I attend a ton of business conferences, networking events and the like, and it’s rare I walk away in awe as I did today. I spent half the day today at a pre-opening for New York’s famed Plaza Hotel – A business conference intended to encourage business between America and Israel.

Walking into the Plaza in itself was an amazing experience – After all the high-profile renovations and issues, and a few years of it being closed, simply looking around one felt like a part of history (and this separate from the photos of Marilyn Monroe, various Presidents, etc. emerging from the Plaza in years past)…

In any case, for me the most amazing part was listening to a speech by Yitzchak Tshuva, the owner of the hotel and described by Forbes Magazine as one of the 400 richest people in the world… An amazing speech he gave about the overcoming of diversity, and purchasing of the Plaza (and I can never sit still long enough to listen to a speech)…

Simply fascinating story (He is described in the Israeli media as Cinderella) – His story began in a small city in Israel in a single room where his penniless family of 11 lived… and in any case, there was a brief video of the history of his purchasing of the Plaza – Replete with demonstrations, press conferences, photo-ops and the like. Simply amazing what this man has persevered through (All of this set to “I DID IT MY WAY” by Frank Sinatra.). Amazing self made success story and all the cause for inspiration.

Without betraying any trusts, knowing some folks around him, I know that the man to this day often insists on driving his own car alone, knows everyone who works with him by name and never breaks a promise. Shunning headlines, he is often described as simply wanting to work, grow and spend time with his family. Had always heard of the El Ad Group, a huge real estate development company which he owned – Never knew it was named after his youngest son…. The importance of staying grounded despite such worldwide success.

Simply inspiring for me as an entrepreneur, and lesson for anyone who wants to succeed – March to your own drummer and “Just Do It.” (and yes, I love I DID IT MY WAY and listen to it daily…)…

Follow your own way, grow, work hard and succeed.

Ronn Torossian

5W PR

A few random thoughts and ramblings on this Friday nite @ 11 PM, pre an early bedtime so I can be on the treadmill by 7 AM running (ran tonight also and loved it)….As I have said, sweat always makes one more focused:

1: Watched the Democratic debates last night and at the outset, an item jumped out at me. As the candidates walked out, Hillary walked right to the anchors and “big-wigs” hosting the debates and shook hands… and Obama lagged 15 seconds behind to shake hands with a few people on the edges of the audiences before he walked to the “big-wigs.”. Has she still not learned the lesson that one needs more contact with the people, that this election has been won on the ground, rather than by the traditional establishment ? This election is won on the ground, from minute one (a lesson Rudy Giuliani, my favorite from the original choices clearly didn’t get)… and Hillary still isn’t.

PR angle? It’s a new media world – Bloggers, Myspace, Facebook and the like all count as PR today. The big and the small. THE WORLD HAS CHANGED – IN ALL AREAS.

2: Recession? I spoke to 2 fellow PR firm owners today of firms about our size and we agreed – There’s certainly been a slow down… not a ton of hiring being done, and a genuine concern about spending on PR. All of us agreed we are keeping a close eye on collections, and there is concern. That said, 5W’s business is healthy… and I firmly believe opportunity exists in recession. But it requires continued uber-focus and harder work. Period.

3: Latest Reading? Tonight I read INC Magazine (which I always love and find to be so accurate in terms of relevance for an entrepreneur), Portfolio Magazine (which I admittedly just started reading but really enjoyed), and finally finished reading Khaled Hosseini’s 2nd novel, A Thousand Splendid Sons…. This after reading in a single weekend “The Kite Runner.” Both books were tremendously inspiring, exciting… and a must read for anyone unsure of the true problems in the Middle East.

4: I spent a little over an hour today over lunch with all of the entry level Account Coordinators at my agency and really enjoyed it. I still can’t believe it that I have 90+ people working for me, and find it very very important to spend relevant time with employees. We talked about life, philosophies and general agency life. It was the best part of my professional day.

