The PR Week: 10.1.2026 - Jim Weiss, Real Chemistry

0:00Jim Weiss: On this week's podcast, Jim Weiss of Real Chemistry joins us to chat about his podcast, Get Real with Jim Weiss, which explores personal health crises, or what he calls getting hit by the bouncing ball. A great phrase, one that I can definitely relate to, and the importance of preventative care and why GLP-1s are paving the way for the future of healthcare. Jim thinks it's even more important than AI, which is a big statement, and he'll explain why. And in the news, tech titans have been in D.C. breaking bread with Presidents Trump and Xi. We'll talk about the latest in AI safety and regulation and whether that breaking bread led to any advancements there.

0:41Jim Weiss: Not really. Here's the answer. But anyway, we'll dig into it a bit more. Meta has a new global comms lead. Edelman has won the American Egg Board's creator AOR brief. A cracking win for them. Aha. and the Cornell sexual abuse crisis, which we'll talk about, and the launch of the PR Week Healthcare Awards. All this and more coming up.

1:14Jim Weiss: Hello and welcome to the PR Week, PR Week's regular weekly roundup of everything that matters in the worlds of PR and communications. My name's Steve Barrett. I'm the VP Editorial Director of PR Week. Going to guide you gently through another show with my colleague and my co-host, Frank Washgook. How are you doing, Frank? Doing well, Steve. Thank you for having me on. Mate, it wouldn't be the same without you. And are you getting excited for the PR Week conference in Chicago? Oh, definitely. Yeah, this is one of my favorite weeks every year. I love going to Chicago. I love the city, but also the conference gives you an opportunity to see a lot of people you might not see that often throughout the calendar year.

1:57So definitely looking forward to it.

1:59Jim Weiss: Two weeks today as this is published. That's right. Pressure's on, Steve. So I think there's a couple of tickets left if you want to join the fantastic group. If you move quickly. If you move quickly. PR pros there. Got some brilliant keynotes and sessions. Valerie Jarrett from the Obama Foundation. P33 in the Chicago area doing some amazing work in tech. and promoting Chicago as a center. But yeah, it's going to be a great show. And we'll get Frank's input on some of the big stories of the week. But we are delighted to have with us Jim Weiss, who is founder and chairman of Real Chemistry and exec advisor to New Mountain Capital, which has an equity stake in Real Chemistry.

2:45Jim Weiss: Jim, calling in from San Francisco. Bring in the San Francisco West Coast vibes with your outfit it and the painting in the in the background there how you doing i'm doing great steve glad to see you glad to see you up and about it's better than the alternative that's for sure and um that's one of the topics we're going to chat about because you uh started something this summer a podcast series based around this premise and it really caught my eye for obvious reasons for anyone who's not been following what happened to me this summer have checked my blog out sort gives you all the background on it but I had a bit of a health crisis and you've been through some really tough times lost your wife Audra to cancer almost two years ago and such a sad and shocking thing to happen and you came up with this concept which you can give us the history behind it but getting hit by the bouncing ball and it's kind of a metaphor that really struck home for me because I certainly got hit by that bouncing ball this summer.

3:47Jim Weiss: Just talk us through that, where it came from, and what the idea was behind the whole concept. Well, as you know, real chemistry and my background is all healthcare all the time. That's what we focus on. But having got into my 50s and now around 60, believe it or not, you start to see a pattern of getting hit by the bouncing ball. And this was a notion that my first boss, Greg Baird, used to talk about. I don't know where he got it. That was a Hill and Knowlton, yeah? Yeah, that was at H &K back in the day. It was the late 80s, 1980s for those that don't know what I'm talking about. Anyway, I know I look good, but not that good.

4:33But anyway, late 1980s and, you know, healthcare PR was really something that was just beginning, really. We were launching products that, you know, obviously revolutionized things since. But the concept really was that. And I started the podcast, you know, really to talk about what is the most important topic. Nothing more important than your health. And so, you know, Get Real with Jim Weiss is really designed to talk about people who get hit by this bouncing ball and how they manage it and handle it. but your piece, you know, was so beautifully talked about. And here you are, you know, I talked to a lot of people who are, you know, surviving cancer and heart disease and all sorts of things.

