To Reach All Corners of Globe,
Take a Tip from Mark Twain

In 1906, Mark Twain told a New York audience: "There are only two forces that can carry light to all corners of the globe—the sun in the heavens and the Associated Press."

Our experience is that his words are just as true today, at the beginning of the 21st century, as they were in 1906.

One of our clients sought public appreciation for the need to consult neighbors about uses for a large parcel of land purchased by the City of Lake Forest on Chicago’s North Shore.

To prove their point, the neighbors sued the Lake Forest Symphony to stop music lessons planned on the site. They had nothing against music lessons, but the City had leased land to the Symphony without consulting the neighbors.

Our efforts brought the story to the attention of a reporter in the Chicago bureau of the Associated Press. She conducted a 45-minute interview with our client, then sent a story worldwide.

At first, you may wonder about the usefulness of a story published in Iowa, Oregon, or Florida in helping achieve our client’s objectives.

We did, too, until a Lake Forest Alderman told a neighborhood meeting how she felt when boarding a plane in Barcelona to return home from a European vacation. Right there in the international edition of the USA Today the flight attendant handed her was an Associated Press story datelined Lake Forest.

Her constituents were very upset, and she had better get home and listen to them.