[07/19/09 - NOTE: As I write, we are under reconstruction; in the process of rebuilding my Web site from its original (2002) HTML to the current php language with all of its many advantages. Why not Wordpress, etc? Simple. PHP allows for unlimited design options. We do design for both and our latest Wordpress site is Here - sf]

he term Public Relations was coined by Edward Bernays. Now somewhat forgotten, Bernays was once named "one of the 100 most influential Americans of the 20th century" by Life Magazine. I happen to believe that Bernays was the most important and it was only after lengthy study of Berney's work that I truly began to understand what my chosen craft was really all about. Bernays continued to work and keep his name out there until his death at 104. The warey old man had been a guest on the David Letterman show only one year earlier in 1984.

Now better-understanding the nefarious origin and historical application of Public Relations by corporations and government, I abhor the term and sparsely employ it -- and then only because this is the phrase the public best knows. I too manage public opinion, but not for "the establishment" since realizing the evil that was being done by the very Fortune 500 companies that were once paying me so well. My epiphany came in 1984 with Prudential-Bache, then a very lucrative client. I was working in the Executive Suite in the LA offices of "Pru" when I began to question what the financial giant was in practice, routinely doing. After being told, "We're paying you to make it look good, not to crunch the goddamn' numbers!" I resigned the account and moved to Hawai`i to watch the collapse of Prudential Bache.

The current collapse of first America's and now the world's enormous financial institutions and the ensuing financial mess in which the world now finds itself could have come as no great surprise to anyone paying attention. How could it have ended otherwise? Perhaps because of my profession, I've watched this very same sort of massive corperate fraud and the same often-self-serving government political responses occur time and time again wondering if and when the general public would one-day begin to "get it". While I think this time everyone has finally "got it", many flounder around wondering what we can "do" about it and this is why I've begun to better-document my model here. One can change things, but it does takes a lot of work, time and patience -- which is something one cannot teach. Everyone must somehow find their own path to learning that very-necessary ingredient.

After my experience with Pru-Bache, I began employing my skills primarily for progressive businesses and causes. Although the work doesn't pay nearly as well, I can sleep well and have maintained my self respect. I have found that being able to effectively manage public opinion allows one to make a positive difference in society and there is much personal gratification in that. Many of my techniques can of course be effectively utilized for advertising and marketing goods & services and while I occasionally do this for select clients, to me the real fun is in changing law and public policy that instantly makes things better for society. One can change city hall.

I've been fortunate to have studied at the foot of some of the true masters of advertising & marketing, including my mentor, the late Marion Harper, "The man who changed Madison Avenue". Marion gave me two pieces of advice when I decided to move to LA in 1982 from my home of 42 years in Oklahoma City; "When you get to LA, buy a PC and a database program", and "Don't ever open an ad agency!" Although I've been a Mac user since 1985, I did take Marion's advice on both counts. Buying my first PC and that first crude shareware database program indeed changed my career and my life forever.

For my money, the remaining Master of the Universe in political campaigning is Joe Napolitan. I was privledged to work directly with Joe on two campaigns for Governor of Hawai`i (won one; lost one). If you view this short video, know that Joe is now 85+ and while perhaps a little redundant, you would be hearing some political campaign history from the man who helped make it, including John F. Kennedy's 1961 Campaign for President.

I didn't personally know the late Peter Drucker, but I have studied his writing and lectures on business management for over 40 years and his 1954 "bible," The Practice of Management remains a classic refernce. After nearly 60 years, most if not all of Mr. Drucker's pull quotes remain relevant and are well-worth a read for anyone wanting to improve their own management skills or to better-understand how to set about improving their personal productivity and work environment. The technology may change, but basic human nature and the psychology of the matter does not -- as Edward Bernays work demonstrated.

TECHNOLOGY

The idea that all seniors eschew technology is flawed. Some of us played a role in what you are routinely using today and the reason I'm writing about this here is simply to add some credibility to my thoughts on the fascinating subject. I'm what they call "an early adapter" of technology. I can only guess as to why this is so, but I suspect that part of it has to do with my family. My great-grandfather Starr was a rather-famous inventor and a close friend with the Wright Brothers. He was at Kitty Hawk for their first flight. Apparently Grampa also hung with Thomas Edison because one of his many obits reads, "While Edison was working on the incandescent lamp, Mr. Starr was one of the few inventors who did not think Edison crazy." Anyway, my father inherited Grampa Starr's technological and mechanical curiosity. Dad was a pattern maker; a highly-skilled craftsman who among other things, adapted plastics for use on military aircraft during WW II and after. I grew up alongside dad working in his home workshop. Fortunately, a few of his many talents and his curiosity rubbed off on me -- even though my curiosity led me down a far-different path.

My interest in computers began in the 1950s when my mother brought home used punchcards for me to play with. She was a programmer for one of only 46 Univac computer systems in the world at Oklahoma City's Tinker Air Material Command.

During the early 1960s, I had partnered with a childhood friend, John Perry to launch a still-successful electronics research & development company. Ra-Nav Laboratories conducted innovative research and experimented with early telemetry systems, precursor to the modem which remains the very backbone of today's enormous telecommunications industry. Our early work with post-transistor miniaturized electronics technology (integrated circuits aka "Microchip") contributed to one of the first applications of telemetry to medicine, now widely known as "tele-medicine." We were Geeks before there was a word for it and didn't know at the time that we were doing such ground-breaking work. I primarily assisted with the early marketing and my friend was the very-innovative engineer. Foolishly, I sold my interest in Ra-Nav in the early-1970s.

