They’re Gone, and Life Goes On After the NATO Summit

By Edward M. Bury, APR (aka The PRDude)

It’s Tuesday, they’re all gone, and my beloved city looks like the same big-shouldered place along the big lake at the edge of what used to be a prairie than it did in the days before the eyes of the world focused on Chicago for the NATO Summit. The world leaders and their minions, the international cadre of journalists, and of course those thought-to-be fearsome protestors have left my town pretty much intact as we head from spring into summer.

Not that they didn’t try. Alleged members of the mysterious “Black Bloc” group — reported anarchists bent on violence and destruction — did march a lot with the peaceful protestors and gave members of the Chicago Police Department a good workout as they scurried from block to block.  And, tensions certainly were frayed Sunday afternoon as a small contingent of protestors tried to crash police lines near McCormick Place, the site of the Summit.

But Chicago survived and now we can look forward to rubbing elbows with other visitors — like those who come here to shop, eat, take a boat ride and just enjoy the merits of a true American world-class metropolis.

As a former newsman, I followed the events leading up to and through the Summit because, well, I like to know what’s going on.  In my current position with a local real estate association, I had to know what’s going on in order to communicate updates to our members.  On Friday, I took this image at the National Nurses United rally held in the Daley Center, a few blocks from our offices.

The National Nurses United rally in the Daley Center. That sculpture in the background was a gift from Picasso to Chicago.

The weather was ideal, and for the most part the rally was an outstanding example of Americans exercising their First Amendment rights in a peaceful, respectful way. Then some from fringe groups marched and chanted, leading police on the first of many cat and mouse games that took place over the past few days in and around the central business district.

I opted to head to the office Sunday — the day of the biggest sanctioned rally — to help with communications.  If the near chaos that somewhat defined the 1968 Democratic Convention here was going to repeat, it would happen Sunday. As you may have read, it didn’t happen.

Below are a few shots I took along LaSalle Street, Chicago’s financial center, at midday on Sunday.  A relatively serene scene.

Looking North on LaSalle Street. Note the cool blue NATO Summit banners on the utility poles. To my knowledge, none sustained damage.

Looking South on LaSalle Street, with the Board of Trade Building in the distance. Look familiar? “Batman: The Dark Knight” was filmed here!

In the year or so since President Obama announced Chicago would host the Summit, there were lots of people complaining about madness the event would cause.  Not me. Great things happen only when you take risks and face challenges head-on.

Here in Chicago, the police, the business community and the people, were prepared.  Some were inconvenienced and many businesses took a financial hit through lost revenues or extra security expenses.

For a couple of days, Chicago danced on the world stage, and we looked pretty good.   I kind of miss the drama, but glad to be back to normal.

The Last Time They Came: Rememberances of Chicago August, 1968

By Edward M. Bury, APR (aka The PRDude)

They’re already here.  They represent various factions and causes; most say they’ll be peaceful, others are bent on causing problems. They’re coming by car, bus, plane and bicycle.  One guy reportedly “hopped a freight train,” as it’s known, to get here.

I’m referring to the protestors and alleged anarchists who have set sights on my home city of Chicago to exercise their First Amendment rights to protest the gathering of world leaders for the NATO Summit May 20-21.

Chicago has hosted big events before. Hey, we’re Chicago.  We’re a world-class city.  In fact, we hosted the Democratic National Convention in 1968.  You’ve probably read what happened, or saw the black and white footage on television: Cops bashing hippie protestors — as well as newsmen and people in the wrong place at the time — across the head with billy clubs; the protestors chanting “The whole world is watching!”; Mayor Richard J. Daley defending the actions of his police force; and, my city’s reputation figuratively being bashed across its head in the eyes of the nation and much of the world.

I was 13 years old at the time, and I was there.  Sort of.  And I remember it clearly.  Two occurrences stand out.