Ronn Torossian
5W PR

Toshiba today announced that they’ll no longer develop HD DVD technologies, clearing the way for Blue-ray discs and leaving over 600,000 Americans with expensive and soon-to-be-obsolete HD DVD players and accessories.

While I applaud Toshiba for learning the lessons of history (back in the 1980’s, it took Sony ten years and tens of millions of dollars to admit that Betamax was inferior), they still have quite a PR task ahead of them:

Ø Leftover inventory is going to eat into their bottom line and affect stock price
Ø Consumer confidence in the Toshiba brand will decline
Ø No amount of product support is going to soothe the buyers’ remorse of 600,000 owners of Toshiba’s expensive HD DVD technology.

One could say that early adopters must assume these inherent risks when buying the latest technologies, but we all know that consumer Darwinism won’t matter when reporters write about the $300 door stop sitting atop the family TV.

Yet, amidst this PR nightmare is what one of my senior vice presidents calls a “Tylenol Moment.” If you’re old enough to remember, Tylenol rewrote the book on crisis communications and emerged from a national poisoning debacle with minimal damage. Toshiba should take a page from that book and show the public that they won’t leave consumers stranded with obsolete technologies.

This type of proactive outreach – while expensive – would reap significant returns in terms of consumer confidence, future sales and overall brand credibility. Toshiba has a lot of options; smart PR folks could turn this negative into a long-term positive.

Ronn Torossian

5W PR

Valentine’s Day is fast approaching, a day of unbridled expressions of love and devotion towards one’s significant other. Like any PR team worth their salt, the 5W PR folks have been fast at work creating Valentine’s Day themed stories for clients ranging from restaurants to virtual reality. It’s a great time of the year for stories and (pun intended) I love it… so much so that I’m moved to tell you exactly what I love

Of course, while I won’t talk about personal issues, I’m going to give you my list of things I’ve fallen in – and out of – love with.

A Few Things that I Love:

Exercise – If I don’t sweat, I can’t work and deal with pressure… As a city kid, I grew up playing basketball and I have to say that few other sports are as satisfying…. That said, as I age, it takes quite a beating on the body and I have started running and in the last year have averaged 30 miles or so a week…

Emails over Telephone Calls – In many cases, email is simply a better way to communicate. I am routinely surprised at how folks call to communicate something that could have been easily transmitted via email. These days, I use SpinVox (another love of my professional life) so that I never have to dial into another annoying voicemail service again. SpinVox converts voicemails to texts and sends them to me via email.

Sushi – By far one of the best meals I can have delivered to my house or office at the Hippodrome (other than Philippe Chow at which I must eat 2x a week).

BlackBerries – This device changed my life and I can’t imagine being without one (and it’s next to me while I sleep and always with me)… We routinely provide our staff with BlackBerries and it’s amazing to see how quickly and seamlessly BlackBerry technology permeates a new staffer’s life.

My Staff – I am routinely amazed – and sometimes a bit humbled – at what a group of talented professionals can do. From account coordinators recently out of college to vice presidents sprouting grey hair, we come in early, work late and satisfy clients that fired our competitors. It may be my vision, but it’s the sweat of a hundred staffers that produces results. We’re a tough agency to gain employment from and we prefer it that way.

Working Weekends – Yes, I love weekends. It’s the only time I can work quietly without interruption and time constraints. I’ll come in on a Sunday afternoon and get more done in four hours than I did working an entire weekday.

Of course, Valentine’s Day wouldn’t be complete without considering a broken heart or two.

A Few Things I Fell out of Love with :

The Gossips – Somewhere along the line, a certain gossip blog designated me as a target and I usually appear on their site when they’re starved for content. Their attacks sometime irk me, and their latest hire is someone who isn’t exactly a friend of the agency, but the trade off is that I’ve garnered a lot of new business from their efforts. So as much as I have to break up with the concept, I have to say thanks for the memories/money you’ve generated for my agency.

Travel - If getting on a plane isn’t a horrible experience, I dont know what is. It’s simply gotten so much worse over the years that I do whatever I can to avoid getting on a plane. Inevitable delays, ridiculous security tasks . The whole thing remains a nightmare.