I was trained on large mainframe computers in the U.S. Airforce Supply System during the Vietnam War, and I bought my first PC in 1983 and began using the Internet for communications in 1984. That was perhaps the most defining moment for me in beginning to develop my current communications model and I have never much looked back since." The development of the vast array of communications technologies since the introduction of the PC in 1983 has of course greatly-changed our work, but the techniques I routinely employ have not much changed; those that involve the psychology of managing public opinion. This, combined with the intuitive "gut" feelings based on experience and a little luck produced our many success stories.

It all begins with the research needed to understand the nuance of often-complicated issues and a client's circumstances, and of course with one's writing skills. If you have no interest in writing or improving your writing skills, I might suggest here that you read no further and consider another field. Writing is lot of hard work and good writing is indeed tedious. I often tell my associates and clients that "good writers are not born, they create themselves by doing the hard work of just writing" and it's been gratifying to see many of them develop into truly exceptional writers.

People tend to hire me because of my personal relationships and demonstrated track record. I do no advertising, never have, because my business all comes from word-of-mouth -- which of course remains the most efficient and effective form of advertising. All that you need is one or two good highly-visable wins and people in high places will take notice. As I write, the "traditional" vehicles we once worked so hard to engage and the personal relationships we once cultivated with newspaper and magazine staff are disappearing with once-proud newsrooms cut to the core, their companies in bankruptcy or completely gone as the survivors continue to try and somehow identify, create and then monetize their new models. And the consolidations of television stations has similarliy decimated their newsrooms.

Much has been and continues to be written about how and where people are receiving their "news". This is all moving too fast for me to comment much here but I will say this; the new technologies such as FaceBook, Twitter, GoogleTools, Ning and all the rest offer many advantages and I use them all when and where applicable. I "play" with every new etool that comes along; always have. Some I find useful, others not. One thing is for certain; your use of technology is not an option and one might only guess what new marvel will emerge. Be curious about it all because the next "thing" could change your life.

I recently spent an evening with a group of young technology wizards discussing this evolution and was quietly relieved to hear them express their own dismay at how quickly the changes are indeed taking place. So you are far from being alone in trying to get a handle on it all.

I must say, there's often a vast disconnect between some of the younger masters of the technology and the effective use of the technology. While one may have the know-how to quickly throw a blog or Web site online, making it an effective political tool is quite another matter. You will have to wait for my book to read about how this can all be made to work together like a fine swiss watch.

My public opinion management model has received many accolades but the one that remains the most dear to me came from my young technology mentor and friend, Kevin Hughes who so kindly wrote, While some may use tools well, great people redefine their use. Scott Foster is one of the most effective and progressive masters of communication technology and technique since the rise of the internet. He is the type of person I write software for -- not the typical user, but the individual who deeply understands and fulfills the potential of communications technology. Scott routinely puts entire marketing departments to shame.

SUGGESTED BASIC REFERENCES ON
THE ART OF MANAGING PUBLIC OPINION

The Century of The Self
This brief video clip is from The Century of the Self, the acclaimed 4-hour documentary by filmmaker Adam Curtis released in 2002. The series follows Sigmund Freud's nephew, Edward Bernays' creation of Public Relations and its international use by corporate and government from World War I in 1918, through Nazi Germany and World War II, and its evolution and application through the election of President William Jefferson Clinton in 1992. The entire 4-hour series is poorly presented on YouTube and is sometimes availible on DvD at Amazon.com. I highly recommend this modest investment if you are seriously interested in learning this craft and better understanding what powerful albeit seemingly-benign forces are working against you on a daily basis.

Edward Bernays
1891 - March 9, 1995
Wikipedia

The Father of Spin: Edward L. Bernays and The Birth of Public Relations
by Larry Tye
Henry Holt & Company
1998

PR! A Social History of Spin
By Stuart Ewen
Basic Books

Visiting Edward Bernays
A Chapter From PR! A Social History of Spin
"To put it simply, Edward Bernays' career -- more than that of any other individual -- roughed out what have become the strategies and practices of public relations in the United States."

The Museum of Public Relations
The Museum of Public Relations was established in 1997 and "is the place to go to learn about how ideas are developed for industry, education, and government, and how they have been applied to successful public relations programs since the PR industry was born."

Niccolo Machiavelli:
Statesman & Political Philosopher Lucidcafe.com
No enterprise is more likely to succeed than one concealed from the enemy until it is ripe for execution.

Sun Tzu On The Art of War
"The oldest military treatise in the world"
Translated from the Chinese By Lionel Giles, M.A. (1910)

Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds
by Charles MacKay
Amazon.com Review
Why do otherwise intelligent individuals form seething masses of idiocy when they engage in collective action? Why do financially sensible people jump lemming-like into hare-brained speculative frenzies--only to jump broker-like out of windows when their fantasies dissolve? We may think that the Great Crash of 1929, junk bonds of the '80s, and over-valued high-tech stocks of the '90s are peculiarly 20th century aberrations, but Mackay's classic--first published in 1841--shows that the madness and confusion of crowds knows no limits, and has no temporal bounds. These are extraordinarily illuminating,and, unfortunately, entertaining tales of chicanery, greed and naivete. Essential reading for any student of human nature or the transmission of ideas.

The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind
Gustave Le Bon
NEW YORK
THE MACMILLAN CO.
1896
Courtesy of the Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library
"THE following work is devoted to an account of the characteristics of crowds. The whole of the common characteristics with which heredity endows the individuals of a race constitute the genius of the race. When, however, a certain number of these individuals are gathered together in a crowd for purposes of action, observation proves that, from the mere fact of their being assembled, there result certain new psychological characteristics, which are added to the racial characteristics and differ from them at times to a very considerable degree. Organised crowds have always played an important part in the life of peoples, but this part has never been of such moment as at present. The substitution of the unconscious action of crowds for the conscious activity of individuals is one of the principal characteristics of the present age."