5:21You know, I think there's really an opportunity to help people, you know, talk very frankly about those things. And here's the most critical part, prevent the event. Get, you said, you talked about it in your piece people should get the tests that are available um you know know your numbers from cholesterol to calcium score you know to even you know susceptibility to certain cancers you know so that you can take steps before you have to end up you know in the health system which you had a great experience with you know in an emergent situation but a lot of people don't have that

6:02Jim Weiss: same experience everywhere no i was very lucky um to be in new york and at a fantastic hospital with fantastic staff from the surgeons right down to the people who take out the trash and who get you on the trolleys around the uh the hospital because that that's a feat in itself believe me um and you're absolutely right that um it does make you reassess things i think it also So especially with guys, let's be honest, we're not the best at getting our tests and getting checked out. We'll always sort of say, yeah, yeah, I need to do that. And then, you know, next thing you know, you're hit by the bouncing ball and it can be fatal.

6:46Jim Weiss: So, yeah, I think one of the worst ones which I went through was can't, you know, catching colon cancer early. Right. And the way you do that is you look in the toilet bowl. And if there's blood in there, you go and get that test. You know, Dr. Oz used to talk about it, Katie Couric. We've done a lot of awareness. Now there are simple blood tests that you can take, you know, to check and see if you might have prostate cancer, you might have colon cancer. And the sooner you catch those things, the better chance of your survival. Yeah. And it's that simple. Definitely. So I think if the piece achieves nothing but that and what you're doing gets people to get checked out, get people to give blood because that saves lives.

7:31Jim Weiss: And I know that from personal experience. Make sure you make the most of life while we're here. It's not a rehearsal. And by the way, especially for fellows about my age, too, it's like because it's very easy to be, you know, say this generously. between 45 and 50 and say, oh, well, you know, look, they never really recommended these things like a colonoscopy until you were 50 before. I don't need to do it for a couple of years, but you really should. Yeah, no, definitely. It's actually 45. Yeah, that's what I mean. And now that it's bumped up, I mean, it's important to do that. It is. They'd like to lower it still because a lot of young people are getting these cancers.

8:13It's crazy. We don't know why. Exactly.

8:16Jim Weiss: Yeah, and if you get checked out, it can be, it's like prostate cancer it can is it's fatal if if it's not caught early um but it can be dealt with so yeah look that's that that's the messaging that i'm trying to get over here and there's some you know basic practical things that my myself and my wife had to deal with such as what do you tell the doctors when uh they say well what what are his wishes regarding do not resuscitate you know um if the person if your partner or loved one is unconscious make sure your partner at least knows what your wishes are and and vice versa and and you don't have to get it done as a legal document um but just just be aware of it and it's things you'd never think about and um you know as i write in the piece this was much harder on my wife than it was on me because she had to deal with all that stuff um so tell us jim about some of the guests quickly about who you interviewed and and maybe some of the wisdom you got from them were there two or three things that really stood out from certain people from their experience well i just filmed one with one of our colleagues in the business samina barry who used to be you know at many of the agencies and then on the client side and was a client of mine she lost her husband one afternoon when he went out to go pick up a food order for him and their two little girls and he didn't come back.

9:47And she's talking about in this podcast, two books she's written, but one and a business she's starting, which is to help people actually do exactly what you just said, Steve, which is to prepare for these catastrophic events that you don't expect. And it's really good to have that preparation because besides the grief that you go through, through the loss, you must deal with all of the paperwork and, you know, logistics and all of the things that you've got to do. I had to do it after Audra died. I mean, down to changing leases and, you know, you know, trusts and mortgages and all the different things.

