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Sorry, this one’s a little long. If I had more time it would be shorter… Alan said he was “taking a chance” on me when he hired me as employee #9 (I think) at Applied at our modest Burlingame office. The audacity of a tiny firm as agency of... moreSorry, this one’s a little long. If I had more time it would be shorter… Alan said he was “taking a chance” on me when he hired me as employee #9 (I think) at Applied at our modest Burlingame office. The audacity of a tiny firm as agency of record for then-$2B Oracle spoke to the boldness of his vision. It also meant I was taking a chance on Applied, too. He didn’t want his name on the door, he wanted it to be something we created together. And we did.
Alan reiterated over the years that he was looking for “bright-eyed and bushy-tailed” candidates from various walks of life to help build his agency. Alan was creating a family, and he shared his family with us. He orchestrated energizing offsites at cool locations by the ocean, in the desert and even Puerto Rico. He instituted the Applied Olympics to nurture our competitive spirit, and gave out coveted Playmaker awards to those who lived the values of Competitive Communications and Research. Applied was unique in the industry. We moved to S.F. with a front-row seat as Pac Bell Park (through absolutely no coincidence it's Oracle Park now) was going up before our eyes. I became hooked on lattes for life, as Specialty’s was right downstairs. We frequently started trouble. Good trouble. Applied grew to Mid-size Agency of the Year in Applied’s heyday with prestigious awards from PR Week and The Holmes Report.
After many clients, events launches and competitive plays, I left Applied when HP bought Compaq, and went on to work for that company for 18 years. Alan’s teachings and voice continued to guide my actions and career choices. He once shared that he met Edward Bernays, the “father of PR,” and asked him what he thought about the power of communications to drive competitive value (or the delta vs a set of competitors). Bernays legendarily responded, “If my bread is better than yours, then I need to talk about it.” I’m paraphrasing, but this seminal moment helped to validate and legitimize Alan’s life’s work. He went on to do much more and we kept in touch. I brought him on as a contractor and together we continued to hone and fine-tune his system with real-world analysis and plans. When I sponsored and launched a new program at IBM last year, he recognized the manifestation of his system, and on LinkedIn I freely credited our work as the inspiration.
Alan, you left your mark on the industry, and on so many of us personally and professionally. It’s hard to believe you are gone, but you are still right here with all of us forever. less
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Sorry, this one’s a little long. If I had more time it would be shorter… Alan said he was “taking a chance” on me when he hired me as employee #9 (I think) at Applied at our modest Burlingame office. The audacity of a tiny firm as agency of... moreSorry, this one’s a little long. If I had more time it would be shorter… Alan said he was “taking a chance” on me when he hired me as employee #9 (I think) at Applied at our modest Burlingame office. The audacity of a tiny firm as agency of record for then-$2B Oracle spoke to the boldness of his vision. It also meant I was taking a chance on Applied, too. He didn’t want his name on the door, he wanted it to be something we created together. And we did.
Alan reiterated over the years that he was looking for “bright-eyed and bushy-tailed” candidates from various walks of life to help build his agency. Alan was creating a family, and he shared his family with us. He orchestrated energizing offsites at cool locations by the ocean, in the desert and even Puerto Rico. He instituted the Applied Olympics to nurture our competitive spirit, and gave out coveted Playmaker awards to those who lived the values of Competitive Communications and Research. Applied was unique in the industry. We moved to S.F. with a front-row seat as Pac Bell Park (through absolutely no coincidence it's Oracle Park now) was going up before our eyes. I became hooked on lattes for life, as Specialty’s was right downstairs. We frequently started trouble. Good trouble. Applied grew to Mid-size Agency of the Year in Applied’s heyday with prestigious awards from PR Week and The Holmes Report.
After many clients, events launches and competitive plays, I left Applied when HP bought Compaq, and went on to work for that company for 18 years. Alan’s teachings and voice continued to guide my actions and career choices. He once shared that he met Edward Bernays, the “father of PR,” and asked him what he thought about the power of communications to drive competitive value (or the delta vs a set of competitors). Bernays legendarily responded, “If my bread is better than yours, then I need to talk about it.” I’m paraphrasing, but this seminal moment helped to validate and legitimize Alan’s life’s work. He went on to do much more and we kept in touch. I brought him on as a contractor and together we continued to hone and fine-tune his system with real-world analysis and plans. When I sponsored and launched a new program at IBM last year, he recognized the manifestation of his system, and on LinkedIn I freely credited our work as the inspiration.
Alan, you left your mark on the industry, and on so many of us personally and professionally. It’s hard to believe you are gone, but you are still right here with all of us forever. less
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