Pirozzolo Company Public Relations

Veterans Deliver Job Skills Employers Often Miss —Like Leadership, Commitment and Innovation

November 11. Veterans Day—A day set aside to honor those of us who served in the armed forces. There will be parades, flag waving, speeches, ceremonies dedicated to American military people and there’ll even be free pizza and coffee at chain restaurants.

 As well as the occasional: “Thank you for your service,” from fellow Americans.

I can't think of a better way to honor and thank our veterans, than to make sure they come home to a job that recognizes the skills they acquired in the military. Things have changed for the better. When Vietnam veterans returned, we met resistance from potential employers who wrongly claimed military people are too regimented, unfamiliar with latest civilian technology, and can’t think for themselves. Sometimes, opposition to the war resulted in opposition to veterans.

There were also creative ways of calling vets “losers” back then. In one case, a reporter for The Boston Herald wrote that she went to the Pine Street Inn – a Boston homeless shelter — to get “the veterans’ point of view.” Never mind that John Kerry and the CEO of State Street Bank were veterans, who were hardly residing at the Pine Street Inn.

During a job interview, a potential employer discounted my entire military experience by asking: “Don’t you feel your career doesn't really start until after the service?”

It was as if my four years in the U.S. Air Force didn’t exist. Fortunately, I learned my craft, public relations and journalism, in the Air Force through formal schooling, at the Defense Information Officers School (DINFOS), and on-the-job training. The Worcester Telegram & Gazette recognized my capability and hired me right away. A year later the late Jack Star, who headed up PR at Boston University, hired me for the international media relations skills I acquired as an Air Force press officer in Saigon.

In addition to specific job skills, Veterans come home with general leadership and management skills, and other qualities that are a huge benefit to civilian employers.

Leadership. Whether officer or enlisted, the military does not hold back when it comes to putting you in charge and, often in situations that are way above the job description. To be sure, I made plenty of mistakes when I was a second lieutenant, but the most valuable lessons I learned was to listen and learn from the enlisted folks who had years of experience and technical skills far superior to mine.

Military people take an oath. Most folks don’t go around thinking about the oath they took when the signed up, but it underscores commitment. In a nutshell, once a soldier signs up, he or she can’t say, “I quit” and walk out on the boss or colleagues.

Diversity and equal rights. The armed forces are not without problems when it comes to gender and race and, in most cases, commanders deal with sexual misconduct and discrimination quickly and definitively. Nevertheless, the military has been way out in front on race relations that began with the full integration of our armed forces after World War II and ongoing efforts since then that include the integration of the LGBT community into the military.

Simply put, rank matters. Race and sex do not. No one tells the female lieutenant to make coffee or the African-American captain to make photocopies!

The ability to improvise. When a four-man squad goes on patrol, there may be command and control from headquarters, but the squad leader, probably a young 20ish soldier, will make hundreds of life-and-death decisions to complete the mission and return everyone safely.

Completed staff work “Hey boss what do you want me to do now?” Putting the monkey on the boss’s back is no-no in the military as the armed forces adhere to the doctrine of completed staff work .

When a team has a job to do, the job is completed totally before presenting the results to the commander or superior who delegated the responsibility. Of course, not every project goes according to plan and obstacles come up. In those cases, the presentation has to be sufficiently complete so that, if more information is needed, all a supervisor has to do is sign a request.

One of the hard-and-fast rules team members learn is they cannot go directly to their supervisor to get partial approval, or to lobby for their own solution to the problem. This cuts down on a lot of office politicking and backbiting.

Chain of command. This might be anathema to a lot of current management thinking, but the principle avoids a lot of ill will. In the military trying to curry favor with one’s boss’s boss usually ends badly.

Likewise, the military insists that when you give an order it comes from you no matter where it originated. Military folks don’t give whinny orders like: “I wouldn’t make you do this, because I’m nice, and I want you to like me, but the big boss insists soooo ….”

Empathy. The military is often a matter of life and death and people can be together 24/7 where the division between work and off-duty life does not exist. I was always in awe of leaders who could navigate the murky waters of their people’s personal and family issues, while staying focused on the mission. It’s a complex skill that is well taught in the military and applicable to civilian employment.

The Marines often teach leadership through what are called sea stories that underscore the risky decisions and dilemmas one must face in combat such as: do you risk two Marines' lives to bring back few cases of cold Coke, that will improve everyone's morale, or do you not take the chance? The outcome is not nearly as important as opening debate on the leaders' dilemma.

Honesty “I will not lie cheat or steal or tolerate anyone among us who does.” We’ve all heard the mantra, but what it means is that military people learn to both delegate and trust the people who work for them without reservation. If someone says, “I counted all the M-16s and there are 46,” you can, without checking up, sign a document endorsing the count.

Learning in public. From basic to advanced training fellow students may compete for class rank, but they pull everyone up with them. Then the whole team wins.

Can-do spirit. Military folks believe they can achieve anything. After returning from Vietnam, I served with the 253 Combat Communication Group in Massachusetts. We could install all the navigation, air traffic control and communication needed for a temporary airport, while the Navy Seabees, built the runway and erected tents for the whole lot of us. Done quickly and as a matter of routine.

And consider Mike Cotton, who created a surf club at China Beach while serving in Vietnam so that airmen and soldiers could get a taste of home when they were off duty.

It would be great to hear from veterans about their job hunting experiences, how the military helped them with their careers and also from companies looking to hire smart, motivated veterans with a can-do attitude.

By Dick Pirozzolo, Managing Director of Pirozzolo Company Public Relations in Boston and coauthor of "Escape from Saigon" a novel, with Michael Morris.

 

 

Trump’s Tweets fuel tension with North Korea, as scholars and diplomats seek peaceful solutions at Boston Global Forum symposium

Guest Blog By Nguyen Anh Tuan

Cofounder and CEO of Boston Global Forum

Scholars and international relations authorities gathered at Harvard University recently to urge a diplomatic solution to the US-North Korean conflict and an end to the maelstrom of threats and personal insults. The symposium, organized by the Boston Global Forum (BGF) and the Michael Dukakis Institute for Leadership and Innovation as part of its annual World Reconciliation Day events here and in Japan, was moderated by former Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis, who cofounded the BGF think tank in 2012.

Among the international relations authorities were Prof. Joseph Nye, Asst. Secretary of Defense during the Clinton Administration, who called for employing soft power diplomacy to reduce tensions with North Korea, and Professor Sung-Yoon Lee of the Fletcher School of Diplomacy, Tufts University, who offered his analysis of North Korea.

Gov. Michael Dukakis told the delegates, when rhetoric overshadows reason, “a single misstep can turn political brinksmanship into a global conflagration. Nowhere is there a greater risk today than with North Korea.”

In keeping with the reconciliation theme, Nye told 20 delegates and journalists, “Reconciliation with friends means one thing, but in the case of North Korea, there is similar second level of reconciliation possible that means reduction of enmity, which is extraordinarily difficult when the President talks about turning North Korea into a sea of fire and fire and fury.”