10:30And while you're doing grief and trying to manage a couple of young kids in her case, in my case, I had two kids and, you know, to help and try to help get through that. So that's a good, that's a good one to tune into. That's coming soon. Patrick Dempsey has talked about his work opening the Dempsey Center after his mom struggled with ovarian cancer. That's a whole, you know, type of approach, not just about the treatment you get, but all the wraparound care, you know, so it's like, what is the role of meditation and acupuncture and shamans and Reiki and, you know, sort of the combination of Eastern and Western approaches, diet, exercise, that can make the cancer experience better.

11:21I just, you know, had him on and that was an excellent discussion. I've had Misty Copeland come on and talk about her hip replacement, you know, a ballerina, a prima ballerina, who then was able to dance on the Oscars because of that.

11:37Jim Weiss: Yeah, the strain on their bodies doing what they do is incredible, isn't it? Yeah. You know, it's incredible what we can do now, you know, in the medical field, you know, the kinds of things that are available to people like you were saved after many operations, but it's kind of incredible. I mean, in any maybe a decade or two ago, you wouldn't. I think you're right. I've even speculated would I have if I was back home in the UK? I don't know. I'm nothing against the services over there. But yeah, no, you make great points. And, you know, that was I think the feedback I've got is very much along those lines.

12:15Jim Weiss: And then people are saying, yeah, look, it really resonated because of this story, you know, my partner or I had this. I went through the same thing or a parent or a friend and everyone gets hit by the bouncing ball at some point. Right. So it's it's a good it's a good reminder just to you know, we're all living 100 mile an hour lives. And it's a reminder just to stop, slow down sometimes, take stock, get get things in order, look after your own health, you know, and look after yourself because. Right. It's such a great point. Well, the phenomenon we're seeing is that one. Right. You know, America has always been a treatment focused health care system and what we have got to, you know, and we are changing to a preventive focus.

13:04Right. So longevity, health, women's health, you know, understanding how to navigate menopause. I mean, it's not just men that don't go for tests. My wife didn't go for tests early enough. Probably we did. We did a colonoscopy and endoscopy. The cancer was on the outside of her stomach. Like it wasn't, you wouldn't have seen it. You would have had to do a CT. So there's now these things called Prenuvo and others, the full body scan. You know, there's a lot of debate about them, but I'd rather do that. And I had, you know, friends who've done it and found out, you know, they had terrible osteoarthritis and needed to replace their hip.

13:42And they didn't even realize it until that happened. And there's plenty of those stories. So, yeah, it's about preventing the event. And, you know, ultimately, you have one life to live. So we might as well put the pieces together to create it as if you're going to live long, live long and healthy. Right. And that's, that's how otherwise it's not any fun to get old.

14:09Jim Weiss: Yeah, you're totally right. And listen, let's go back to where you started, where you talked about healthcare communications and how, you know, in the late 80s, you were pioneers. It was a nascent field. And now it's 35-40 % of the whole industry. You know, it's incredible, isn't it? And we've just been, we launched our healthcare awards this week. We'll chat about those later. And we're putting together our health influencer list. And we've just got such a much wider group of areas to look at, you know, whether it's wellness, protein, mental health. You mentioned the menopause and the increased awareness of women's health issues.

14:49Jim Weiss: So many different areas that just illustrate how important it's become. Just talk to that a little bit and the changes you've seen over those decades, because you've almost tracked to that journey, haven't you? And the success of Real Chemistry to become actually the, you know, the other year, you were the biggest PR firm in North America. So from the start, you know. Up until we spun out. Yeah, we spun out our ad tech. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. And look, that's exactly, I think, what's happened in the field, the ability to talk about healthcare. I think that's really the big change, the sea change.

15:30You wouldn't talk, celebrities would not talk about their health problems. Notable people wouldn't. And now, of course, they're influencers for every category of disease. You know, the idea of, you know, people talking about their cancer. I had a podcast guest on who literally she's out of options and she's calling this, you know, really, you know, her podcast is about, you know, the grand finale, you know, and and it's really incredible to talk to somebody who knows they may not have any more options left. And they've been through that journey. So, you know, the fact that we're talking about it the way we are, mental health, you mentioned, was never spoken about, never spoken about.

