Margie Korshak on "How Times Have Changed."

GNMAA member Michael Rose and his team at Metropolitan Capital Bank (MetCap) provide a valuable service to their clients and selected people in the community with their periodic programs on issues of interest. Typically the bank invites influential people in to speak to the small group over a light lunch. Today it was Chicago's legendary public relations icon Margie Korshak talking about how business has changed over the 38 years she has been promoting celebrities, sports, and the arts. In summary, she claims that relationships are still the key, yet technology is fundamentally changing the business. The personal telephone call is still the best communicator and, when all else in her office fails, she picks up the phone and "won't take no for an answer" the same as she has been doing for nearly four decades. Technology has had many complex implications. First, television has taken over as the principal medium, leaving print less important than it was years ago. She related stories about her early experience with TV and how impressed she was with its results. Second, even more than before, the news is a very efficient communicator, one story in print or on electronic media saving many dollars of paid advertising. Third, electronic data processing for mailers and e-mails has wiped out the old sweat-shop mentality of communications. Fourth, the immediacy and readership of blogs makes it impossible to keep a secret for long. And fifth, she advises her clients that when they have bad news, appreciate the power of the internet for research. Tell the whole truth up front and avoid the inevitable that will occur in a transparent world when anyone can find out almost anything. Ms. Korshak charmed her audience with anecdotes about clients like McDonalds, the Blackhawks, and the Bulls, while relating experiences working with Bill Wirtz, Oprah Winfrey, and Barbara Streisand. I thought of her this morning when I read strong positive coverage in the Tribune about "Jersey Boys," another of her clients. All is wonderful when one of Chicago's top professionals comes out for a "fireside chat."