Nye added, “We must be careful not to mistake reality for rhetoric. The North Koreans are not suicidal. North Korea is extremely rational — and has chosen a set of means to get to an objective of preserving the current regime.” He emphasized that while there is a low probability of nuclear war one must then ask. “is there a probability of conventional war?”

Historically, Nye noted, “The temptation of escalation is always there. If you ask whether the Russian Tsar and German Kaiser intended a war in 1914 in which they would lose their thrones and their see their monarchies dismembered the answer is no. They expected a third Balkan war lasting for three weeks and never expected four years of armed conflict. Moreover, Japan did not act irrationally,” when it bombed Pearl Harbor. “If Japan had done nothing, the nation would have been strangled by a US oil embargo, so they hoped for short war believing it would be better than certain strangulation because of the embargo.”

While political hawks may be tempted, a decapitating strike against North Korea that seizes the nuclear weapons or kills Kim Jong Un does not seem realistic observed Nye, “Hospitality between North Korea and the US goes back to Kim Ill Sung who, in June of 1950, crossed the 38th parallel,” invading South Korea. Though hostilities ended 1953 with an armistice, both North and South Korea are technically still at war. “There have been seven decades of enmity with 100,000 North Korea troops remaining on the border,” and a highly militaristic society.

The hostilities over nuclear weapons began in 1993 when North Korea violated a treaty by reprocessing plutonium, which they at first denied and tried to cover up. When their deception was discovered, the country withdrew from the proliferation treaty rather than abide by its terms because North Korea believes nuclear weapons are the only way to preserve its existence. The North Koreans don’t believe America will treat them normally if they don’t have such destructive power. “So North Korea continues its tests, which included a thermonuclear bomb five-times more powerful than previous devices, and has a stated goal of miniaturizing the bomb so that, in a few years, they can credibly say they can hit the US.”

Is reconciliation possible? 

Cultural commonality and exchanges can contribute to enemies becoming friends, or at minimum a reduction of enmity. North and South Koreans, for example, compete on the same soccer teams, and Kim Jong Un is enamored of American movies and presumably American popular culture.

Nye looked to other historical lessons, pointing to international security communitiesthat have evolved to a point where there is no likelihood of war among, say, the Scandinavian nations or, in Western Europe, where war between Germany and France would be unthinkable today. “There are few examples of democracies, especially liberal democracies going to war. However, there is also no likelihood of North Korea developing into a liberal democracy.”

 “in 1895 the US and Britain almost came to war,” says Nye adding that, “Britain accommodated the US because, with the rise of Germany and Russia, it could not accommodate instability in Europe and also police the Western Hemisphere. So the Brits swallowed their pride and accommodated the United States.”

Similarly, the US and China fought against each other in Korea in 1950 when China crossed the Yalu River and we demonized Red China. In 1964, the US, under Linden Johnsen, contemplated preemptive nuclear strikes against China, but finally by “1971 with Nixon’s visit to China, the US accommodated China to stem Russian influence and maintain the balance of power.”

Is it like the Cuban missile crisis?

“When The US and Soviet Union came close to war during Cuban missile crisis – the positive outcome was to demonstrate that the path we were on could potentially lead to disaster.”
John F. Kennedy responded by delivering a speech in which he said we cannot continue on the path of extreme hostility with the Soviet Union and this resulted in the eventual signing of a treaty to reduce underground testing of nuclear weapons, followed by nuclear nonproliferation pacts with the Soviets such as the SALT and START talks. “While this led to a set of agreements that lowered tensions with Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin, tensions have reversed with current Russian leader Vladimir Putin.”

To negotiate effectively with North Korea, the US needs a reduction of enmity to assess what is realistic. “Appeasement is not a bad thing per se and there is nothing wrong with appeasement if you have assessed your opponent’s objectives and found they are willing to accept the status quo rather the being a revisionist nation that wants to kick over the table.”

What are the goals of North Korea — status quo or revisionist? If we miss-assess the goals, we lay out greater problems for the future. We did not understand Hitler’s goals but with China we can compete and have strong differences by largely accepting the framework of the current order, Nye points out.

“Now if North Korea is interested in the status quo— if they really want weapons to prevent an overthrow of the regime, a peace treaty will let the country grow economically, the nature of their society will change and the matter is relatively easily resolved,” according to Nye, who is quick to point out, “If they really are revisionist, then given the nature of the region, a family dynasty of three generations and a belief that they are the heart of the Korean people and want to unify the Korean people under the North,” then appeasement is not possible.

Unfortunately, US knowledge and its ability to assess the situation in North Korea is limited. Nye, said President Bill Clinton believed a North Korean regime that was presiding over starvation while a nation across the border was prospering would last only a decade. “We were wrong and should admit we do not know much about what goes on inside North Korea. Additionally, we have a record of failure and of US presidents drawing redlines and Americans accepting the unacceptable.” Nye said, adding, “North Korea exploits the power of weakness and uses it to bluff and take risks.”

Nye said, “I don’t see much prospect in the use of force and we can’t wait and let them have a nuclear weapon. In 1994 we contemplated a strike, but the South Koreans said no. Sanctions may have some effect but not get to the core” of changing the behavior of a government willing to see ten-percent of its population starve.

Add that to the fact that China’s ability to solve the problem is limited because President Xi Jinping does not want to cause chaos on its border with North Korea, so the options are not impressive. “However, a China centric approach with gradual reduction of tensions over time could work,” says Nye. The US would assure China of our limited interest in deposing Kim Jong Un, and China would use its leverage to prevent escalating the North Korean nuclear threat. “The US would then gradually relax sanctions and expect North Korea to integrate with the world.”

 As part of the agreement, the US would offer a peace treaty calling for North Korea to stop testing or exporting of nuclear weapons and for their eventual elimination from the peninsula. At the same time, US would retain its deterrence capacity if North Korea doesn’t live up to the agreement. The best argument, says Nye, “The current policy has failed for 30 years so we could take some risks to get a recession of enmity. I propose this as a way to go this but the administration is not likely to follow.”

The Trump factor

Llewellyn King, a nationally syndicated columnist and host of the PBS program "White House Chronicle," took a pessimistic view. He doubted the status quo would hold and suggested that there would be a "hard intervention" by the Trump administration. This, he thought, could be a missile shot down or some other action short of outright war. “Trump he said had been so belligerent in his remarks he must have directed the Pentagon to find a way of humiliating North Korea in the short term.”

Tufts University Prof. Sung-Yoon Lee of the Fletcher School of Diplomacy and an authority on the Korean Peninsula stated that he is not so sure Kim Jong Un will be satisfied with the status quo. “North Korea is a revisionist state whose greatest threat is the fact that across the border we have a legitimate, pleasant alternate Korea that serves as a magnet for 30,000 North Koreans who have escaped to the South. This enormous wealth disparity between two countries sharing a border is the challenge North Korea cannot overcome.”

Lee, who is the Kim Koo-Korea Foundation Professor of Korean Studies at Tufts, added this trajectory does not favor North Korea becoming the legitimate sole government for a unified Korean state and “calls into question why North Korea’s continuing existence is necessary,” in an environment that has fostered South Korean economic development during seven decades of freedom and prosperity. “Most regrettable is the extreme suffering of the North Korean people and crimes against humanity committed by the Kim Jong Un regime, which according to a UN study, have no parallel in the world.” If these conditions are acceptable, then the status quo is extremely better than increasing the risk of war by a US preemptive strike. Will the status quo hold for the next decade and will more Americans reconcile to a nuclear North Korean state across the border of South Korea?

