Palm Springs, AKA Memory Lane

I was in Palm Springs Thursday through Sunday, hanging with nine long-time PIO pals. Most of us met 20 or more years ago when we became involved in the then-new California Association of Public Information Officials (CAPIO) and over the years became great friends for life.

On my way out of town on Sunday, I stopped by some of my old haunts and took some photos to share with you.

My children and I lived in Palm Springs for a few years before they flew the coop and I moved to Pasadena.

I loved living at 225 N. Orchid Tree Lane in the Sunrise Park neighborhood. It's a classic 1958 Alexander Home, a style that is iconic in Palm Springs. Many of the Hollywood elite of the '50s and '60s lived in this neighborhood.


Hey, it's for sale! $399,000 moves you in. Three bedrooms, two baths, living room, family room, circular driveway, plus a big pool and grapefruit trees in back.

We moved to Palm Springs from Walnut Creek because my friend Jan Curran had gotten a job as a senior account executive at The Jones Agency. We had worked together at a little agency in Lafayette, near Walnut Creek. When she told Palm Springs kingpin Milton W. Jones, president of The Jones Agency and publisher of Palm Springs Life Magazine, about me and explained that she and I were a dynamic duo, he flew me down at his expense, put me up for a couple of days, grilled me to the max about my experience and hired me as a senior AE.

So Jan and I continued our working relationship and our friendship at this building, owned by Milt. You can't tell from the boxy front of the building, but The Jones Agency is on the second floor. My office had a sliding glass door behind the desk that led to an inner courtyard with lush gardens and a big fountain. It was pretty nice.


(Side note: As I write this on Tuesday night, I just got off the phone with Jan and we agreed that we worked for a couple of freaks of nature!)

At The Jones Agency I developed major campaigns for clients including Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, The Living Desert and Las Casuelas Terraza. After I led an international tourism marketing campaign for my client the City of Palm Springs, the city made me an offer I couldn't refuse. That's when I first became a PIO for local government.

Speaking of iconic desert architecture, I worked here at Palm Springs City Hall.


My office was straight across the front lobby.

The mayor when I first worked there was the beloved Frank Bogert, an honest-to-goodness cowboy who became a PR man and photographer and was largely responsible for putting Palm Springs on the map as a celebrity playground during Hollywood's golden age.

About 20 years ago the city commissioned a sculptor to create bronze statue of Mayor Bogert. It stands in front of City Hall.


He was very kind to me and a pleasure to work with. After he left office he hired me to edit his book "Palm Springs: The First Hundred Years" and we had great fun working on it together. That book sits on my coffee table to this day and I cherish the inscription he wrote to me.

Sonny Bono ran against Mayor Bogert in a hotly contested race. During the campaign, Sonny often compared himself to Clint Eastwood, who was the mayor of Carmel at the time.

I'll never forget Mayor Bogert's most famous quote: "Comparing Sonny to Clint is like comparing chicken shit to chicken salad."

Sonny won, and at City Hall we prepared for the inevitable culture shock. I hit the ground running on a massive learning curve to soak up everything I could about entertainment media, with Sonny's help of course. He also taught me a lot about promotion. He started the Palm Springs Film Festival from nothing but his movie industry contacts, and I'm proud to say the first meeting was in my office! Those were heady times, I tell you.

To this day I can write his signature flawlessly, which I did on countless promotional t-shirts, posters and other items that were sent far and wide, in the U.S. and abroad. (I just tested my forgery skills and I've still got it!) That merchandise added a lot of money to the city's coffers.


I learned of Sonny's tragic death when a friend called me from Palm Springs before it even hit the media. By then I worked for the City of Pasadena. God, it was just horrible and it's still hard to believe. I immediately wrote a note to his wife Mary, who used to always stop by my office at Palm Springs City Hall for a chat when she made her daily visit with their then-baby boy Chesare.

That's my trip down memory lane. Thanks for humoring me!

We really can't turn back the hands of time but it sure is nice to reminisce.

CAPIO -- Day Three

Yesterday (Thursday) was the long day at the CAPIO conference. First there was a full day of seminars from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

I went to four, back-to-back, including Advanced Digital Photography.