The Hippies Invade Walton Street. Our modest home was is in what’s now a relatively fashionable hipster neighborhood recently dubbed Noble Square.  (Helps with the marketing needed to  sell condos and sushi, you know.)  We just called it “The Old Neighborhood.”  One afternoon during the Convention, a Jeep driven by two long-haired guys with Southern accents pulled up.  They were from North Carolina, or maybe Virginia. But on the 1300 block of West Walton Street in 1968 they might as well have been from Mars.

My buddies and I chatted with the two guys, and I recall they were friendly.  And peaceful. I vividly recall two neighborhood girls, probably mid to late teens at the time, climbing into the Jeep to protest, or cavort, I guess, with the scruffy visitors.  Apparently, this rubbed the older guys on the block, greasers true and true,  the wrong way; one yelled, “Hippies suck!” To which the hippie in the passenger seat responded to with the bent arm salute.

The moral: Don’t let hippies driving Jeeps come into your neighborhood to take away your girls.

Rescuing Mom From the Prudential Building.  Back in the day, my mother worked the evening shift at Prudential Insurance in the (where else?) Prudential Building at Randolph Street just east of Michigan Avenue.  The building, once Chicago’s tallest, commands a prominent location and was several blocks north of the hotels where members of the Democratic party in town to pick a presidential candidate were staying.

One evening during the convention, we got a call from my mom: “They’re sending everyone home now because of the protestors. ” So my dad and brother and I got in the Impala and drove the 15 or so minutes downtown to get my mom.  As we headed back west on Randolph Street, I recall hearing shouts and screams in the distance; then I saw a wave of blue-shirted policemen chasing a wave of hippies and protestors south.

The image remains indelible in my mind; it was the closest I got to the violence of that summer, and it encapsulated what went wrong.

Already there have been some arrests of protestors, Monday morning in the Prudential Building, in fact.  And Tuesday, protestors known as the Black Bloc marched on the South Side and hurled insults — not projectiles — at police, who have been gearing up to keep the peace.

I trust the police learned a lot from 1968 and have sound tactics and strategies in place should violence erupt.  Rest assured, I’ll be watching, as will the whole world.

“You’ll Remember Always…Graduation Day!” Okay, Now What PR Graduate?

By Edward M. Bury, APR (aka The PRDude)

This month, tens of thousands of kids — no disrespect intended — will reach the summit of one of life’s greatest plateaus: They’ll have earned enough credits to graduate from college, and consequently have earned the right to use that education to make their mark in the world.   In the not-so-distant past, many college graduates could look across that plateau with optimism, envisioning prospects of landing a fine job with a commensurate salary that paid the rent and car note, and left sufficient funds for some good beer.

You know what’s coming next: Many graduates today face a bleak future, one with few job prospects in their chosen field, possibly a five-figure line of debt and few discretionary funds left  for even cheap beer.

But take heart graduates!  Yes, like the song goes, you’ll always remember graduation day — as the day the realities of life stared you right in the face, and the day you got to toss that cumbersome mortar board hat in the air and shed that shed that antiquated gown.  Now it’s time to be decisive and act.

So, what now?

If you’re fortunate enough to have landed a job in your field, or in some other field, perhaps you’ll want to stop reading now.

But if you’re pursuing public relations and are searching for that break, that opportunity to join the profession, keep reading.  Hey, The PRDude likes readers.  Everyone, keep reading.   The following thoughts are designed to provide some direction for anyone who hopes to land that first gig in the public relations industry or any honest line of work.  Hopefully, it’s a job pays a fair wage for your talents and skills, will help reduce the college loan statistic and, of course, leave a few dollars in your pocket for good beer.

Goal: Land a job in public relations or a communications discipline within one year.  Unreasonable?  Maybe, but set 12 months as a target.  Each quarter, analyze what you’ve accomplished to reach your goal. Make adjustments quarterly.

Strategy: Define yourself to others as a public relations professional.  Before you ask, “Well, how if I’m not working in the industry?,” here’s the answer: Get involved in some way. Volunteer. Take on freelance assignments. Start your own consultancy.