Lee said he expects North Korea to continue to menace South Korea, kill South Koreans, murder Americans from time-to-time such as it did with two officers they hacked to death when they went to trim a tree in the demilitarized zone or when, in 1969, North Korean jets shot down a US spy plane killing all 30 airmen aboard. We did not respond militarily at the time and then four months later the North Koreans shot down an American helicopter, killing three American military people.

Said Lee, “We have spoiled and conditioned North Korea to feel it can get away with murder. We have not put pressure on the regime sufficient to reduce its aggression.” The regime even managed to hold the US hostage by effectively censoring a satirical movie about the assassination of its leader. Sony, producer of the film The Interview, gave into North Korean demands after the regime hacked its computers by pulling the movie from theatrical distribution. In so doing North Korea was able to censor a nation that prides itself on free speech.

Post 9/11, the US Treasury found alternate ways to choke off the money supply to Iran by targeting the banks it dealt with in a bid to get their leaders to the bargaining table. The strategy worked and Lee suggested employing the same treatment with banks doing business with North Korea. Simply put, the US gives the bank a choice, continue doing business with North Korea or face the prospect of not being able to business in US dollars. The banks invariably agree to cooperate and those that cheat, face crushing fines.

Both the banks and North Korea favor the US dollar over other currencies giving the US tremendous leverage on this score and we have seen some progress on the financial front. Lee also believes China is likely to support these measures. “Awareness that this will work is no guarantor of sustained financial pressure. There is always the risk that Trump will accept political expedience over sanctions that will take at least three years to be effective.”

Though solutions to the crisis are not easy, discussions such as those being held by Boston Global Forum, in which cooler heads gather to develop and propose reasoned and peaceful solutions is a step in the right direction.

Nguyen Anh Tuan, author cofounded Boston Global Forum with Michael Dukakis

Established in 2012, The Boston Global Forum brings together, in an open and accessible public forum, an eclectic and engaging spectrum of highly regarded academic leaders, real-world experts, thought leaders, media experts and promising young leaders.

BGF’s mission is to identify emerging threats to peace and stability around the globe, suggest realistic solutions, and identify possible actions that can be taken to avert armed conflict. The Forum’s ultimate goal is to lessen tensions, promote peace and security, and foster conditions that lead to greater social justice and broader economic prosperity.

Delegates are available for media interviews and comment by contacting the Boston Global Forum press office at 617-959-4613 or dick@pirozzolo.com

Gov. Michael Dukakis, Chairman of the Boston Global Forum; Prof. Joseph Nye, Distinguished Professor of Harvard University; Prof. Thomas Patterson, Harvard Kennedy School; Prof. David Silbersweig, Harvard; Prof. Nazli Choucri; MIT, Prof. Ezra Vogel; Harvard, Prof. Richard Rosecrance, Harvard Kennedy School; Prof. John Savage, Brown; Mr. Llewellyn King, White House Chronicle Producer and Host; Prof. Sung-Yoon Lee, Tufts University Fletcher School of Diplomacy; Mr. Allan Cytryn, Former CTO, Goldman Sachs; Prof. Derek Reveron, Naval War College; Mr. Dick Pirozzolo, Media Liaison; Member BGF Editorial Board; Rokuichiro Michii, Consul-General of Japan in Boston, and Michael Pizziferri, Delegate of the Quebec Government Office in Boston

 

 

Can a Commodity Steel Producer in Vietnam Become a Global Brand? Can your B2B Company do the Same?

Intel, Stainmaster, Goretex prove the power of "ingredient" brands

By Dick Pirozzolo, Pirozzolo Company Public Relations

“Building a brand is a long term investment in the financial health of the company.” Prof. John A. Quelch 

Can Vietnam’s leading producer of sheet steel, pipes and girders establish a global brand since the products it manufactures are components that go unnoticed by consumers?

According to Prof. John A Quelch the answer is an unequivocal, "Yes."

Prof. Quelch recently addressed some 40 senior managers of Hoa Sen Group who were at Harvard University to study contemporary marketing strategies—including the latest global branding principles. Harvard Graduate School of Business Prof. Quelch has just been named vice-provost for Executive Education and Dean of the School of Business Administration at the University of Miami.

Sell the Experience

Prof. Quelch told the executives a brand is not merely a trademark or logo; it is an “experience consistent with a promise.” He explained that when Starbucks, which started out in Seattle selling coffee beans to brew at home, expanded to become a global icon, the company did not focus on the coffee but rather on “providing a safe place for women to gather. The coffee is good, but it was secondary to the Starbuck's experience that customers participated in creating.”

Before a brand can rise to the level of a Starbucks, GE, Toyota, Apple, Coca Cola, or American Express to name a few big world brands, it must evolve through three distinct levels. Explained Prof. Quelch, the company must first have a history and a reputation for quality before it can move up to creating user imagery followed by winning over customers so that they come to appreciate the company values and establish an emotional bond with the brand.

Even though Hoa Sen, produces only components for the finished product—ingredients as Prof. Quelch notes—it is still possible to establish a Hoa Sen as a world brand. He pointed out a number of famous ingredient brands that are respected worldwide and showcased as part of the finished product’s quality positioning— Gore-Tex, Shimano bicycle shifters, Dolby Sound, NutraSweet, Stain-Master and Intel are among the examples.

For example, explained Prof. Quelch, Intel, the maker of computer microprocessors, launched the “Intel Inside”campaign to
co-market this internal PC component or ingredient directly to the PC customer. “Intel Inside” became a catch phrase synonymous with speed and reliability.

The same goes for bicycle racers who are assured by Shimano components or homeowners who perceive value in buying a new

Hoa Sen Group at Harvard University

carpet treated with Stainmaster to repel dirt and spills. Even though these ingredients are not immediately obvious, these brands offer convenience, assurance, satisfaction, product differentiation and affiliation. Rather than Hoa Sen, being perceived as a supplier of commodity steel products, Prof. Quelch said the company needs to focus on branding the experience of dealing with the Hoa Sen and its people. “Brands have value especially if things go wrong. When the computer system crashes, and the IT manager can say ‘I chose IBM’ it gets him out of a jam because he chose a brand that everyone recognizes and trusts.”

A number of brands engage their customers emotionally by getting them to feel they are part of an exclusive “club” such as Harley Davidson and American Express. Their products bestow prestige upon their customers who become attached to a larger family. To underscore the point, a Hoa Sen manager at the seminar said he likes to use the American Express Card when he checks into a hotel because of its prestige, and the feeling he will be treated more respectfully. This prestige comes in several levels ranging from green, to gold, to platinum and black—all at escalating prices.

Prof. John A Quench at Harvard Faculty Club

Though GE produces locomotives, jet engines, wind turbines and even toasters, that single GE brand is successful across the entire spectrum of business and consumer markets. In the case of Toyota, however, the market would not accept the company as a maker of luxury cars until it created the Lexus brand, said Prof. Quelch.