I learned how to take better pictures shortly after I took this photo!

After a reception at the end of the day with a little wine and crudite and the obligatory door prizes, it was time for the annual awards dinner.

Did I enter anything in competition this year? No. Why? Because I got so busy that I missed the deadline.

Oh, well. The honorees were all well-deserving.

I sat at a table with long-time friends Judy Rambeau Franz, former PIO for the City of Santa Monica (retired) and Mike Stover, former PIO for the City of Lakewood (also retired). I've known Judy for about 20 years and Mike for nearly that long.


The final presentation -- the big ta-dah -- was the winner of the Paul B. Clark Award. This is given, not necessarily ever year, to the PIO in California who, in the judgment of the CAPIO board of directors, demonstrates exceptional leadership in the field through professional commitment, including the mentoring of others and fostering a greater understanding of the PIO function among colleagues, community and the media.


My dear friend Heather Morris (second from right), who is the director of communications at the Port of Long Beach, was honored with the award this year.

Judy Franz, Mike Stover, Scott Summerfield (left) and I presented Heather with the award, which came as a big surprise to her. Heather is humble that way. When this picture was taken we couldn't find Mike!

Judy, Mike, Scott and I are Paul B. Clark Award recipients from years past.

Then I was off to my parents' house in Bonita where I spent last night and will spend tonight. Even though they are happily in Heaven, it still seems very odd not to have them here whenever I arrive.

Home on Saturday, then on a plane Sunday morning to Memphis!

CAPIO -- Day Two

What a treat to spend some mommy-daughter time with Jessica today!

We met for lunch at a restaurant in Coronado at the ferry landing. The ferry comes and goes from San Diego on the other side of the bay every 45 minutes or so. You can see it near the pier in the photo above.

We had a nice meal and nice catch-up conversation, all the while watching families playing on the little beach by the pier and kiteboarders doing all kinds of remarkable feats between the water and the sky.


Here's my baby girl! She's married to my son-in-law John and is the mother of two of my four grandchildren, Kimberly and Steven.

Tomorrow it's back to the CAPIO conference for a full day of sessions that are required for me, including Government Communicator Ethics, Advanced Digital Photography (God knows I need that one), Feature Writing Refresher, and Employees: The Forgotten Public.

The conference ends on Friday morning, then I'm back in Pasadena on Saturday and then on a plane to Memphis on Sunday at 6 a.m.!

CAPIO - Day One

This year's CAPIO conference is at the Hilton on Mission Bay in San Diego.

Yesterday (Tuesday) there were a couple of pre-conference workshops and some of us had a chance to catch up.


Here's (left to right) Erin Blount, communications and media officer for First 5 Sacramento; Scott Summerfield, a principal at SAE Communications; and Michelle Powell, communications coordinator for Union Sanitation District.

As seems to be my tradition, my camera battery was dead so I used my Treo. I'm staying at my daughter Jessica's house in Chula Vista while I'm here, so on my way down last night I stopped at RiteAid and picked up reinforcements.

Heading Off to CAPIO

I've been a member of the California Association of Public Information Officials (CAPIO) for 23 years.

I joined when I was the PIO for the City of Palm Springs and dutifully paid my membership dues annually.

That is, I paid them until I was given a lifetime free membership when I was given the coveted Paul B. Clark Award. Not to toot my own horn (well, OK, I will), but that award was one of the pinnacles of my career.

The Paul B. Clark Award is presented occasionally to the PIO who, in the judgment of the CAPIO Board of Directors, demonstrates exceptional leadership in the field through professional commitment, including the mentoring of others and fostering a greater understanding of the PIO function among colleagues, community and the media.

Through the years, I have sat on the CAPIO Board of Directors, attended most of the annual conferences, taught many conference workshops and made long-lasting friends.

So I'm off again, this time to San Diego where the conference will take place from Tuesday through Friday.

I'll do some blogging while I'm there to let you know what I'm up to.

And then, the following week, I'm off to Memphis! I'll blog my way through that trip, too.

Stay tuned!