media’s real needs.If you’re happy with the way a story turns out, don’t senda gift thanking the reporter. Your intentions may be perfectlyhonorable, but once again, a gift is problematic for a journalist.All you’re doing is putting her ethics up for debate, because if sheever chooses to cover you in the future, a case can be made that youendeared your way in.Send a handwritten note expressing what a pleasure it was to workwith her.Don’t let your boss or colleagues tell you they’ll handlegetting media coverage if you’re the one with the connections.What your higher-up thinks is a friend usually is someone he talkedto at a cocktail party.Time and time again, a client has beseeched us not to talk to areporterbecause she, thinking she had an “in” with the reporter, wasgoing to handle it herself. And every single time, either we’ve hadto step in to clean up the mess, or the reporter, with whom we’vehad a longstanding relationship, has called us to say `Why is thisperson bugging me?’Don’t believe that whatever you’re doing is too importantto disclose. Entrepreneurs, inventors, and generic know-it-allsalways seem to be in a very unhealthy form of `stealth mode,’tediouslytoiling away on their next big idea in a locked lab guarded bynondisclosureagreements. But, of course, they want to be famous, too.The first thing to remember is that no matter what you’re doing,providedit isn’t curing cancer or AIDS, someone else is doing something moreimportant.If the media wants to know about it (because you called them,remember?),then give them the full story. Never solicit coverage and then giveonly half the news. It’s pretentious and off-putting.Don’t miss a deadline. Don’t miss a deadline. Oh, andone more thing: Don’t miss a deadline. The media live and die by theclock. If you’re working with a reporter on your story, always makeher schedule yours.Never lie. Don’t even exaggerate. Lying about a productor service makes a journalist who reports it look like a dolt.Don’t ever believe you can say anything off the record.If you don’t want to read it the next morning in the paper, don’tsay it. Many people like to exchange off-the-record quips withjournaliststo buddy up to them. You’re only creating problems for the writerwhen you spill dirty little secrets. Here’s why: Journalists don’thave to honor off-the-record statements. Their job is to report thenews, and if your off-the-record scoop is news, they need to tellit.Never say that you don’t know or that you can’t answer thatquestion. Just don’t. No comment is a product of Hollywood. It’san incriminating answer. By not commenting, you’re saying a wholelot.If she asks you a question on a subject you can’t talk about, suchas a legal or Securities and Exchange Commission issue, tell her so.Acting coy is not a good idea here.Don’t play hard-to-get with your answers. Journalistsare looking for straight facts, and great PR people are only too happyto supply the answers. The idea isn’t to be a spinmeister, weavinga web of confusion, but to be there to answer questions and get astory in print. All of the facts discussed may not be beneficial toyou, but they’re probably quite necessary for the whole of the story.Simply do not let the media walk all over you. You arenot a doormat. Journalists are just like anyone else, and if you letthem walk all over you, they will. Set guidelines and let them knowyou aren’t a pushover. You’re there to contribute your share of amutually beneficial relationship. If it doesn’t seem like a two-waystreet, get off at the next exit.Don’t miss an opportunity to participate in the largerstory.Always read and watch the news if you’re trying to be a part of it.There’s always a bigger trend to keep an eye on, and maybe your smallbusiness or big idea is relevant to the conversation. That’s your`in’! Jump on it, make the calls, and become part of the news.Don’t think a news outlet is too small for your greatidea.Remember what Gloria Swanson said in Sunset Boulevard: `It’s thepicturesthat got small!” Day in and day out, our clients say they don’t wantto waste their time speaking with Wireless Review, Call Centermagazine,or atNewYork.com because they’re too small or no one reads them.Press begets press, darn it, and if you turn coverage down, you’veset yourself up to fail. The big secret is that most journalists readthe small news outlets like atNewYork.com to find great storiesbefore they hit the mainstream. Do you think they dream up all thosegreat stories on their very own?If you’re on national TV, and you feel like making anoff-colorjoke, don’t. Even if you think that somehow it will ingratiateyou with the host or hostess, don’t. Particularly if it’s aboutanotherguest, no matter how light-hearted it is, just don’t. You’ll neverget asked back. Other producers who are watching will scratch youoff their lists, too.You’ve been so perfectly behaved throughout this chapter thatwe decided to add one more commandment, the one that truly counts:Don’t say no to all these ixnays. They are time-tested and worthpayingattention to. Use and obey!Next StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