For the most part, new markets will accept the brand as is. However, adaptation may be required to respond to local conditions. When Marlboro entered China it also acquired a less costly local brand to tap into a segment of the population that could not afford the pricier Marlboro brand. Likewise, toothpaste companies had to introduce new flavors such as green tea to appeal to Chinese tastes. “Do not adapt for the sake of adaptation," warned Prof. Quelch, "Adapt because you will sell more product at a higher margin.”

And don’t hold back. When HSBC acquired Great Britain’s venerable Midland Bank, it immediately replaced Midland with the HSBC brand “despite protestations from Midland employees who believed the customers would be put off by losing the old name so abruptly.”

In addition to commanding a higher a well-known brand’s price and sales volume will fall less in poor economic times and recover more quickly when good times return. Additionally, brands enhance employee retention, speed distribution and encourage shareholder loyalty. Added Prof. Quelch, consumers do expect companies behind their favorite brands to have active Corporate Social Responsibility programs to channel some of their profits from the higher prices into social good works.

The Seminar was organized Tuan Anh Nguyen, CEO Boston Global Forum a think tank dedicated to the promulgation of peaceful solutions to global tensions.

The biggest brands in the world are: Apple, Google, Coca Cola, Microsoft, IBM, Toyota, Samsung, GE, McDonalds and Amazon.

Dick Pirozzolo is managing director of Pirozzolo Company Public Relations in Boston, a corporate communication firm serving clients in the US, UK, EU, China, Japan and Vietnam. He is active in Vietnam-US business and cultural relations as a member of The Boston Global Forum Editorial Board and coauthor of "Escape from Saigon."

 

Vietnam-US Relations Key to Power Balance in Southeast Asia, Anders Corr, "Great Powers Grand Strategies"

Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc's recent visit to the White House underscores the importance the United States-Vietnam relationship that has evolved positively over the past four decades. 

Vietnam, a nation of 90 million people, is today not only a trading partner but a key ally in the projection of US diplomacy and Naval power in the South China Sea— a region where China's rapacious behavior over shipping lanes, fishing, and other natural resources, as well as China's building of a military runway on the Spratly Islands has created an ongoing threat to peace.  During the visit Phuc told President Trump, the relationship has undergone significant upheavals in history, but that the two countries were now "comprehensive partners." 

In the  mid 90’s the US granted Most Favored Nation to establish open and vigorous trade relationships with Vietnam, which was seen as a new frontier to sell US brands, get cheap labor and buy agricultural products. Phuc is now replacing the cheap labor positioning with quality manufacturing given his county's nearly universal literacy, education, entrepreneurship and eagerness to learn strategies needed to penetrate the US market. This was evident when I took part in a panel discussion for Ho Ch Minh City's top 100 CEOs a couple of summers ago.

Vietnam has also become a hip travel destination for the been-there-done-that crowd. Some 400,000 Americans and 100,000 Canadians expected to visit Vietnam this year according to Vietnamese government figures.

Over the past two decades, The US-Vietnam relationship has become much more intertwined and multifaceted.  Americans now buy more Vietnamese products including electronics, clothing, rice coffee and oil than they sell—$30.6 billion, with US exports to Vietnam at $6 billion.  Cultural and academic ties are far more numerous and Vietnam has also become the key US ally in maintaining the balance of power in the Pacific.

In this environment comes fresh insight by Anders Corr, PhD in his forthcoming book, Great Powers, Grand Strategies: The New Game In The South China Sea, "This book is relevant to Vietnam, which is especially attentive to shifts in power between global powers in the South China Sea, including China, the U.S., Russia, the U.K., and France."

Anders Corr displays The Philippines Flag off Scarborough Shoals in the South China Sea

The book, Great Powers, Grand Strategies offers the analysis of a dozen experts on big picture approaches to the South China Sea dispute," according to publisher U.S. Naval Institute Press, "By exploring the international dimensions of this regional hotspot, coauthors Bill Hayton, Gordon Chang, Bernard Cole, James Fanell, and others examine how the military, diplomatic, and economic strategies of the major global actors have both contributed to solutions and exacerbated the potential for conflict."

 

 

 

As editor of the volume, Dr. Corr juxtaposes the grand strategies of the great powers to determine the likely outcomes of the South China Sea dispute, as well as evaluate the ways to possibly defuse tensions in the region."

As part of his research Dr. Corr, who is also the publisher of The Journal of Political Risk  visited all South China Sea claimant countries,  undertaking field research in Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Brunei. Dr. Corr has also conducted analysis for USPACOM, CENTCOM, and NATO, including work in Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Ukraine. Dr. Corr is also and active member of The Boston Global Forum, a think tank with ties to Harvard University Faculty, that focuses on peaceful solutions to global conflicts, including the current  tensions that plague the South China Sea.

Boston Global Forum was founded by Tuan Nguyen, who is the UCLA Chair for UNESCO and brought a free and open internet to Vietnam, and former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis.

Great Powers, Grand Strategies by Anders Corr is available from the U.S. Naval Institute Press

Dick Pirozzolo is managing director of Pirozzolo Company Public Relations in Boston and coauthor of "Escape from Saigon" with Michael Morris that focuses on the events of April 1-30, 1975, the last month of Vietnam War.

Dick Pirozzolo Continues to Foster Positive US Relations, Economic Development and Freedom in Southeast Asia

Dick Pirozzolo: "Vietnam is growing steadily every day."

By

Nguyen Lan Anh

VietnamNet.Vn

Vietnam Net, Vietnam's largest online newspaper, published an interview with Michael Morris and Dick Pirozzolo, authors of  "Escape from Saigon - a Novel" chronicling the end of the Vietnam War or in Vietnam The American War.

Click here to read the original Vietnamese language version 

Saigon View from the Rex Bar in 1995

 Having returned to Vietnam many times since the war ended, communication consultant, journalist and US Air Force veteran Dick Pirozzolo chose trade, culture and tourism to establish a link between Vietnam and the United States. In so doing he has written articles and editorials on the reconciliation between two former foes.

Michael Morris was in Vietnam in 1967-1968 as a US Army infantry soldier and returned with Pirozzolo as part of a Boston Global Forum delegation of scholars, international marketing experts and journalists.

Vietnam Net: Congratulations, you have launched the book "Escape from Saigon -  a Novel” in 2017, what can you tell us about this book?

Mr. Dick Pirozzolo: Putting aside the past is a theme running throughout the book whose characters often come in conflict with their ideologies as they try to move forward. Even though "Escape from Saigon" is fiction it hews closely to historical events as it recounts the lives of both ordinary people as well as officials who are trapped in a city once called The Paris of the East.

The Continental Palace Hotel figures into "Escape from Saigon." While this classic hotel has been upgraded and retains its charm, it lacks the famous veranda where journalists and diplomats mingled during the war.

Some of these fictional characters include Lisette Vo, NBS-TV's first Vietnamese-American reporter who chronicled the fateful events of April 1975, Sam Esposito of The Washington Legend who writes about America's involvement and doing so angers US President Richard Nixon, an American businessman desperate to help his employees flee; Jean Paul Pelleran, a French pub owner, who wishes to remain in South Vietnam and continue running his piano bar, and US  Ambassador Graham Martin who becomes despondent and disillusioned over the April 1975 events.

