Douglas K. Spong, APR
Managing Partner
Carmichael Lynch Spong
Minneapolis
612/375-8555
[email protected]
Background
"I have the world's most boring career history." Graduated from Iowa State University with a major in English and minor in journalism. Joined Colle & McVoy as an AE and, over nine years, rose to
become senior VP, managing director of PR and a member of the agency's board. Founded Carmichael Lynch Spong in late 1990. "I've never understood people who hopped jobs every two or three years. While
none of the bad ever sticks, they can't take credit for much of the good, either."
Management Philosophy
There's a trifecta of agency management: 1) Earn a reputation as the undisputed champion of best practices for your work; 2) attract like-minded achievement addicts to your staff; and 3) represent a
select, but envied list of blue chip clients.
On Industry Awards: "If you covet a reputation as the champion of best practices in PR, you gotta bring home the hardware. Ours is an industry that favors ideas over [budget] size. Remember,
if bigger meant better, they'd call it better."
Clients
American Standard, Cargill, General Mills, Harley-Davidson, Maytag, P&G, ReliaStar, Volvo Trucks, White Wave.
Biggest Thrill
"Waking up every day knowing that I help provide a rewarding life to some 45 employees and their families. If the responsibility of providing a living for others doesn't scare you to death, it will
thrill you beyond belief."
Lessons Learned
"Early in my career, I made the mistake of disseminating a news release without the final approval of the client. Once I got beyond my embarrassment, I personally followed up with each reporter and
confessed my error. I learned two things from this: One, never assume anything when it comes to the client. Get as many approvals in writing as possible, and ask twice to be sure. Second, I learned
that people are very forgiving. A little piece of humble pie goes a long way in building rapport with the news media."
Competitive Edge
"I have all our client stocks set up on the Motley Fool and track them on a daily basis. It's smart to know the performance of a client's stock before having lunch with the CEO."