Objective: Build awareness for yourself, your skills and your desire to enter public relations.  Employ word-of-mouth. Start a blog.  Join a group that’s affiliated with public relations or the communications industry.  Seek out others — alumni are a good start — and build your network.

Tactic: Turn off your laptop and put your handheld in your pocket.  Get out of the house and meet people.  Save the online and social media stuff for after dinner.

Want more?  This piece from Forbes offers some excellent commentary and advice.  Still want more?  Reply to this post, and I’ll get back to you.  New rules are being written and fundamentals are getting tossed aside. The world needs new communicators to convey key messages about the direction we’re heading.  Become a public relations practitioner and be among those at the forefront.

What’s In a Name? The “Other” PR Dudes and Guys

By Edward M. Bury, APR  (aka The PRDude)

When I launched this blog way back on September 4, 2009, there were two big challenges before me:

1.  How do I learn to manage this cool, new and free open source blogging platform called WordPress.

2. What to name the blog.

Through pointing and clicking, trial and error, I mastered #1.  (After all, I had time on my hands at the time.)  But I struggled with #2.  I didn’t want to use my real name, even though there’s total transparency regarding the author here.  My goal was to chronicle my strategic efforts to land another full-time position in my profession — public relations.  Blogs should be your vehicle to communicate your passions; so I needed a name that incorporated public relations, but wanted something contemporary and casual.

“PRGuy” was my first choice.  It was taken on WordPress.  PRDude was not taken.  So without hesitation I registered myself as The PRDude.

Google “PRDude” and a lot of my posts come up, along with this question:  Did you mean: prude.  In fact, there are around 464,000 possible answers.  I don’t have the free time to review every one. But I did scan a few search pages and found the following:

1.  There’s a guy (at least I’m making an educated assumption) with the Twitter handle of PRdude. He bills himself on Twitter as, “PR pro not a miracle worker.” He’s apparently from Manhattan and he maintains a blog.

2.  Within the WordPress family, a gentleman from the U.K., Hao Nguyen, blogs at That PR Dude.   According to his blog he’s “23-year old Account Coordinator” with an agency.  Does some pretty cool stuff, like interviews with industry professionals and a “day-in-the-life” profiles.

3.  Someone maintains a YouTube account that’s attributed to PRDude.  (It’s not me.)

4.  A public relations professional from Boston named Sean Horrigan bills himself as The PR Guy.  Here’s what he will bring to clients: “…the Power to Build Brand Awareness, Instill Customer Loyalty and Increase Market Share.”

Edward M. Bury, APR, aka The PRDude, circa March 2012, San Juan, PR.

No need for me, The PRDude, to offer any further comments on the guys noted above, or any commentary, for that matter.  It’s interesting to view others who blog or comment on public relations, a profession and practice I’ve addressed here in 122 posts written over the past 32 months.

What’s in a name, like The PRDude? You tell me.  Did I make the right choice?  And, while you’re at it, visit the guys above. We share a few things in common.

On the Week Before Earth Day, What Are You Doing to Save the Earth?

By Edward M. Bury, APR (aka The PRDude)

Way back in 1970, during the waning days of hippiedom, someone got the idea of celebrating one thing that all of us — regardless of who we are, where we’re from or what kind of house we live in — have a right to from the time we take our first breath until our last.  Despite current popular belief, it’s not the right to text while driving, walking, dining with the family or operating heavy machinery.

It’s the right to live here on planet Earth.  Make that live on a planet Earth that will still have enough fresh air, clean water and natural resources so the next couple of generations of people can live here.

The celebration in question is Earth Day, an initiative started — where else? California — and, according to its web site “activated 20 million Americans from all walks of life and is widely credited with launching the modern environmental movement.”