Ronn Torossian

5W PR

Competitiveness and the desire to win is something which I believe is engrained in people (especially entrepreneurs) – Not something to be taken lightly.

This week I was sitting with a close business associate – Self-made, in his late 30’s, worth hundreds of millions of dollars and never needs to work again in his life. As we are sitting chatting about life and some casual matters, he fields a phone call – As he takes the call, I get on my blackberry and fiddle with the “brickbreaker” game (highly addictive).

The second he gets off the phone, energetically “Give me your blackberry — What’s your high score?” When I said 30,000 or so, he went into a rant about how he used to be #4 in the world and now in the last few weeks is only in the Top 10 (as people bumped in)…. But I should keep watching the world scores (which can be tracked via blackberry).

All of this from a man who never has to work again (and who post sale of his company when I asked him if he’s happy responded: “Yes, but I am working too hard.”

Simply amazing this desire to win.

Ronn Torossian

5W PR

It’s been over a year since I have been in Israel (Way too long), and as always simply been a fascinating trip on so many fronts – From business development and relationship building to simply intellectual development and personal fascination.

1: Israel continues to develop in so many different manners and wealth continues to spread here and throughout the world that makes me convinced that America will no longer be the world’s overwhelming leading economic force in years to come. Not just this current economic crisis in the U.S., but the continued changes in the world (and WOW is the dollar low,), but as one who spends a lot of time in Israel, people here are looking East and to Europe and the former Soviet Union like never before.

I believe America’s unique financial position in the world has forever changed and American businesses need to adapt accordingly. We certainly have and will.

2: The amount of money in Israel is simply amazing. The number of Range Rovers, BMW’s and high end cars that didn’t exist here even 5 years ago is simply amazing – the high end cars, the amount of men wearing Audemars Piguet Watches (which I am obsessed with). Simply amazing… and frankly the result of very successful technology companies and tons of Russian money, which has come into this country and will continue to drive Israel’s financial development.

3: Last night – A fascinating evening which would never have occurred in the U.S. A friend invited me to a group which gathers at an outdoor café starting at 10 PM on a Sunday where 20 or so tremendously successful and well connected young business leaders (in their 30’s and early 40’s) to talk about politics, business and the economy in a open discussion. With dozens of on-lookers, the owners of one of Israel’s largest advertising agencies, one of the largest political consultants, journalists, an adviser to an oligarch, a major pop star and others from different walks of life but all very successful sat and debated and discussed, and yelled for hours about issues (Can a black guy win the U.S. election – Will Microsoft win in its Yahoo bid ?).

I tremendously enjoyed, and learned – I’d love to organize something similar (and my monthly invite only networking meetings are very very successful… and somewhat similar), but definitely something I was fascinated with and will leave a mark on me.

During a speech I made to a MBA class during this trip, I spoke as a PR firm owner, and as someone involved in marketing (and as an entrepreneur), I spoke about the need to always open one’s eyes and broaden one’s development.

I learned a tremendous amount here as I always do when I find the time to venture away from my desk… but as I always learn it’s easier said than done.

Ronn Torossian

5W PR

As we start to enter an economic downtime, lets hope this proves true for corporate PR agencies as well…

The current presidential race clearly demonstrates that PR has surpassed advertising as the most important part of the campaign, according to Karl Rove.

While the “TV ad man” was the most potent operator during the closing decades of the 20th century, the 21st century is “seeing the rise of the communications director and press spokesman as the more important figures on the campaign staff,” writes Rove in today’s Wall Street Journal.

President Bush’s former counselor says PR’s role has increased due to the “age of the Internet, cable TV, YouTube, multiple news cycles in one day and the need for really instantaneous response.” TV ads don’t count as much as they once did because campaigns have become “so intense, long and geared toward retail politics that people form opinions that are different to alter by early and voluminous advertising.”

Ronn Torossian

5W PR