Mr. Michael Morris: We concentrated on what happened during the last month when the Vietnam War ended on April 30. While the action occurs at that moment in time, reminiscences at Jean Paul’s bar and old newspaper stories are filled with historical events such as the partition of Vietnam that prompted Jean Paul to leave Hanoi for Saigon in the mid-1950s, or Sam Esposito who, before arriving in Vietnam in 1963, meets his old high school friend Billy Freda for beers at Mory’s in New Haven right after Billy returned from a year in Vietnam.

The Vietnam War was a major event in the lives of an entire generation of Americans who witnessed the war firsthand and had to deal with its aftermath. In our case, when we returned to the US we became professionals – I became a journalist in New York, and Dick became a journalist and media consultant in Boston. Even though the War ended 42 year ago, it is a permanent part of who we are.

Vietnam Net: As far as I know, a lot of American veterans have been writing about the war and the events of April 1975. What makes your book different, special?

The former US Embassy in Saigon remained vacant for over two decades before being razed to make room for new development in Ho Chi Minh City

Mr. Dick Pirozzolo: We have gotten a lot of praise for creating a unique work of fiction for example Winston Groom, author of "Forrest Gump," said, "Escape from Saigon offers a vivid unvarnished vision of the war-torn lives of people trapped in the capital.”

Casey Sherman, author of The New York Times Bestseller "The Finest Hours" and "Boston Strong" called, "Escape from Saigon … a sweeping saga in the tradition of Michener and Clavell.”

Llewellyn King, producer and co-host of PBS-TV's "White House Chronicle,” added, "Escape from Saigon is exceptional in its authenticity, with descriptions of Saigon that are in the tradition of American author Graham Greene's The Quiet American. "

Vietnam Net: You both recently returned to Vietnam with a Boston Global Forum Delegation of journalists and scholars. How did returning to Vietnam make you feel?

Mr. Michael Morris: For me personally, it was a meaningful trip. I did not know what to expect and did not know what my feelings would be. I could not even imagine seeing all that was new since I served in the country in the 1960s. And, finally I felt very satisfied. Like many American soldiers returning to Vietnam, I came here with an eye toward the future and was very happy to see the Vietnamese wholeheartedly welcome us. They are kind, treated me very well, invited me home for dinner. I was very much pleased with the experience.

Mr. Dick Pirozzolo: I have returned to Vietnam many times striving to cement relations between Vietnam and the United States. As part of my work, I became the media representative for Mr. Le Van Bang, Vietnam's first ambassador to the UN and later to the United States. Additionally, I’ve written articles and editorials on United States-Vietnam relationships and how they benefit both peoples.

Children peer into a US tank turret at a war museum in Saigon

During one of my trips to Vietnam I visited the Cu Chi tunnels outside of Saigon. One of the guides spoke in a very distinct American accent, that of New Jersey. When I asked him about it, he explained, “During the war, we took everything the Americans brought here including English which I got from listening to the US Armed Forces Radio and TV.”

 A fictionalized version of that tour guide appears in "Escape from Saigon,” arguing with one of the American characters over who in 1975 was the best pitcher in American baseball.

Vietnam Net: “Although we should not be not allowed to forget history we must live for the future.” What do you think of the message?

Mr. Dick Pirozzolo: The war ended 42 years ago, and I am confident that we are on track to further tighten relationships between the US and Vietnam. Those who are 30 years old or younger, know Vietnam only as a developing country, not a war and, overall, two-thirds of Americans were born after the war ended on April 30, 1975. This is similar to the Vietnam where 60 percent of the population was born after that historic milestone.

Since the 1990s, Americans have seen Vietnam as a market to promote brands and as a travel destination. According to government statistics, 400,000 people in the United States and 100,000 people in Canada are expected to travel to Vietnam this year.

Vietnam Net: Did you know that President Donald Trump has announced his visit

Ho Chi Minh City's iconic hotel

to Vietnam in November to attend the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit.

Mr. Dick Pirozzolo: That is a positive step. I had the opportunity to work with many Vietnamese leaders during the 1990s. At that stage, Vietnam was working to reconcile and begin trade relations with the United States as a Most Favored Nation.  I believe we will continue to develop in a positive direction. More and more Americans choose to buy Vietnamese products such as clothes, rice and coffee in large quantities. Moreover, the cultural and academic relations between the two countries are rich and multi-dimensional.

There is no debate, now is an important moment for Vietnam to become a closer partner with the US, playing a greater role in the maintenance of peace and stability in the region and the balance of power in the Pacific

Mr. Michael Morris: Economic relations are a very important bridge in international relations. I know American companies are increasingly looking to Vietnam to do business, and in so doing will help to boost your economy.

More people from our generation, veterans have brought their children and loved ones to witness Vietnam with their own eyes—a country that has a significant place in American history.

“Escape from Saigon – a Novel” is available on Amazon.com.

 

Trendy shops and cafés are emerging in Ho Chi Minh City

All images appearing in this article are protected by Copyright ©2017 Dick Pirozzolo. All rights reserved.

On Letting Go - to Move Ahead by The Rev. Sarah Robbins-Cole

It was a distinct honor to have been included in the Easter Sunday homily at St. Michael's Episcopal Church, in Holliston, Mass.

Earlier last week, I was chatting with Sarah—my friend and neighbor—who is otherwise known as The Rev. Sarah Robbins Cole. She told me she was working on her sermon for Easter Sunday, the theme was letting go. I suppose the idea is there cannot be rebirth without letting go of those things that tie us to the past.

"Any thoughts?" she inquired. 

Not missing a chance to plug "Escape from Saigon - a Novel," I mentioned that "letting go" is a theme running loosely throughout the story.  

The struggle with letting go is voiced by Billy Freda, the high school friend, who has to let go of the moment he scored the winning point in the championship game, US Ambassador Graham Martin who cannot let go of South Vietnam that had become intertwined with his identity, the reporters who devoted their youth to covering the war and have to find a new life elsewhere, and of course, the two Vietnam veterans who wrote the book—myself and Michael Morris, who saw combat in the Vietnam War as a young soldier in 1967.

That war ended on April 30, 1975—42 years ago on the last day this month.

Here is what The Rev. Sarah Robbins-Cole, Rector of St. Michael's Episcopal Church in Holliston, Massachusetts told her congregation about letting go on Easter Sunday Morning 2017.

 

 Easter 2017

Marie Kondo of the book The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing is perhaps one of the best known books that has come our way from the field of decluttering and home organization. If you have not read the book, the basic premise of the book is to get rid of things that do not spark joy. Marie Kondo recommends taking out every item you own, in a particular sequence, and touching each item, and if it does not spark joy – out it goes. She has other helpful hints such as not buying more specialized storage containers to hold yet more clutter, and folding your clothes, for example your shirts, in a way that finding a shirt is as easy as flicking through record albums – because they all are standing on end.

