PUBLIC RELATIONS
Gift toys with logos are part of it. Taps on the shoulder are part of it. Sweet, well-timed puffs from "friends in the press" will always be part of it. PR virtuoso Pam Alexander knows her trade.
Alexander is a ubiquitous presence at megawatt industry confabs like Bob Metcalfe's Vortex and Richard Saul Wurman's crème-de-la-crème TED conference - coming up this month in Monterey, California - where she pays eagle-eyed attention to who sits next to whom. "She's an ectoplasmic version of a perpetual-motion machine," says Wurman. "She's compulsive, but very giving."
But succeeding in the high tech publicity biz requires more than tracking your clients; it also means beating your rivals. How? A recent deal to merge with Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide gives Alexander Communications access to an international 630-member staff that keeps a finger on the pulse of the US, Europe, and Asia. And in selling her company to Ogilvy, Alexander gets more than a bigger playing field. A revenue increase - 1999's goal is $23 million, up from $16 million last year - will defray the cost of developing custom intranets. These provide Alexander's 35 clients access to press clips, insider news, and marketing plans.
The challenge will be to host those tête-à-têtes with moneymen and scribblers while managing the rapid growth. The gifted go-between is game. "Our personality," she says, "is scaling."
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