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| | 02/28/2007
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| | Special Reports and Features
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| | [Actually 02/16/07]: Inside the mind of the Grifter: The deconstruction of Prince Christopher Dever, PR whiz, millionaire, genius, heir to the Edelman throne, Prince of Prevaricatia, by Ron May
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| | Inside the mind of the Grifter: The deconstruction of Prince Christopher Dever, PR whiz, millionaire, genius, heir to the Edelman throne, Prince of Prevaricatia, by Ron May
From "On the Decay of the Art of Lying" by Mark Twain.
Now, you see, this lady's fault was not in lying, but in lying injudiciously. ....
Lying is universal--we all do it. Therefore, the wise thing is for us diligently to train ourselves to lie thoughtfully, judiciously; to lie with a good object, and not an evil one; to lie for others' advantage, and not our own; to lie healingly, charitably, humanely, not cruelly, hurtfully, maliciously; to lie gracefully and graciously, not awkwardly and clumsily; to lie firmly, frankly, squarely, with head erect, not haltingly, tortuously, with pusillanimous mien, as being ashamed of our high calling. Then shall we be rid of the rank and pestilent truth that is rotting the land; then shall we be great and good and beautiful, and worthy dwellers in a world where even benign Nature habitually lies, except when she promises execrable weather. Then--But am I but a new and feeble student in this gracious art; I cannot instruct this club.
+++++++++++++++++
Ron May here. Twain had plenty more to say with wit and wisdom on the subject of lying.
My issue today is not the morality of lying. That is a prosaic topic -- boring to the core. We all know it is "wrong" to lie, but who cares? If you are in PR as a so-called profession, lying is built into the DNA of what you do on a daily basis. I will argue that the real crime is being lazy about lying and we will use our buddy Chris Dever as the case in point. Our theme today is a variation on the old theme of "it's not the crime, it's the cover-up." The reason is that anyone can commit a crime, but the real test of someone's skill is embodied in how well you conduct a cover-up. If you are caught in the cover-up, you really are a boob.
And this brings me to today's story about one of our gone and almost forgotten characters from the dot com boom era. How many of you recall the name of Chris Dever? I bring this up because life has a quirky way of throwing happenstance in your direction. I was looking for some help to market The May Report and ran an ad for such services on Craigslist, as an anonymous ad. Well, along with a net-full of legitimate resumes and solicitations I found one black pearl. The cover letter and resume of one Chris Dever. "Could it be?," I thought to myself. A letter from a guy who professes to have no interest in little local companies, who is on his way to Hollywood whenever you bump into him, martini perched on well oiled, Hawaiian shirt clad belly full of beer? Well, dear readers, it was. And after literally YEARS of seeking the truth about this guy –he literally dropped everything I wanted to know in my lap.
Most of the dot com offenders such as Barry Moltz, Gary Slack, David Weinstein, Tom Thornton, Flip and others have settled down and have stopped pounding their chests before getting results. Now the rule is "don't talk about it in advance, only when the job is done." Dever may have been crashed out on some couch somewhere while he slept it off, but it appears that he has not gotten the word about the "new" rules.
Dever was always a character and a legend in his own mind, but we have not heard much from him of late. Aside from Dever stories about fights, break-ins, looking at the wrong things on the office computer and some late night escapades, Dever is known for his braggadocio in PR as the guy who engineered the notorious Red Herring cover with Flip pulling the puppet strings for six or seven entrepreneurs. That cover was so embarrassing (Dever claims he had no problem convincing people to be the puppets) that one entrepreneur who was trying to raise money at the time told me that when he would go into a VC's office and saw that cover, he would turn it over so that the cover could not be seen. The first question that people asked this entrepreneur was "You don't have any money from that guy Flip, do you?"
Now – onto the main course. Mr. Dever was always known for prevarication and fueled his own backstory with whatever self aggrandizing anecdotes his gin soaked (excuse me, Budweiser – the King of Beers) brain could conjure up. Well conjuring for a living and creating fictitious identities that rival those used by terrorists are two different things. And so, we begin with a little background in the professional exploration of lying.
