Welcome back to Thebeerchaser.  If you are seeing this post through an e-mail, please visit the blog by clicking on the title above to see all of the photos and so the narrative is not clipped or shortened.) (External Photo Attribution at the end of the post #1)

In my last post – Part I of this series, I reflected on a past antic by some friends and me when I was in my mid-twenties.  It caused me to both laugh and wonder what I (we) were thinking when we undertook it.  (In that case it was crashing an Electrical Union Apprentices’ Graduation Ceremony at a high-end motel.)

The next incidents occurred over ten years later when I was married and my wife, Janet, exerted at least some influence to keep me from making a fool of myself.  And during these, I was working in legal management, so I also was a bit more restrained.

The Tie That Binds 

I left local government in 1979 to work as the Business Manager at the Oregon State Bar – starting three days after Janet and I got engaged at the Top-of-the-Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco. 

The Bar was both a public corporation and an arm of the State Judicial Branch – responsible for the Bar Exam, admission and lawyer discipline and ethics for what was then about 7,000 Oregon lawyers. (It’s now over 12,000)  (#2)

The Bar also serves as a professional association for attorneys and provides Continuing Legal Education (CLE), an excellent magazine as well as activities and events which are intended to mentor lawyers and improve their practice management.

To help us with the latter function, the Bar was a member of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE)  ASAE was founded in 1920, is headquartered in Washington DC and has about 42,000 individual members who work at 7,400 diverse organizations ranging from the American Council of Snowmobile Associations, to the American Health Care Association to the Louisville Tourism Bureau.  (#3)

Each year, ASAE has an Annual Conference in a major US city:

“The ASAE Annual Meeting & Exposition is where thousands of association professionals and industry partners gather to exchange knowledge, resources, strategies, solutions, and more.

Over three days of learning, growing and finding inspiration, attendees are equipped with a year’s worth of support in their daily responsibilities as leaders in the association industry.”

It was a big deal and proposals for presentations for the 50-minute breakout sessions were to be submitted and screened about nine months before the Conference.  In 2024, the event is in Cleveland and in 2025 in LA. 

At the Bar, we encouraged managers to get involved in civic and professional activities, so I thought I would propose a session at the Chicago conference in what I think was 1994. 

Each of the break-out sessions has about 100 + attendees.  I had not presented before that many people (other than a failed effort campaigning for Oregon City High School Student Body President in 1965…)

As a masterstroke, I decided to ask my Oregon State SAE Fraternity brother, Jud Blakely, who lived in Chicago to co-present with me. Jud graduated five years before I did at Oregon State and made his mark as ASOSU Student Body President in 1965.  I was going to be somewhat nervous; however, Jud was an accomplished and charismatic speaker.

After graduation, Jud served heroically as a USMC Platoon Leader in Viet Nam for thirteen months and subsequently opened his own very successful consulting firm Jud Blakely, Ltd. 

He wrote speeches and publications for CEOs and top corporate executives and coached them how to make presentations.  His clients included Shell Oil, Sea First, Rainier Bank and Lonestar Gas.

Every association executive has to present an annual budget to his or her board to adopt, so I would propose a session on “How to Make a Boring Budget Proposal One that Your Board Will Both Enjoy and Approve.”

I called Jud and he agreed and we both acknowledged that we wouldn’t have time to rehearse prior to “launching.”  I said I’d draft the outline and do the submission paperwork and Jud said:

“Don, you can do the fundamentals.  I’ll be your wingman and periodically chime in with some words of wisdom on presentation tactics and strategy.”

Jud was a high-profile consultant and I knew that one of the reasons he was so successful was his creative and brash approach. 

Evidence dated back to his senior year at OSU when Jud and three other OSU seniors went on what was to be a stealth mission and lit the traditional “Rook Bonfire,” the night before the planned lighting ceremony in 1964. (#4)

A Night Early?

In what became OSU historical lore known as “the bonfire incident,” Jud and two of the others got caught and arrested for “Maliciously and willfully starting a fire.”

Fortunately, the Municipal Judge, one Helmut Schreima, could not find that specific provision in the Corvallis Municipal  Code and our boys were only charged with “burning without a permit” and fined $15 each (Jud’s beer money for the month but he also had to forfeit his student body office.) 

A column from the OSU Daily Barometer (written by Editor, Rich Hansen) expressed sentiments about Jud’s leadership talent and his ability to arouse (?) students: 

“….Seldom has the office of President been so alive in campus conversations or has the President’s name been so often repeated.  I’m convinced that it has been a long time since OSU has had a president so well suited for the office as Jud Blakely.

Blakely is not only an intellectual and dynamic leader but retains those school-boy qualities that make him a human being – the zeal for school spirit and his subsequent bout with municipal authorities (bonfire incident) is a recent example. He drew enormous criticism and even more teasing for that stunt, but in the end it achieved its goal. It revived spirit and got students participating again.