The desire to hold on and to accumulate is as old as time and man. Perhaps it’s because we falsely equate accumulation with security. If I just hang on to clothes, household items, food, photos, books, I will never be in want. Who knows? I might need one of these things later.

Or we mistakenly believe that if we throw things away or recycle them – somehow we won’t remember or value what that item represented.

Or sometimes what is harder is we hold on to emotions and memories - something that has hurt us deeply. Maybe you are holding onto a grudge, or an imaginary contract with someone (that is, unless they do x, I will not forgive, move on, or be nice, etc.,). And somehow letting go would be to admit defeat.

When people have asked me this week what I am preaching on this week – and I tell them that I am working on a sermon about letting go – it has been interesting to hear people’s response.

When I told my neighbor Dick Pirozzolo, who has just published the book, Escape from Saigon - a Novel this year, he said, “funny you should say that”. He is himself a Vietnam Vet, but he said in his research and during his book tour, while he has encountered many veterans who live full and rich lives, he also said that he has met a fair number of veterans who live and breathe their days in Vietnam every day—even though the end of this month will mark the 42nd anniversary of the ending of that war. “After all,” Dick commented, “you are 19 years old, your friends are all back home working in a shoe store, and you are in a strange country, surrounded by people speaking a foreign language, and you are getting shot at.”

But he said, the problem is that what happens to some of us is that we get stuck at 19. Our entire identity is formed around being a Vietnam Veteran and that does not allow a new identity to form. Our lives are dedicated to remembering that time – from the stories we share to the social media platforms we belong to and contribute to.

Another friend of mine, who works with students, said to me, “that is such an important message” because she finds that some of her students cling to ideas, ideologies, and identities in ways that are unhealthy because they perpetuate their sense of being powerless victims in a hostile world.

Or another friend talked about a woman she knew who was the team mom of a volleyball team – and she did everything – she organized uniforms, social events, coaches gifts, the booster club – but at the end of her son’s junior year, at the end of season party, when he was not elected captain by his peers for the following year, she was absolutely devastated. She refused to talk to anyone for the rest of the party and her son never played volleyball again – so attached was she to the idea of her son being captain.

I am sure we all have examples from our own lives - elderly parents who cling to the idea of unrealistic independence, or children who can’t seem to quite realize they have actually reached adulthood, a parent who cannot let go of their adult children, etc., etc.,
The subject of letting go is not just a superficial self-help issue. They are deep spiritual concerns – which come to the very heart of our gospel lesson for this morning. Jesus tells Mary – do not hold on to me. Literally – do not cling to me as I am now. I am yet to ascend to the Father. Jesus is telling her that she must not cling to him because his time on earth is done. And why that is important is that first of all, after the crucifixion they can’t just go back to the way things were – and secondly, the ascension is necessary so that the work of Jesus will no longer be constrained to his little corner of Israel – but will spread to the four corners of the earth.

And it’s not just the idea of the physically present Jesus she is going to have to let go of. If she wants to share in that resurrected life of new life and rebirth – she is going to have to let go of everything that is holding her back – she may have to let go of her anger at the Romans for crucifying Jesus, she may have to have to let go of her feelings of resentment at the disciples for handing Jesus over, betraying Jesus, and falling asleep while Jesus was praying when he very clearly asked them to stay awake. She may have to let go of her bitterness toward a world that allows an innocent man to die. She may have to let go of her wrath toward her own people for their maleficent fickleness – who on Palm Sunday lauded Jesus as King – and then jeered Jesus just a few days later when he really needed them.

But let me be clear - there is a big difference between letting go and forgetting. Letting go – means having a willingness to move forward, to not be stuck in the muck and mire of past wrongs. Forgetting is pretty near impossible, and forgiving can be a very long process indeed.

What we celebrate today is the resurrection. We celebrate that when one thing ends – and when we let go and give it to God, and trust that God will do something good and meaningful and life-giving to that of which we let go – we too will live the resurrected life.

God invites us to new life each and every moment of our lives – not to cling to the past – but to be engaged in our lives right here and right now. It is just as Joseph Campbell, the preeminent expert in comparative mythology and religion who wrote: We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the life that is waiting for us.


Along with being coauthor of "Escape from Saigon - a Novel" set during the final days of America's "first television war," Dick Pirozzolo is managing director of Pirozzolo Company Public Relations, an international communication firm based in Boston, Massachusetts.

 

The New Face of Immigration Needs a Makeover

When politicians say they want to staple H1B visas to foreign students' diplomas when they graduate from American universities, most folks think:

Grads from MIT or Stanford with degrees in science, technology, engineering and math.

But it's not all about STEM when it comes to Boston’s international base of talented and highly qualified professionals.
 
Take Iranian hotel designer Afrooz Sahraei Esfahani who was just named an “Up-and-Coming Designer” by Boutique Design for her work with J/Brice Design International, based in Boston’s Seaport District.

Ironically her culture and national origin—which will get her kicked out—is what makes her so valuable. Afrooze is able to drive business to her employer’s Boston hotel design firm and thus contributes to our economy.

Sadly, her parents and siblings are all here in the US, studying and working here legally — she is the only member of her family who is in danger of being sent out of the country and thus separated from her family. 

Afrooz Sahraei Esfahani and Jeffrey Ornstein 

Her employer has launched a time-consuming and costly legal challenge to get her a green card.  One barrier: the law says J/Brice has to replace Afrooz if the firm can find even a single U.S. citizen with design credentials that remotely match hers. 

On paper that’s one thing but the reality is quite different
 
An accomplished professional in Iran, Afrooz brought her talent to the U.S. in 2013 as a student and earned a Master’s degree in Interior Architecture from Suffolk University last year. The 30 years-old designer also holds a bachelor’s degree in Architectural Technology and Engineering from Azad University in Esfahan, Iran. 

Esfahani puts it this way:  My passion for Architecture was developed partly due to the fact that I was born and grew up in Esfahan, a city with historical architecture dating back 600 years or more. I was fascinated every time I looked at arcs of the Khajoo bridge, by the harmony and details of its design. The beautiful colors of tiles and proportion of dimensions in Naghshe Jahan square made me more interested in architecture. I was craving to learn how these huge buildings were designed and built so I chose architecture for my career.
 
“I’m afraid her degrees and all she has to offer will slip between the chairs of government policy making.” says J/Brice founder and CEO Jeffrey Ornstein.

According to a recent article in The Arlington Advocate by Bram Berkowitz:

The fact that someone as impressive as Sahraei-Esfahani is still not a guarantee to get a visa is worrisome to Ornstein and her attorney Shane Parker, a US immigration law specialist. “I’m afraid her degrees and all she has to offer will slip between the chairs of government policy-making,” said Ornstein.

Added Parker, “There is a lot of talk lately about how the US should be run like a business. If this is the case, shouldn’t we be trying to recruit top talent and individuals?”

Her firm needs people who undertand Middle Eastern esthetics. “J/Brice Design specializes in designing luxury interiors for hotels in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Dubai and North Africa as well as the U.S. This makes Afrooz uniquely qualified to not only serve our clients in that region but to contribute to Boston’s economic growth and workplace diversity,” adds Ornstein whose staff of 15 employees herald from the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Korea, China, Haiti, and Montserrat.
 