Here is a link to an article about how lying has become a standard job requirement for anyone in PR.
http://www.bulldogreporter.com/dailydog/issues/1_1/dailydog_barks_bites/2980-1.html
The article misses the boat in my opinion. It all comes back to the old line about someone either being a crook or a fool. Substitute the word incompetent for fool and you have my point. I can live with a crook (or liar), that is part of being in PR. The real crime is lying with incompetence. As one person said to me, spelling correctly used to be considered important. It was considered to be a marker, an indicator of overall competence. So is the ability to lie effectively. If you can't do that well, then what the heck can you do?
Spelling was used as a proxy for overall competence because if you don't care enough to check your spelling, what does that say about your overall attitude and ability? Unfortunately, good spelling has been relegated to the trash bin of history and so has the ability to be a good liar --- if Dever's resume is any indication. I will argue today that sloppy lying is a sign of incompetence and should in and of itself disqualify a PR person.
With that in mind, let us take a look at that Dever resume and cover letter, which opened his personal can of worms. BTW: John Katt, Howard Wolinsky, Jeff Meridith and the countless hoards of disenfranchised "Dever believers" – here is his contact info. Good luck collecting! If I was smart I'd charge a finder's fee for this kind of data.
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From: Christopher Dever [chrisdeverpr@yahoo.com]
To: job-277057452@craigslist.org
Subject: seeking PR project
Sent: Sun 2/11/2007 6:21 PM
I'll get you national business press in a week!
My credentials are exceptional. Everything I do involves results so clients quickly
latch on to me and teamates.
While many have managed media departments, I was the department at almost every stop. As you know, there's a HUGE difference between manager and implementor as my book will show.
I could care less about awards but sometimes they seek you out... PR Week Person of the Year nominee,
Industry Standard Top Tech Publicist,five-time
Golden Trumphet award winner, two-time CIPRA recipient
and very highly praised in the Chicago Sun-Times,
Tribune and Investor's Business Daily.
I've made it happen in all forms of technology from e-commerce-to-semiconductors-to Internet holding companies.
Don't bother reading this ad nauseum, call the attached references. Ask them who's the hardest working man in showbiz, ask them who they call when
short on ideas, ask them why I'm special. In the past eight weeks, I've scored photo features in Fortune, Forbes, IBD and AP for clients with less than five employees!
I'll be conducting media tours in the very near future and coiuld turbocharge awareness. Hope to connect with you soon!
Sincerely,
Christopher Dever
773.857.1118
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++=
Christopher Dever
2653 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL 60609
Phone: 773/857-1118
chrisdeverpr@yahoo.com
Chris Dever PR -- Principal (Chicago, IL 5/02-Present)
Continued the mastery of attaining national media coverage for technology, financial and consumer services clients. Also provide "situational media pitching" for international public relations firms.
divine interVentures – VP/Director of Media Relations - (Chicago, IL - 9/99 – 5/02) (Nasdaq: DVIN)
Responsibilities included consulting CEO/CFO on media relations strategy, conducting pre-IPO media tours, national article placement, investor relations and competitive intelligence.
* Placed 44 feature stories for 10 different units.
* Booked more than 25 pre-IPO media tours in major markets.
* "Synergized" media coverage with client sales initiatives.
* Developed recruitment-marketing PR campaigns to assist clients with hiring needs.
* PR Week "Person of the Year" nominee, Industry Standard "1999 Top Tech Publicist"
Financial Relations Board – Senior Media Relations Specialist - (New York, NY – 8/96-9/99)
Served as the worldwide firm's leading technology media relations executive.
* Led all financial media efforts for several high profile IPOs, including Doubleclick, Autobytel, About.com, Earthweb, Preview Travel, Onsale and Webvan.
* Formulated an "e-Team" of media relations executives throughout the U.S. to better coordinate large portfolio of clients.
* Brought in more than $1 million in new business.
* Cited by Chicago Sun-Times as "powerhouse publicist".
Ameritech Corp. – Media Relations Manager, Consumer Services Unit (Chgo, IL – 7/95-8/96)
Developed and implemented publicity programs for 23 products at this leading regional bell operating company. Launched two of the company's biggest selling services, Voice Mail and Second Lines.
* Wrote, researched and presented communication strategies, competitive analysis and promotional opportunities.