The official “day” for Earth Day is next Sunday, April 22.  But this week kicks off a whole series of activities  designed to make you think — or better yet commit — to doing a small or large part to reduce, reuse or recycle in order to make things better for the environment.   There’s things everyone can do.  In the office building where I work, the management team will collect used electronics for proper recycling.   Stumped at what you can do?  Stop using plastic bags by taking cloth sacks to the grocery.

In the 42 years since the first Earth Day, environmental issues have been woven into our collective consciousness. Think of the heightened awareness for the environment in everyday life.  (And, awareness after all, is one measurable objective that should be a cornerstone of any concerted, strategic public relations plan.)  For example, the word “green” has evolved to become a verb, as in “going green.”

Want to learn ways you can go green?  The Earth Day Network website offers some great insight into what the movement launched the past four-plus decades.

In fact, the Earth Day folks want everyone to make a commitment to an Act of Green. Nearly 1 billion already have committed to taking some simple measure to help the planet.  Here’s what the PRDude committed to:

 

That’s right.  I’ve positioned a rain barrel to catch water, which will be used to water the perennials, annuals, tomatoes and culinary herbs within our small Chicago yard.  Loyal readers know growing things is one of my passions, as noted in this gardening post from last July.

Are you passionate about the environment?  Will you commit to Earth Day’s challenge?  What can the average person do to help communicate envir0nmental issues?

Share your ideas in a very green way: Reply to this post.

 

The PRDude Goes to PR (As in Puerto Rico) Part 2

By Edward M. Bury, APR (aka The PRDude)

With the memories of our recent trip to Isla del Encanto or the Island of Enchantment still fresh in my mind, I gladly deliver the second installment.  Last time, I chronicled my visit with my public relations friend  Carlos Rivera, APR. As promised, this post will be somewhat of a travelogue, including cell camera photos taken along with observations during our all-too-short vacation.

(Aren’t all vacations too short? Especially when you work so hard?)

Actually, The PRDude has used this space a few times before to present thoughts and pictures during travels.   Last December, I wrote about a nice weekend in Wisconsin visiting friends, reliving memories of my childhood and strolling the scenic resort town of Lake Geneva.  In September of 2011, I shared thoughts and insight on my second favorite city in the world, New York.  And, I provided a snapshot of my Chicago neighborhood, Logan Square, following a stroll through our farmer’s market and an art show during a hot Sunday last July.

Note to travel editors:  If you like what you see and read, I’m ready to talk, especially if you need a piece on Hawaii, Paris or Rio. Without further ado, some images and insight in and around San Juan, Puerto Rico.

On a cobblestone street in Old San Juan. We loved the pastel buildings tucked side-by-side in the narrow streets. The cobblestones have a cool bluish tint. One wonders how many horses, cars and people traversed these thoroughfares the past 400 or so years.

View of the harbor with cruise ships. San Juan was a natural place for the Spanish to fortify because of its deep natural harbor and towering bluffs. From one of the old forts, I took this shot showing the kind of ships that sail into the port today.

Me and a true artist. In the small plaza outside our hotel, Susan snapped this shot of me with an outstanding Puerto Rican musician. I've played guitar and harmonica and sang in bands for decades. Someday, I hope to be able to deliver a fraction of the soul and artistry this humble man delivered playing for tips.

A day at the beach. The Atlantic Ocean was a short cab ride from our hotel room. We spent a great afternoon sunning at a sister property and got to see modern San Juan. Lots of nice new hotels, some fine beaches and still lots of local character. Yes, there were T-shirt shops and tourist hang outs, but more restrained and colorful than we anticipated.

Keeping the faith. On our last night, we heard music coming from the old cathedral across from our hotel. Upon venturing out, we came across a procession of the faithful complete with musicians, the Knights of Columbus and men carrying a large statue of the Virgin Mary. The procession wound its way to various churches in Old San Juan. We were touched by the devotion displayed by these people.

Looking out to sea. I captured Susan on one of the old fortifications looking out over the water. Visiting the two forts, San Felipe del Morro and San Cristobal, is a must stop for visitors. These are UNESCO World Heritage Sites, cool beyond belief to tour and cost just $5!