16:20And we've seen every possible advance from the SSRIs, you know, Prozac Nation, you know, we've gone through all of that. We've seen us move from a world of chemotherapy only to now immunotherapy and possibly cancer vaccines, which just got announced recently. We've got drugs for what were known as undruggable cancers like KRAS cancers, like my wife had, for pancreatic and other types of cancers like that that are impossible to treat. Now we may see true breakthrough there and, you know, to watch that. But I think the biggest area and I've said it, you know, I've said AI is talked about as the greatest achievement and in tech and the greatest revolution.

17:10And I say, and others have said it, Scott Galloway being one of them, I really think GLP-1s are perhaps arguably more important than AI when it comes to how we're going to change the world. You know, it could tackle the single big risk factor in all disease, heart disease, cancer, et cetera, is obesity and so many other diseases. So the launch of those products, the movement toward people self-medicating with peptides like the GLP-1s and hormones like, you know, testosterone and estrogen and all of that. I think we're just seeing such a massive revolution. We're just in the beginning stages of it.

17:59And all of that has led to a lot of opportunity for my firm and others that focus and specialize in healthcare communications. We are 2 ,500 people in our 25th year. And we're growing percentage-wise as much as we were growing in the beginning.

18:18Jim Weiss: Yeah. No, you make a good point there. Yeah, I mean, Haymarket Media, which is our owner, has a big medical publishing part of the business. And they just launched a thing called Obesity Advisor to talk about those areas and to really drill down into it. So we've got Oncology Advisor and all the other areas of health, and now they've launched Obesity Advisor. So and obviously in our world in comms, we're seeing the rise of those brands and they they sort of exist on our health influencer list. How do you see that playing out, you know, in the communication around it? There was sort of some people not don't love needles.

19:02Jim Weiss: So, you know, when there are pills available, that that's presumably going to open it up to more people. But and then there's the whole debate around once you're on those drugs, do you have to stay on them for the rest of your life or do you have to keep upping the dosage? What's your take on that and communicating that what you've just explained there is a really big point, right? You're saying this is more this is bigger than AI, right? I mean, you know, look, AI is clearly important and critical, but I think the fact that you can take a pill and lose this weight and, you know, there's dozens and dozens and dozens of stories around this.

19:42I think the big implication is we have to help people learn how to do all the stuff around it. We still have to lift weights and exercise and eat right. it doesn't give you you know you still have to eat food and get nutrition you know and a lot of people have certain side effects from these things GI side effects primarily how do you manage those so there's actually a lot to deal with around it and self-medication you know I would imagine is not the best way to do things so having this advisor you know having a health care advisor or take you through it, take you through the journey, help you with all the ancillary wraparound care that has to come with that.

20:28You can't just take pills and think that is the full stopping point. So I think that's probably the biggest implication and why we need communications to go alongside it because it's not going to work the same for everybody. And, you know, the needle bit. Of course, a lot of people don't like that, but now they're pills. The pills are going to continue to improve. You may not have to take them as often. I think we're going to keep seeing better and better advances there. And it doesn't prevent, you know, genetic disorders and things that we can still track through genetic testing and things like that.

21:07So we still have to do all that genetic and genomic testing for other things. So at the end of the day, you know, if you have that APO3 or 4 gene, you know, for Alzheimer's, you know, knowing that, you know, you might be able to do some things in advance. I think I saw Maria Shriver talking at the Time 100 event recently, and she made a good point that, you know, brain health is also one that, you know, needs a lot of attention because you could be as healthy as hell but if you don't have your faculties you know when you're older it's not really going to help you and there actually are strategies real strategies that have been proven to work to help with memory loss you know stave off we now have more preventive alzheimer's drugs and more coming so that's a whole other sector that you're going to see a lot of advance in yeah there's a lot you're so right and there's

22:05Jim Weiss: a lot a lot of stuff coming down the chute and uh yeah and just to finish up on glp ones i mean it's changing other other brands and other habits as well isn't it's changing the way people eat and drink and and go out to restaurants you know it's totally revolutionizing all sorts of things what people buy at supermarkets to your point about food so it's uh not just in the the pure sort of treatment or taking the drugs that's the argument as to why it has such impact right because Because, you know, if people are, I mean, one of the big trends is not drinking as much, right? And, you know, being California sober.

