My 'Varied' Career

I started my public relations career more than 30 years ago, and I’ve been going at it ever since.  In those 30-plus years, I’ve worked for:

·        A $15 billion dollar life insurance company’s home-office PR shop

·        Two state governors (one Democrat, one Republican) as an economic/business development speechwriter and PR jack-of-all trades, housed in the State’s economic Development Board

·        A state agency, as editor of their external four-color magazine

·        A state college, as PR/Marketing director and de-facto Development/Fund-raising Director

·        Several hospitals, including city, county, Catholic and for-profit hospitals – both acute-care and mental health/addiction-recovery hospitals

·        All five of the top-five for-profit hospital companies (three as an employee, two as a consultant)

·        A state hospital association, as well as several regional or specialty hospital associations – as well as a number of non-healthcare and alternative healthcare associations

·        Several ad and PR agencies, including five earlier versions of what is now Barnett Marketing Communications

Beyond these varied employers, I’ve had some remarkably distinctive clients, including:

·        A Utah-based manufacturer of rocket fuel for nuclear-armed war rockets in their conversion from rocket fuel to auto airbag propellant

·        A manufacturer – located in Minsk, Belarus – of a distinctive type of asymmetrical centrifuge (developed for the Soviet atomic weapons program) with wide ranging civilian uses from mining to the manufacture of pharmaceuticals

·        The first introduction of the revolutionary Lithotriptor technology – an alternative to surgery for kidney stones – in the U.S.

·        The successful launch of breakthrough 3-D graphics technology

·        The largest manufacturer of digital casino gaming machines – a promotional plan to capitalize on multi-million dollar winners

·        State and national political candidates (with a three-to-one ratio of wins to losses)

·        The most comprehensive natural and alternative healthcare website (25,000 pages of content) on the Internet

These are a few of more than 100 distinctive clients I’ve served over the past 30 years.

In all of that time, I’ve developed a lot of useful PR and marketing-related skills, then had the opportunity to put those to work – in the field.  That’s where I learned, first-hand, what works (and what doesn’t work).  This means that, as my client, you benefit from my 30-plus years of experience, as well as from my personal creativity.  I seldom recommend an approach that I haven’t made work (or seen work) elsewhere – suitably updated and modified for my new clients.  This approach dramatically lessens the risk inherent in any new marketing or promotion campaign – leading to a faster and more certain return on investment.

In 1972, my first client, Soundlock Company of Hazelhurst Georgia (in Jeff Davis County – way back in the Piney Woods), was experiencing a 60% annual turnover rate.  This hurt productivity and impacted profit margins.  After informally discussing with employees the reasons they (and others) left or stayed, I recommended a program of employee recognition and after-hours social activities (bowling league teams, softball teams, etc.) and suggested that the company make sure that needed employees had non-work reasons to stay.  I reasoned that nobody would resign during softball season if they’re on the team. 

While this plan was not exactly rocket science, it did work.  More important, it not only launched my career, but it helped insure I had sufficient funds to complete my undergraduate education – a personal necessity for both career and draft-status reasons.

Since then I’ve testified before Congress (twice), giving me the opportunity to influence Federal legislation.  I’ve helped clients successfully launch new businesses and new products, and – bottom line – I’ve generated a lot of measurable, useful press coverage for both my clients and my employers.