Esfahani continues, “I know the culture and customs of the Arabian Peninsula—including the business culture— and, as an Iranian, I have an esthetic and color sense that is unique to the culture and region as well It’s something one can learn about if you come from Wisconsin or Massachusetts but it won’t be steeped in your bones.”
 
Boutique Design magazine (BD) is the authority on the boutique hotel, spa and restaurant industry. 

Afrooz's story runs counter to the  current heavy-handed, get-tough Immigration Policy that especially targets people from the Middle East.

by Dick Pirozzolo

Managing Director 

Pirozzolo Company Public Relations

Boston, Massachusetts

The Boston Globe Business Page: What Publicity Seeking CEOs Need to Know

“Our job is not to promote companies or individuals. We’re not here to make people feel good.” Larry Edelman, Boston Globe business editor, told PR pros at the Globe’s soon-to-be-closed newsroom and printing plant on Morrissey Boulevard.

As Edelman explained to Boston Public Relations Society of America members, The Globe no longer focuses on information that is available elsewhere such as stock summations. “We now live or die on exclusive news,” citing the two-hour leg up his paper got on news about GE moving to Boston. The story garnered 125,000 page views during that time period. GE’s Boston decision Edelman added, “had a lot to do with the schools here and tons of talent.”

GE aside, Andrew Caffrey, deputy business editor, told the group, “We used to cover the tall skyscraper figures of business,” such as Fidelity, to which the Globe had two full-time reporters assigned. “Now, younger, up-and-coming local business owners are getting more attention.”

“So much great stuff is going on with small companies,” said Edelman adding that the industry hot buttons for his department are health, life sciences, real estate development, energy and higher education.

For publicity-seeking CEOs other opportunities for exposure exist. High-tech columnist Hiawatha Bray covers the spectrum of technical innovation and Sacha Pfeiffer focuses on philanthropic young entrepreneurs. Five Things is a regular feature on what you need to know about just about everything. Recent Five Things columns covered home interiors and online marketing wiz Larry Kim who founded WordStream.

Like every US paper with ironically named Web presses the length of three football fields and boxy delivery trucks that look they belong in a Gasoline Alley, comic strip, The Boston Globe is carving out its place in a digital world. The Globe continues to produce a print product that has to be tossed on people’s doorsteps before their first cup of coffee or it’ll be hell to pay. That was born out when the Globe’s contract with its home delivery contractor got messed up and the papers didn’t show up. Reporters even volunteered to become carriers.

Despite complaints and cancellations by print edition subscribers, the future is heading away from ink on paper. The number of digital subscribers has been steadily increasing over the past few years and print subscribers are growing older. The Globe editorial staff is moving to downtown Boston and the printing will be done at a facility in Taunton that will offer printing to other publications.

When the trend toward digital news delivery began, The Globe created Boston.com, giving away its content to keep readers in the fold. Eventually the owners made a decision that, online or not, if readers want quality journalism they will have to pay for it. A prime example is the Globe’sSpotlight Team that remains intact despite overall cuts in newsroom staffing. The investigative team inspired the critically acclaimed motion picture Spotlight.

Boston.com has now been cut loose as a separate online publication with its own newsroom staff, collocated with The Globe. The Globe pushes online subscriptions, with readers getting five free stories before a pay wall pops up on their screens offering an introductory paid subscription.

“I ride the trolley and I used to see people reading the paper in the morning. Now their heads are buried in their smart phones. They’re playing games. They’re reading the news,” said Edelman.

Observed Edelman, “We get one million page views between six am and noon,” which is having a big impact on reporters’ lives. Journalists used to amble in in the morning knowing they had until five pm to file their stories for the next day’s edition. “Now they have to come in with a story three quarters written.” They have to “slice and dice,” to file online as the story develops. “The idea now is to get what you know posted online, then add to the story throughout the day with quotes from other sources.”

Sports does the best job of meeting multiple deadlines throughout the day. According to Edelman, this department, “Has fresh stuff all the time. They will get 30 stories out of a Sunday Patriots game. The Business Section needs to work on that.”

For PR folks who represent those CEOs who want to see their companies appear in The Boston Globe, warns Edelman: “When reporters call with questions, speed matters. I’ll get back to you tomorrow is no longer good enough.”

Photo: Larry Edelman, business editor The Boston Globe (c) 2015 Dick Pirozzolo

PR & Crisis Management Pros: Can you handle a SIMAD attack?

At the end of 2015, our financial services industry friends — foreign exchange (forex) brokers, traders, trading platform developers and financial technology companies — were hit by a tsunami of DDoS attacks.

Luckily the DDoS or Distributed Denial of Service attacks that recently shut down more than a few financial and forex trading sites are pretty crude. Says futurist Ted Gordon, “DDoS hackers have been around for a long time. They simply send so much data at one time that they are able to overwhelm the system and bring it, and customer access, to a screeching halt.”

The defense: build a bigger a pipe.

For example, FCM360 (www.fcm360.com), a secure ecommerce network provider and managed cloud hosting service, increased all of its upstream ISP bandwidth to repel attacks of up to 20 Gigabits per second internally.

“Additionally FCM360 contracted with security providers to increase its DDoS prevention capability to over 300 Gigabits per second in New York and London. This means we can withstand and mitigate nearly all current DDoS threats targeting the financial services and e-commerce industry,” says Jubin Pejman managing director

But Gordon, whose clients have included NATO and other international government entities, says that while DDoS attacks can be repelled “by building a bigger pipe, I worry about the future when a sophisticated lone-wolf SIMAD terrorist decides to penetrate the financial sector or the power grid for that matter."

SIMAD stands for Single Individual Massively Destructive.

Gordon, the lead author of “Lone Wolf Terrorism Prospects and Potential Strategies to Address that Threat,” sees us “in a race between the destructive capacity of an individual who can inflict harm on the level of, say, putting out all the lights on the Eastern seaboard, and the tools of detection and interdiction that might be available to thwart such efforts.”

To detect and stop such individuals Gordon believes an algorithm, using data from many different sources, will be developed to asses terrorism risk. The algorithm will produce a “risk number” similar to FICO scores that are based on debt collection and payment information and use a complex formula to determine an individual’s credit risk. “The terrorism database will be much larger, include more factors and, if proven statistically and used cautiously, could serve as a predictor of terrorism risk,” says Gordon.

“The data are likely to use facial recognition in new ways. For example, as someone enters the US, his or her passport photo might be matched to photos from a security camera near a restaurant in Brussels that is a known hangout for terrorists and shows the individual meeting with suspected terrorists.”

He added that law enforcement can also be expected to penetrate trading and ecommerce systems to test for reactions. This can include “fake trades” to learn whether our financial systems can withstand a large scale, sophisticated attack. Sources say TJX, for example, didn’t know its computer system had been breached until the FBI alerted the company. And, even after the company swept its system, hackers were able to leave behind a small bit of undetected code that continued to pirate credit card information.

Though sophistication and risk of devastation may increase, motivations will remain pretty much the same: “Greed, terror, or just proving one can break in to cause embarrassment,” says Gordon.

What does this mean for  the public relations advisor and crisis manager?