El Convento. Our hotel was a true highlight of the trip. The building originally built as a convent, then expanded and converted to a boutique hotel 100 or so years ago. Lots of charm and character, quite terraces, great views of the harbor and a magnet to an international crowd. We felt we truly were away from home at the El Convento.

A few final thoughts.  You don’t hear much about Puerto Rico, at least not from a marketing perspective.  I recall TV spots and promotions years ago, but not recently. Some no-cost recommendations to those in charge of pr0moting Puerto Rico as a visitor destination:

• Promote the fact that U.S. citizens can travel to a Caribbean island without a passport and without having to change money.
• The Puerto Rican people are a cultural gumbo of the Spanish, Africans brought in slavery and native Taino peoples.  Communicate this in the same way New Orleans promotes its French Creole heritage.
• Point out the lesser-known cities of Mayaguez and Ponce on the Caribbean side.  My friend Carlos said these cities are just as historic and cool as San Juan, only not as big.

Now it’s your turn: Have you visited Puerto Rico? Share your thoughts on this Caribbean commonwealth.

The PRDude Goes to PR (As In Puerto Rico) Part 1

By Edward M. Bury, APR, aka The PRDude

Buenas noches.  I mean, good evening.  A few days back from our recent vacation trip to Puerto Rico, and I’m still flaunting my command of Spanish.  Along with the aforementioned greeting, I mastered ordering beer and asking directions to the men’s room. 

Last week, Susan and I spent a delightful week in Old San Juan, the commonwealth’s capitol city, rich with culture, history, architecture, beauty, food and drink.  In Part 1 of this report, I’ll chronicle some thoughts from a real PR guy from, well, PR.

I’m referring to my friend and former colleague, Carlos Rivera, APR, Executive Partner at Partners Communications of Bayamon, Puerto Rico.  I’ve known Carlos for six years, as we served together during my years on the Universal Accreditation Board.  Carlos represents Asociacion de Relacionistas Professionales de Puerto Rico, one of the nine organizations that make up the UAB.

Carlos Rivera, APR.

During dinner at a hip restaurant called Casa Lola just across the beach in the resort district on the Atlantic Ocean, Carlos shared these thoughts on his business and the state of public relations in Puerto Rico as we drank white wine and dined on some tremendous food.

The Client Roster. Partners Communications represents some pretty well-known brands like United Airlines for media relations, crisis communications and other duties.  Carlos said the shop just picked up a distributor of consumer products, and we discussed some strategies on how to incorporate Facebook and other social media to help build awareness.  Perhaps use Facebook to drive traffic to an event.

The PR Business in PR. Overall, business for practitioners on the island is good, especially for the small and boutique agencies like Partners Communications.  Clients are recovering from the lean years that battered budgets everywhere and many can’t afford the hourly rates and retainers charged by the agencies flaunting household names.

The APR Needs a Push in PR. The Accreditation in Public Relations credential is available to practitioners in Puerto Rico; but like here stateside, the big agencies and corporations have not fully embraced the value of the APR and the leaders are not making the credential a priority for those committed to the profession.

As noted above, my Spanish is somewhat limited.  Make that really limited. But during our time in Puerto Rico, I experienced a modern nation (okay, commonwealth) with diverse, passionate people and a relatively thriving economy.  Yes, there were pockets of poverty, but you’ll find that everywhere.

Have to believe that an enhanced public relations community could help the commonwealth build awareness for its key economic drivers — tourism, agriculture and pharmaceuticals.  (Yes, pharmaceuticals.)  Carlos said many of the big shops all have offices on the island, as noted, there are plenty of opportunities for start up players.

We noticed a grand new mixed use real estate development under construction along the harbor.   Real estate — that’s the industry I know best.  Hey Carlos: Need another partner?

Next time, I’ll provide more of a travelogue on our days and nights in Old San Juan.