22:44So, you know, there's another revolution coming around psilocybin and, you know, approved mushroom use, basically. So, and psychedelic use. And that was something that, you know, we wouldn't have believed could be coming and is on its way.

23:02Jim Weiss: That's another podcast, mate. But hey, it's great to get your thoughts on this. And we could have chatted for ages more. You're already listening to the podcast, but are you getting the full picture? To really stay ahead, whether you're crafting a winning pitch or navigating a crisis, you need more than audio highlights. That's where a PR Week subscription comes in. Subscribers get the critical data that defines our industry. The Agency Business Report, our exclusive AI survey, and comprehensive salary data. Stop guessing. No for sure. Click the link in the description to subscribe today. But let's get your thoughts on some of the stories.

23:43Jim Weiss: But Frank, let's dig into some of the big things of the week. Obviously, there was a big summit with President Xi over from China. And President Trump kind of invited along his tech titan. And I don't know if you call them friends, but they all showed up, didn't they? And took us through it. Well, it certainly looks like supporters at the inauguration. So I think that's fair. Yeah. I mean, Tim Cook at Apple was sat right behind him, wasn't he? But it kind of speaks a lot to the AI agenda, doesn't it? And regulation, because this is a global issue as well. And even some of the big titans themselves are saying, whoa, we need to slow down a bit.

24:22Yeah, there's a lot happening here. And this is once again happening as the new cycle is about rogue AI agents from open AI. In the past week, what's come out is, you know, sort of attacking government websites and other things and acting in unauthorized ways to put it kind of widely. So, yeah, there was a summit at the White House this week and the news that came out of it yesterday, which is to say Tuesday, was that a lot of the CEOs of companies that have AI models signed sort of a compact. But it seems so incredibly vague that it's hard to really take confidence out of it one way or the other.

25:03The other news out of it this week is that Trump wants it called super intelligence and not artificial intelligence, which is, you know, going to be really welcome to all of those companies that rebranded with AI in their name or put it in their logo or anything like that.

25:17Jim Weiss: Doesn't seem to be getting traction, that one, does it? Let's be honest. Yeah, it's kind of pointless. But it is interesting how much the tech CEOs were prominent at the state dinner with the Chinese premier. You know, whether that is posturing and showing off or whether they see as a lot of business to be done in China later on could be any of those things. Yeah, Jim, I'd love to get your take on it. You've been out on the West Coast for decades and you know a lot of these folks. It's interesting. I'm writing a piece at the moment about the Page Navigator survey, and they obviously asked CCOs in that about their use of AI.

25:55Jim Weiss: And actually, Europe seems to be ahead of North America in terms of engagement and adoption. which is interesting. And I wonder whether that is a regulatory thing or not. But anyway, talk us through what your thoughts are. Is AI going to end the world in 10 years, as one of the researchers suggested could be a possibility? Well, we won't know when and if that happens. So, you know, it'll just end and that'll be that. I don't, not in that camp. I don't really, I think the right conversations are getting had here. You know, this is good that there is a little bit of self-regulation and caution. I think, you know, I'm not surprised to see those executives there.

26:39You know, this is one of the most important voices coming from the government. But China, we're going to have to do business with China, I think. Why wouldn't we? There's a lot of people there. They're innovating. And, you know, I think AI is going to be one of those things that make us more and more one world, not, you know, all separate. So, you know, I think there's lots of books written or getting written about the good use of AI. You know, is there danger of that, you know, getting in the wrong hands? Sure, that's been true of any tech and any weapon and anything else. So we have to be more hyper diligent.

