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It was a few days after famous oilman, greenmailer, shareholder rights activist, Texas billionaire, corporate raider, and Oklahoma State alumnus (but perhaps not in that order) T. Boone Pickens had abandoned his quest to acquire
Gulf Oil Corp. No one felt sorry for him given the hundreds of millions he made in profits once white knight Chevron arrived to rescue the beleaguered oil company.
I was riding down Fifth Avenue in the back of the limousine with Boone and Bea, his wife at the time. My role during the takeover attempt was to set-up national TV interviews, e.g., CNN’s “Moneyline with Lou Dobbs,” Diane Sawyer on CBS “Morning News,” and prep him on messaging and delivery. The media allure of the stereotypical Texas oilman – in New York, no less — even prompted several local TV stations to dispatch crews for news packages. (Most were clueless about what to ask.)
Anyway, back in the limo we were passing The Plaza Hotel where on that very weekend I had plans to be married. I mentioned this to Bea, who feigned excitement and immediately reached into her shopping bag to pull out a half-eaten box of chocolates. “Please accept this on behalf of Boone and me.
Geesh! I had to chuckle when I heard the news of T. Boone Pickens’ $165 million gift to the athletics department of Oklahoma State University. Sure beats my box of chocolates.
PR media
public relations philanthropy college sports
Posted in People, The Practice , Boone Pickens, Philanthropy | No Comments »
Posted by Peter Himler on 7th September 2005
Wouldn’t it be a stronger story if a celebrity visited a scene of death and destruction without his or her publicist in tow? A private visit, perhaps? Operation Assist is Paul Simon’s new initiative to help those in small towns whose lives were uprooted by Katrina. Oprah, through her publicist, called on the nation to apologize. (Why the nation and not the governmental laggards?) No matter. The image of her mired with the minions beats one of her shopping at Hermes. And let’s not forget about Sean Penn who was asked by Larry King this evening about his true motivation for being in New Orleans. The celebrity parade continues Friday with the cross-network concert telecast fundraiser for hurricane victims.
Posted in Philanthropy, Hurricane Katrina, Paul Simon | No Comments »
Posted by Peter Himler on 7th September 2005
With all the hoops many companies jump through to exploit an anniversary ostensibly to gain media attention, today’s editorial in The New York Times on the simple vision of eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, pegged to the company’s 10th anniversary, says more about the culture and spirit and business model than all the manufactured, celebrity-filled, photo-opportunistic anniversary fare to which we as PR practitioners are accustomed to dusting off and doling out. (Witness Amazon’s 10th.)
Truth be told: in the eyes of the news media, company anniversaries, more often than not, are viewed as non-news events. There’s one for every day of the calendar year. Coming back to Mr. Omidyar, who happens to be an alum of the college I attended, it helps that he has demonstrated a heartfelt commitment to “doing good” while “doing well.” His Omidyar.net, an online community that strives to build a better world, likely influenced the tonality of today’s editorial in The Times. Kudos to Henry Gomez and the communications team at eBay for keeping the dream alive.
Posted in eBay, Philanthropy, Pierre Omidyar | No Comments »