* Prepared PR budgets, negotiated event tie-ins, and tracked all product PR expenditures.
* Managed outside agencies and internal creative services staff to produce advertisements, packaging and packaging components, sales materials, POP displays and other printed materials.
* Planned trade show marketing activities.
* Presented at quarterly sales meetings and worked closely with the sales staff on all promotional activities.
EDELMAN PUBLIC RELATIONS – Sr. Manager, Media Relations - (New York, NY 5/90 - 5/95)
Efforts at this top-10 international PR firm involved developing and pitching stories and interviews to local and national print and broadcast media; handling media requests and inquiries on behalf of Fortune 500 clients; writing and editing press materials; managing production of newsletters and marketing communications pieces; organizing events; assisting with the development of new business presentations; and frequent client contact.
EDUCATION:
PACE UNIVERSITY - December 1989
New York, NY
BA in Communications, Journalism emphasis, Cinema-Television Minor
Dean's List Fall 1989, University Scholarship for Academic Achievement, 1985-89
PROFESSIONAL REFERENCES:
Pete Barlas, Investor's Business Daily, 408/720-2101
Stephane Fitch, Forbes, 312/407-9800
Alynda Wheat, Fortune, 212/522-1212
Robert Berner, Business Week, 312/233-7946
Jon Swartz, USA Today, 415/901-5353
Mark Veverka, Barron's 415/765-6107
Kim Robinson, IR Director, CMGI 312/274-6230
Ted Pincus, CEO, Financial Relations Board, 312/266-7800
Barbie Adler, President, Selective Search, 312/396-1200
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May here again. OK, on the surface this cover letter and resume is filled with the usual Dever bravado --- no surprise there. And Dever clearly does not know how to spell. Is the Golden Trumphet award as he says?
Dever's tendency toward hyperbole can be dismissed as just his unique style. But here we have the equivalent of Gary Hart's challenge in 1988 to the national media, telling the press to follow him around if they suspected him of cheating on his wife --- and guess what? They did follow him around. And Gary Hart was caught cheating on his wife. Remember Donna Rice. There went the Hart campaign for president.
What does Dever do?
In his cover letter, he issues the Gary Hart challenge: "Ask them [being his professional references] who's the hardest working man in showbiz, ask them who they call when short on ideas, ask them why I'm special."
Well, folks, I did just that. I called Dever's references, you know the ones he told us to call.
Dever offers us nine names. Barbie Adler is a client so we can skip calling her. Ted Pincus was a former boss and we can skip him. That leaves seven people who have no particular reason to "cover" for Dever. They are either reporters or as in the case of Kim Robinson an IR director.
Let's start with something simple --- like a phone number! The number Dever gives for Stephane Fitch is wrong. The number Dever gives for Alynda Wheat is wrong. The number Dever gives for Robert Berner is wrong. The number Dever gives for Jon Swartz is wrong. The number Dever gives for Kim Robinson is wrong (you get the message for two days now, "We're sorry, all circuits are busy.")
Total. Out of seven names I am checking, five phone numbers are wrong! That would be a batting average of 28% correct phone numbers, two out of seven.
Dever, who in the world is going to track down the right numbers? And once a person sees that five of seven numbers are wrong, how likely are they to hire you? You're just hurting yourself unnecessarily. That is what happens to bad and incompetent liars.
OK, if he does not have the numbers right, how about the places of employment?
Well, let's see. Peter Barlas is with Investors' Business Daily and at the number Dever listed. Stephane Fitch is still with Forbes from what I can tell, but he is now a blogger. He reports on real estate from what I can see. Alynda Wheat is no longer at Fortune. I verified this verbally with the operator at the firm and also by googling her you will find out that she is now with Entertainment Weekly and has been for some time. Robert Berner is still at Business Week. Jon Swartz is at USA Today. Mark Veverka is with Barron's. I cannot find any reference to CMGI or Kim Robinson at CMGI. In fact, I cannot find any reference to a Chicago office on the CMGI website (http://www.cmgi.com/about/contacts.shtml) and it is not listed with directory assistance.
So, when it comes to places of employment, Dever is doing a bit better than phone numbers with five of seven places correctly identified. Still, how much homework did Dever do when putting his little list together? Very little, I suspect.