Nevertheless, for the first time in my memory the student body is excited, or at least aroused, about what’s going on.  From the hand-made sign that someone carried to the game reading, ‘Ban Blakely’ to the chants of ‘We want Blakely’……”

I wasn’t sure that our goal was to “arouse” attendees, but I would have an “intellectual and dynamic” wingman by my side to assuage my nerves during the ASAE presentation.

To reinforce that, I knew that even though we didn’t have time to prepare together, I could be confident that Jud would approach this mission with the same vigor and grit that he commanded his platoon in Viet Nam which resulted in two Purple Hearts and the Bronze Star with Combat V while serving with India Co, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines.

The Result

We had a full-house in the large conference room. Fortunately, it was not a late afternoon session, when many attendees, rather than listening to presentations on budget and management topics, would go out drinking at the nearby Chicago bars.

I gave about a fifteen minute introduction and then Jud came up to the stage and the dialogue went something like this. 

“Don has given a good introduction on the foundations of a good budget presentation, but you should remember that revenues/expenses and balance sheets aren’t the most stimulating topics for any Board to hear.

As Don stated, you need to have a good strong underlying message or theme that your budget conveys, but for them to absorb and retain that theme you need to get their attention.” (#5)

Now Jud was impeccably dressed in an impressive suit and a fancy silk tie that he had probably purchased at an exclusive shop on Michigan Avenue.  He then walked down from the stage into the audience 

and

To everyone’s astonishment – including mine – pulled a pair of scissors out of his pocket, cut his tie in half and give the lower part to one of the attendees stating:

“I’m confident that all of you will remember this session and the point I’m making about getting your audience’s attention.”

Well, he did get their attention and then I continued with my presentation with Jud periodically interjecting to emphasize a point or add some of his own thoughts for the remaining thirty minutes including a question and answer period.  (One of these was from the woman to whom he gave the lower half of his tie, who asked him if she could keep it.)

Afterwards, we were having a drink(s) in the hotel bar and I said to Jud:

“I’ve always thought you resembled Coach Bobby Knight (see below), but I’m glad you didn’t throw a chair across the room to get their attention.” (#6)

I wondered how the audience, which included people such as the CFOs for the American Welding Society or the American Polygraph Association, would react to this “demonstrative gesture” by my wingman. 

I was therefore a bit concerned about the participant evaluations which always are collected at the end of each session and subsequently tabulated.

I figured that this was the last time that we would be asked to share our knowledge in this environment. To my surprise (although not Jud’s) we got excellent ratings both for the content and the delivery.  

And I learned a few things from that session:

First – A Marine Corp infantry officer – even though he wasn’t a military aviator – could be a superb wingman.

Second – In future presentations, one key to getting your message across and retained is to be bold and innovative in your delivery strategy although it’s probably best to do that without using furniture to convey your point. (My next blog post will give you an example.)

In my 2013 blog post where I named Jud my Beerchaser-of-the-Quarter, I described Jud’s character and routine as: 

“He’s an amazing guy.  Jud will take a twelve-mile run, break to read a 600-page non-fiction book such as John Maynard Keynes, “The Theory of Money,” then play full-court basketball for three hours before coming home to work.”  

(I should have added that Jud was a three-sport athlete in high school, but I had a better elbow jumper….)

Jud hasn’t worn a coat and tie for fifteen years.  I’m  also pleased to report that Jud’s precious granddaughter, Nylah seen in the picture below, has had a profound and positive influence.   

Now his daily routine consists of walking three miles (although at a rapid pace) and then coming home and reading Dr. Seuss books (although not One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish which is too political…..) and doing puzzles with Nyla. (#7 – #8)

As we celebrate Veterans’ Day next week, cheers to Jud and to all veterans – especially those who served in combat arenas.

Cheers

External Photo Attribution

#1.  Wikimedia Commons (File:Lol question mark.png – Wikimedia Commons) This is a smiley from the Lol collection of high quality PNG smileys licensed under the CCØ license! Feel free to use.

#2.  Oregon State Bar Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=476709637799349&set=a.476709641132682).

#3. Wikimedia Commons (File:ASAE logotipo.jpg – Wikimedia Commons).  This logo image consists only of simple geometric shapes or text. It does not meet the threshold of originality needed for copyright protection, and is therefore in the public domain.  13 August 2015.

#4. Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?search=large+bonfire&title=Special:MediaSearch&go=Go&type=image)  Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.  Author:  Fir0002 – 8 September 2004. 

#5.  ASAE Annual Conference Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/asaeannual/photos/pb.100064402073724.-2207520000/5823248794385976/?type=3).

#6. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (File:Bob-Knight-Nov-21-07-1.jpg – Wikimedia Commons)  This image or file is a work of a U.S. Air Force Airman or employee, taken or made as part of that person’s official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image or file is in the public domain in the United States.  Author:  Airman 1st Class Jonathan Steffen – 21 November 2007.

#7.  Wikimedia Commons (File:One fish two fish.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.  Author:  Ethically Yours – 2 January 2014.

#8.  Wikimedia Commons  (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dr._Seuss_WikiWorld.png) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license. Author: Greg Williams – 14 November 2006.