As PR pros we have to be astute observers of the shifting balance between organizational transparency, access, civil liberties, and public safety. In times of stress or fear the pendulum can swing toward putting safety above constitutional protections. PR pros need to caution clients against overreach. When the pendulum swings back the organization will face legal and public perception backlash.

One of the most fragile and perhaps outdated systems we have is the power grid. Could terrorists or foreign power take down our electric grid, as Ted Koppel speculates in a new book, Lights Out: A Cyberattack, a Nation Unprepared, Surviving the Aftermath. Despite our best efforts to protect our own systems and data, an attack against the power grid will eventually bring down all our access to information and communication.

Think low tech too.

While you may have set up terrific communication systems that take full advantage of twitter and other social media outlets to instantly respond to customer concerns, community worries and employee needs, what do you do if the power grid is down or your data center is flooded? Make sure your disaster plan includes essential elements. Maintain a paper notebook with key political, senior management and media phone numbers and addresses. Establish a prearranged off-site meeting place for management and essential employees in the event of a major disaster. Make sure folks know how to initiate a pyramid alert plan. Have at least one hardwired phone that does not depend on an outside source of electricity as phone lines may be operative during an outage.

Pirozzolo Company Public Relations advises: one of the biggest mistakes corporate chiefs make during a disaster is to respond to media questions that are outside the scope of the organization's responsibility. If the building is ablaze, flooded, or a violent crime has been committed on premises or the FBI is investigating a cyber attack, let public safety and law enforcement officials respond to the immediate media questions. There will be ample time for a thoughtful response to the media on how the company will recover and what protections will be put in place to prevent a recurrence. Learn some simple deflections such as, "The FBI is involved, and we do not want to jeopardize their investigation," or "Let's focus on the fire department getting the blaze under control, I'm glad all out people got out without injury," or, "An arrest has just occurred and, in the interest of protecting the privacy of our employees, please direct your questions to  local law enforcement."

“Lone Wolf Terrorism Prospects,” by Ted Gordon, Elizabeth Florescu, and Yair Sharan, is available in paperback at Amazon.com or as a downloadable PDF file at www.lonewolfthreat.com.

Vietnam-US Bond Grows Stronger Through Boston Global Forum Efforts

Dick Pirozzolo serves on a panel at Vietnam CEO Summit 2015 organized by Boston Global Forum and Richard Moore Associates. Boston Global Forum, a think tank founded by Tuan Anh Nguyen and former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, fosters US ties with Vietnam through cultural events, innovation projects, peace initiatives and trade.

I was honored to serve on a panel during the Vietnam CEO Summit 2015 in Ho Chi Minh City, where over 100 of Vietnam’s top executives and business owners came to learn about American marketing principles and how to penetrate markets in the US.

Since I had worked very hard on reconciliation and trade between the US and Vietnam during the mid-1990s and had been absent for a long time, it was gratifying to see how much tighter the bond between Americans and Vietnamese had become over the years and how welcoming the delegates were to ideas from the USA.

The July CEO Summit featured Harvard professors, journalists and marketing experts. Prof. John Quelch of Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration led the all-day discussion, reviewing Harvard Graduate School of Business case studies covering The New York Times transition to the digital age and its formula for determining how many free views visitors get before a paywall pops up.  Quelch also reviewed Amazon’s phenomenal success as an online marketer, comparing retailing in Vietnam, which is extremely fragmented, to the US. The event was organized by Boston Global Forum, a Boston think tank, founded by former Governor Michael Dukakis and Tuan Anh Nguyen, who is responsible for opening Vietnam to the Internet, and Richard Moore Associates, a Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City marketing firm. In addition to organizing this event, Boston Global Forum takes on a key issue each year aimed at the promotion of peace and security in the world. This year The Forum is focusing on establishing an ethical code of conduct for the Internet in light of the rising tide of state-sponsored and other cyber threats around the world. 
 
When conference delegates asked how to promote Vietnam in the US, I urged them to rely on cultural events—including Vietnamese and Western classical musical performances—and celebrity to promote their nation. One recent example of the power of celebrity: President Clinton’s recent visit to Hanoi was big news in the US and had enormous impact by placing Vietnam in the front of Americans’ minds.  

The close relationship between Vietnam and the US is seen in ways big and small. For instance, you know Vietnam is integrated into our popular culture when Modern Family character Cam Tucker can pull off  a comical bit on how American’s can’t pronounce Pho, the traditional Vietnamese breakfast soup. Cam tries a couple of pronunciations on his adopted Vietnamese daughter's pediatrician who finally quips, "I wouldn’t know, I’m Japanese."

 Modern Family is the most popular show on American television, drawing an audience of 10 million—that means the writers are counting on a huge cross section of Americans to have enough awareness of Vietnam to get the joke. And, when you can comfortably bring in humor, that’s a big deal in terms of a positive relationship.
 

A stylish woman shops on Dong Khoi Street, the Newbury Street of Saigon.

Since the US formally recognized Vietnam in July of 1995 and granted most favored nation status, this nation of 90 million has become an important business and trading partner, travel destination and major ally in maintaining peace in Southeast Asia. Imports from Vietnam are increasing steadily with last year's imports totaling $30.6 billion. US exports to Vietnam are $5.7 billion. In the first four months of 2015, Americans imported products worth $15 billion from Vietnam and sold $2.6 billion worth of goods. Worldwide, Vietnam is increasing its exports of manufactured goods—electronic components and clothing, specifically. According to Vietnam News Service, the export of staples such as rice, coffee and seafood have all fallen off slightly while the value of crude oil exports fell by 45%. In Ho Chi Minh City signs of greater wealth, style and nightlife, especially among millennials, are everywhere. 

About 400,000 Americans and 100,000 Canadians are expected to visit Vietnam in 2015 according to Vietnamese government statistics. Vietnam is very welcoming, I never felt any residual animosity during my involvement with Vietnam over the years. Notably over 60 percent of the populations was born after the American War ended in April of 1975—40 years ago. A prominent Vietnamese leader who was a child at the time said of those years, we just wanted the war to end.

“To put that 40-year time span in perspective, 1985 marked the 40th anniversary of the end of World War II and Americans were driving BMWs and Toyotas with nary a thought and the Japanese and Germans were listening to Phil Collins and Journey. 
 
Panelists are from left  Moderator Nguyen Duc Son, brand manager, Richard Moore Associates, Michael Morris, journalists and author, Prof. Thomas Patterson, Harvard University, Tuan Anh Nguyen, chairman and co-founder of Boston Global Forum, Nguyen Van Tuong, president Tram Huong Khanh Hoa, a major agar wood supplier, Dick Pirozzolo, Pirozzolo Company Public Relations and editorial board of Boston Global Forum and Llewelyn King, host, White House Chronicles airing on PBS.

Click here for additional details and photos of Vietnam during the 90s
 

Two young executives at the Vietnam CEO 2015 Summit. One big change: Ho Chi Minh City has become more fashionable over the past 20 years. Navy blue and charcoal Western suits are commonplace among men and, except for special occasions and among hotel, airline, and conference greeters, the demure Ao Dai is seldom seen in the city.