Now, for the big question. What do the reporters have to say about Dever?
Starting with Peter Barlas, I did get hold of him. Peter said that Dever just had a story placed with him last week. I assume that story has to do with Dever's client, Selective Search run by Barbie Adler. Peter Barlas told me that Dever is a "cut above most PR people." (Of course, knowing the PR profession as I do, that may not be saying much.) The reason Dever is a cut above is that he understands the issues and knows the types of stories that the reporter is interested in. Dever is more knowledgeable than the typical PR person, Barlas told me. He hastened to add that the typical PR person is named Brandy and has been in the firm for all of three weeks, he told me. She has no idea what she is doing, Barlas told me.
He told me that he has known Dever since 1999 and he talks to him from time to time. Barlas said that Dever knows the subject matter, what the reporter wants and his niche in reporting. Dever is knowledgeable where it counts, he told me. Dever has the maturity that comes with experience and also the industry knowledge. He also understands the investor side, the analyst side, Pete told me.
Dever, you had better take that to heart buddy, because it was one of two references that checked out cleanly
Now, to Robert Berner at Business Week. Robert told me that he has not talked to Dever in three years at least! Good Dever. You have had many stories in the last eight weeks as you say in your cover letter and you give a reference that has not talked to you in at least three years! That's incompetent lying Dever. You are either lying about the stories in the last eight weeks or you are so short of references you have had to pad the list.
Berner told me that he went from the Wall Street Journal to Business Week. He has done no stories with Dever at Business Week, he said. Berner admitted that he had looked at getting a job at divine when divine was hot. He dealt with Dever when he was at the WSJ many times, Berner said. That was in 1999 and before!, he told me. Way to go Dever. The last story you placed with this guy was 1999! Dever was at FRB at the time and he seemed well connected and he knew how to spin a story, Robert Berner told me. Robert covers retail and consumer products.
Then Berner dropped the bomb on me. If I see or talk to Dever, he told me, he wants to get his book back. Apparently, Dever borrowed a book from him written by two prisoners in a Missouri prison called Angola. The prisoners started a newspaper and the book is called Life Sentences, I believe he said. Well, it is only a book that he wants from you Dever. It could have been the thousands that J. Kat says you owe him or it icould have been the $300 that you owe Howard Wolinsky's son. So you're doing well here Dever. It is just a book by prisoners.
The next person I reached was Mark Veverka at Barron's. I asked him about Chris Dever and he asked me whom I was talking about! He told me to tell him more to refresh his memory. I told him that Dever probably worked with him when he was at Divine and that did ring a bell with Mark (who has been at Barron's seven and a half years).
He told me that "it has been years" since he talked to Dever and his interaction with Dever centered on Divine. Mark said that he is also from Chicago and that because of that, he "chatted it up a bit" with Dever. Mark said that his recollection of Dever as a PR person is positive. Mark recalled that Dever ran a group at Divine in 2000 and 2001. I will have to call Karen Andre to check the veracity of that claim. Mark also said that he recalls dealing with the Michael Jordan and Oprah connections.
Mark used to work for Crain's so he and I chatted about that for a while and we also discussed his coverage of Chicago firms such as Motorola, Tellabs and Lucent. He covers telecom and he seemed to know a lot about Motorola. The conversation I had with Mark made the whole Dever project worthwhile. Now I have some national connections in the media and on top of that, I have talked to these people far more recently than Dever.
I also got a hold of Jon Swartz at USA Today. Jon has been there seven years and he was at Forbes.com before that. He said that it has been several months since he has talked to Dever and the last story that he thinks Dever placed with him was six or seven months ago. It may have been about uBid or an online auction, he told me. Jon said that he likes talking to Dever because Dever will just call up to give him ideas and chat, and not just to pitch a story. He said that with a lot of PR folks, he thinks "Oh, no" when the guy calls. He said that Dever is "strategic" in that he realizes that it is good to give something to get something in return.
Jon said that "he is good, really good; he knows when to push and when not to." He said that Dever "has a nice mix" [between calling with a story and just calling to chat where he (Dever) provides Jon with interesting information.] Jon said that he covers computer security now.
