The continuing scan for signs of intelligence and fun in the PR blogosphere 

#4 Richard Edelman

Breakfast with Richard Edelman means sharing a banana, half a glass of skim milk and a small bowl of cereal.  Soon, he’s got the scribblings of a blog post in his pocket and he’s running to catch the subway to chaperone a client, the CEO of a big company, on a media meeting. By far the biggest independent PR agency, Edelman Worldwide ($450 mil in billings), seems to grow perenially through boom times and recessions. All their clients are big but Richard is still the in-the-trenches PR guy, shlubbing off to another media meeting. 

At lunch Richard might let loose and drink a full glass of skim milk, before working out at the Harvard Club. Despite the academic pedigree he’s a perennial student, currently studying Hebrew and hopefully developing the patience necessary to tolerate Steve Rubel. He’s also become a student of Shakespeare, hosting a reading of the Bard (with the likes of Alec Baldwin) to benefit the Public Theatre at his summer home.

Edelman NY headquarters recently moved from its long-time Times Square location to a hot new ‘downtown’ PR/news room. Richard read a Hebrew blessing to bestow even greater prosperity on the firm. What hasn’t changed with a new location: he writes standing up at a podium and he cogitates – the rare, lone thinker in the middle of the global PR swirl.

Richard has been consistent in his blog 6AM, since launching it over four years ago. He has breakfast, lunch or drinks (what cocktail do they make with skim milk?) with some hotshot editor or producer or media exec that results in a blog post with the sort of valuable insight you can’t get in the industry Trades. Or else he gets personal and shares his vacation, if you call a famly trip to a concentration camp a vacation. He was a social media maniac in the old days, 3 – 4 years ago, but he’s mellowed into a quasi seeker-philosopher recently, the Philip Roth of PR (in fact, they live near each other) although he says he sometimes feels like Zelig, the Woody Allen character who shows up in unexpected places. Why follow Richard? Because he’s the leader. 

Richard has answered questions for PRBlogNews in the past – this time let’s see what happens when we ask publicly:

Questions for Richard:

• What would be a 140 character or less ‘on message’ Twitter from Moses’ spokesperson?
• If Iago worked for Edelman in NY, what group would you put him in?
• I had go-go dancers at my Bar Mitzvah in Brooklyn. Can you top that?
• If the name of the firm was not Edelman, what would it be?
• If you could click your heels twice and be anywhere, where would it be?

Blog: 6 A.M.
Twitter: http://twitter.com/richardwedelman
Facebook: Richard Edelman

Who is Worth Following is a continuing PRBlogNews series based on random scans of intelligence, original thinking and personality in the PR blogosphere: #1 tomforemski - leadoff batter | #2 occamsrazr – the Leonard Cohen of PR bloggers | #3  [chrisbrogan.com] – the merry prankster of social media | #4 Richard Edelman – the Philip Roth of PR