Rubenstein Survivors Unite!

You don’t go through Rubenstein, you survive Rubenstein.

Hundreds of shell shocked flacks have passed through the Rubenstein mill in Howard’s 40+ years as top scion of NY PR. No doubt all of us wondered:  a) how did we survive? b) I hope this experience is worth something c) nobody but other Rubenstein survivors would ever appreciate what we really went through.

Oh, the stories we could tell!  And now we have our chance. Check out the LinkedIn Rubenstein Associates Alumni Group.

Valerie Silverman Kerr, a 10 year veteran of the Rubenstein media department, has the idea that we should get together and swap stories and network. When I was at Rubenstein Valerie’s office was always crowded on Friday morning with desperate AE’s begging for a media placement before turning in status reports for Howard’s assistant to lug home in that over sized briefcase. It didn’t exactly make for a relaxing weekend wondering whether, come Monday morning, you would exult in Howard’s single-word accolade that came back on the status report, scratch your head over his begrudging acknowledgment, or sulk from his ire, usually written in big letters, with a bold hand, and an exclamation point in case you forgot that your single and only job in life was to GET PUBLICITY.

Early stage rules: No media (we want to be open), and you have to be a bona fide Rubenstein alum (a fair amount of AEs started their new job in the morning, realized what they were facing, went to lunch and never came back. You have to be at least a 24 hour survivor.)

See my paen to Howard in Strumpette, 7/11/2007.

PRBlogNews Greatest Hits

Forget McCain - Obama, the big vote for top dog PR blogger starts tomorrow, Wednesday, August 6, PRBlogNews against the lame Glass House blog. Click logo on the right or here to vote PRBlogNews. Voting ends Friday, August 8, 5:30 PM EST.

Why vote PRBlogNews?

Okay, I am a sporadic blogger, prone to fits of inspiration, long bouts of malaise, and I don’t do the incessant link-love cirle jerk thing necessary to pump up the social media ratings. I am not even a fan of social media -  I would rather eat a three day old hot dog out of a street cart than go to the Social Media Club.

So, we have a bit of an attitude. This is New York and it’s required. No excuses. We also break the BIG stories, like PR & LSD - a long strange happy tradition and Don’t eat the brown acid. Look around the cubicles of Waggener Edstrom these days and you might notice naked account executives tripping and writing far out PR programs thanks to PRBlogNews.

We don’t swallow the PR of the PR business - Burson digs itself deeper - and we stand up for flack rights when reporters try to assert their delusional superiority - Nocera to PR: Screw You.

Jay Rosen, academic social media pundit and tenured huckster took umbrage with our post: Jay Rosen - I Can Do Whatever The F@#k I Want . Jay’s adult response: Rosen: Mark Rose is a clown. Use that as a headline for your next post.

Okay, Jay, I’m a clown. I don’t take myself, or this business, seriously. See Is there no humor in public relations? Transitive Nightfall. Now with Extra Diamonds.

And the bigshots of the business notice us, sort of, unless they don’t:

Mark, you denegrate yourself  … Richard Edelman

Thanks for being such a great ambassador for PR … Howard Rubenstein

Mark Rose. Who he? … Jack O’Dwyer

Glass House is a corporate blog by a corporate guy who wants to say he has a blog. How many of those do we need? Do the right thing. Vote PRBlogNews now and send a message to the PR Man: we want change we can believe in!