That makes four substantive references Dever out of nine names and I had to get the right numbers of two of them, Berner and Swartz. Anyone less motivated than I would not have even bothered.
But Dever, this is a case of damning with faint praise. Your two ancient references (Veverka and Berner) said nice things, but what does it say about you that they have not run your stories or talked to you in many years? Match that up with your claim that you are planning a media tour in the near future and that "In the past eight weeks, I've scored photo features in Fortune, Forbes, IBD and AP for clients with less than five employees!" Where does that leave the person checking you out Dever? With the conclusion that you are one lousy liar. Sloppy and slipshod.
OK, Dever, what is the lesson here? Ironically, you do have good references when I can get someone on the line which takes work to do since you provided wrong phone numbers. For Jon Swartz, for example, the number you gave was 415-901-5353. That lead to a woman's voice mail and I could not tell if I even had the right firm. The correct number for Jon is 415-901-5356. That is sloppy, sloppy, sloppy, Dever.
The first lesson, Dever, is lead with your strengths. The first name on your list, Pete Barlas, is legitimate in all respects: right phone number, right company, and you have placed stories with him recently. After that, Dever, it drops off pretty fast. Two of the people I talked to have not taken a story from you in at least six years (Mark Veverka and Robert Berner). That is hardly a ringing endorsement considering that in your cover letter you said that "In the past eight weeks, I've scored photo features in Fortune, Forbes, IBD and AP for clients with less than five employees!"
Dever, oh really????!!!! If that claim is true, then why are your references not backing that up? If you have someone at Fortune, give the name. What about Forbes? I was not able to track Stephane Fitch at Forbes down and he certainly is not at the number you gave. And Dever, who is your contact at AP? Don't you think the AP person would be a better reference to give since supposedly you have just placed a story there than John Berner and Mark Veverka who have not run a story placed by you in at least six years?!
Dever, you are living in the past. You have two decent references that are current which you should capitalize on and lead with: Barlas and Swartz. Leave Berner and Veverka as back-ups and at least call them so that they know who you are and know what is going on with you. How insanely ridiculous is it that you have not talked to Veverka in years and to Berner in at least three years and yet you are throwing them out as references? Even if they say nice things about you --- with a little memory help, once they recall who you are --- it reflects very poorly on you that you are so out of touch with them. That tells me that the last time you did any real work was with divine.
As an aside, Dever, where is Howard Wolinsky on your reference list? Where is your good buddy Julie Johnsson? Where is Dan Miller, Barbara Rose, Jon Van, etc.? It is glaring that you don't include names that people would know locally. OK, you owe Howard's son money, but the references you do give have bigger problems than that.
Dever, you have done a good job in the past but you are highly inconsistent and mercurial. You are an incompetent liar. My suggestion is to learn how to lie better. If you have not really done much in six years except sleep on various couches in various apartments, figure out what you do have going now and lead with that.
I can tell you this: your good news is so buried here that it is a wonder if anyone can find it. You rain on your own parade. You bury your lead.
I tried to check your claim that you got five Golden Trumpet awards but you do not appear on the PRSA website and you are certainly not a recipient in the last six years! More Dever bs?? If you really got those awards, say when you got them or don't say anything. Making stuff up out of whole cloth is the worst thing you can do.
One more thing: Dever, give Robert Berner back his book written by the Missouri prisoners.
There is a lesson here for all of us. Dever is his own worst enemy. Think about this. He has two current and good references: Peter Barlas and Jon Swartz but he buries them. It is like a reporter who buries his lead. Dever has talent and a track record but he rains or pisses on his own parade. That is where skillful lying comes in. If you are a f***up as Dever is, you can still camouflage your flaws by more clever presentation. Your presentation here is horsesh**. Good luck Dever and thanks for giving the tech community two or three leads on reporters we can talk to.
Here are the correct numbers for those reporters.
Robert Berner, Business Week, 312/233-7946 is really at 312/233-7944.
Jon Swartz, USA Today, 415/901-5353 is really at 415/901-5356
Dever is a classic example of why paying for results and results only would make sense. Who in their right mind would put a guy like Dever on retainer? His claims are so suspect that it behooves the client of a guy like Dever to pay only for actual placements.
[We want to thank Howard Poe for some assistance with this article.] |
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