DETROIT, April 14 /PRNewswire/ -- PR veteran and author Dick Martin will
chronicle the inside story of how AT&T went from one of the world's biggest
and best companies to one of the most battered. He will share lessons learned
in the face of completive threats, market pressures and outsized expectations
at an April 21 luncheon presentation at the Southfield Westin sponsored by
Detroit's Public Relations Society of America.
Martin was in the boardroom and on the front line when AT&T made headline
grabbing business decisions such as the "layoff of 40,000 people," a bungled
CEO succession, multi-billion dollar cable acquisitions and the ultimate
unraveling of the company's grand strategy. He is the author of Tough Calls:
AT&T and the Hard Lessons Learned from the Telecom Wars.
Rebecca Blumenstein of The Wall Street Journal says of Martin and Tough
Calls: "The public-relations gaffes he describes, and the bad decisions, serve
as lessons for anyone interested in how companies should -- or should not --
navigate their way through crisis and change."
Martin served as executive vice president of public relations, employee
communications and brand management for AT&T from 1997 to 2002, capping a 32-
year career with the company.
"In the end, the biggest lesson is a better understanding of PR's role in
a modern corporation," according to Martin. "In reflecting on my AT&T
experience I came to the conclusion that public relations is an ethical
discipline, concerned more with what a company does than what it says. That's
a far cry from the rah-rah brother and sisterhood of the late '90s that dumbed
PR down to glad-handing, cheerleading and pitching."
Martin will speak and answer questions following lunch, Thursday, April
21, 11:45 a.m. at the Southfield Westin. He will also autograph his book,
which will be available for purchase. The program is open to the public and
tickets, priced at $40, are available by contacting PRSA at
nskidmore@earthlink.net or 248-545-6499.
About PRSA Detroit
PRSA Detroit is the sixth largest chapter of the Public Relations Society
of America, the world's largest professional organization for public relations
practitioners. PRSA Detroit is comprised of more than 550 corporate, agency,
non-profit and government public relations professionals. For more
information about PRSA Detroit, visit http://www.prsadetroit.org or email
info@prsadetroit.org .
SOURCE PRSA Detroit
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Related links:
http://www.prsadetroit.org
CONTACT:
Jason Brown of PRSA Detroit, +1-313-887-7216,
brown@airfoilpr.com
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