Photo Opportunity
Changing the face of the sneaker business has been one of Robert Y. Greenberg’s biggest accomplishments as head of L.A. Gear.
More difficult has been keeping his face out of the public eye--until now.
Greenberg’s Garbo-like obsession with avoiding pictures once resulted in his filing a lawsuit against an airline magazine that he alleged had broken a promise to keep his picture out of a story.
But that’s all changed. Last week, Greenberg was seen smiling for photographers alongside Shamrock Holdings President Stanley P. Gold, who is leading an effort to pump money into L.A. Gear in hopes of turning it around. What gives?
The affable Greenberg joked that he wants to “dispel all the rumors that I am wanted for murder.” Another reason, he added, is because his anti-baldness medication is working so well.
More seriously, Greenberg says he decided to step forward more as a spokesman for the company because “nobody can tell the story better than I can.”
Fun With Fred
Fred Carr, former head of Executive Life, also seems to have been the life of the party.
In a soon-to-be published book called “The Fall of First Executive,” about the life insurer’s parent firm, former Executive Life Senior Vice President Gary Schulte says one of Carr’s favorite pastimes was throwing pajama parties.
“Everyone had to show up in pj’s or a bathrobe to be admitted. It was a typical Fred Carr party. Tons of goodies. An ice cream fountain, entertainment and a lot of coziness,” Schulte writes.
Pro Bono PR
At the risk of catching flak from flacks, the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce has decided to hire a public relations firm, sending out a contract proposal that some PR folks are saying is much too chintzy.
In the proposal, the chamber said it was willing to pay a flat fee of $2,000 a month but is offering “no additional payment of out-of-pocket expenses” by the PR firm.
“The agency will be looked at in part as working on a ‘pro bono’ basis, as it is assumed that more hours will be put into this contract than would normally be expected at this level of fee,” the chamber said.
Some PR executives grumble that it is presumptuous for the Chamber of Commerce in one of the nation’s richest cities to expect such treatment.
But Bill Boyd, the chamber’s executive director, said there is nothing unusual about chambers getting public relations work at a discount or even for free. He said the firms get recognition and make business contacts.
Briefly . . .
Making the rounds: The Salomon Bros. Treasury scandal is being called “Bond-fire of the Vanities” . . . A spokeswoman for the federal prison in Pleasanton said authorities there will consider in the next few weeks whether to change financier Michael Milken’s job status at the penitentiary from an orderly to a tutor . . . They’ll settle for a few hit shows: A recent County Natwest report on CBS is titled “Former Glories Beckon Again.”