27:20I think they pulled a product. One of the companies pulled the product this week. One pulled their IPO. So I do think this will have economic implications for stock prices and all of that. So, so much is at stake. You know, it's not surprising to see them there and engaged and they can't delegate that to, you know, the staff. They have to be there for that. They have to lead that. Let me add one more thing on this topic. And one other thing that came out of this summit that happened this week was a resounding support for the rapid expansion of data centers. And I keep talking about this on this podcast because this is an area where there's been zero communications from the companies about why these are needed.

28:04And to put this as bluntly as I can, nobody wants one of these ugly ass data centers in their backyard. Absolutely nobody. And if these companies want to have this rapid expansion, it's terrible politically for the president. But if he wants to do this, that's his thing. But nobody wants one of these in their communities with absolutely no benefit coming from the tech companies, whether that's in terms of taxes, building a school, building a playground, whatever the case is. It is a real populist opposition from both parties, from working people and normal people in both parties that they are setting themselves up for if they continue to ignore this going forward.

28:43Well, the case study to look at there, Frank, is Walmart, you know, over the years coming into communities. And this is not a very new story relative to, you know, how that looks, what it how it affects the environment, the local economy, how it gives back. So I do actually think companies are engaging public affairs firms to get local. And, you know, there's actually a lot of business in and around this issue. I just don't think it's getting across to people. And I don't think people are actually seeing the benefit from them.

29:19Jim Weiss: It's a good analogy, though, the Walmart one. You mentioned Scott Galloway, Jim. and I heard him on his podcast with Kara as well, Kara Swisher, and Scott was basically saying, look, the guys who run these companies are kind of lightweights, you know, to be given such responsibility for what is essentially the future of the world. I mean, I don't know if you have a view on that. You must have, over the years, maybe interacted with, I don't know if you've ever met with Elon and Sam Altman and, you know, Amadai. What's your take on that? Well, they're tech, you know, these are tech guys, right? These are true scientists.

30:03And just like in the pharma industry that I work in, that's high tech, you do add operators and policy people, and they have been doing that. You know, I don't think they're just running themselves amok. They, you know, so Facebook's the best example, right? They brought in Sheryl Sandberg, who I do know, And this is a person with a lot of, you know, I believe a lot of smarts, integrity, you know, wants to do the right thing for the world. So that's been my own personal experience there. But I can only say that hiring really good people with good purpose, I think they ultimately want to serve the world the right way.

30:44These people don't want to destroy the world. That's not what they're out to do. Now we've got to help them. And that's what our industry can do. I found the Galloway comments to be kind of bizarre, too. I think Amida has been pretty responsible on this. I want to speak for the rest of them, but I mean, I thought he's been pretty responsible on it.

31:00Jim Weiss: Yeah. Interesting you mentioned Meta because we're just about to talk about them. But I mean, I think they're a very different company from the Sheryl Sandberg days. Before we move on to that, have you got an Elon story for us, Jim? Not one I can share. All right. Yeah. So, Frank, yeah, Meta is elevated to Tucker Bounds. Yeah, he's going to lead global communications and public affairs for Meta, which of course is the parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and various other products. He is succeeding David Ginsberg, who is the VP and head of global communications and public affairs. It's a really interesting role for, by the way, somebody who's really well known throughout the industry, popular in the industry.

31:41He has previously been a Quinn Thomas Public Affairs. He was the communications director for, by the way, speaking of tech people in politics, Meg Whitman's 2010 campaign for governor of California. Almost forgot that happened. And John McCain's 2008 White House run.

31:57Jim Weiss: I remember being given a tour around the Facebook as it was then known campus by Tucker. Remember when I visited San Francisco, Jim, and spent a few months there? That's when it was all new. Yeah. And it was. Yeah, he was a good guy. So he kind of bridges those two worlds, right? The pre-Sheryl Sandberg world and then the post-Sandberg world. So, you know, let's just say Mark Zuckerberg has seems to be slightly different, have slightly different priorities. But anyway, that's, again, another podcast. A small plug for Elon Musk. You know, I will say my son lives up in Tahoe. Reno has grown. It's grown up as a city, gotten much better than what it was, you know, because that Tesla plant was there.

32:38And I do think, you know, there's benefits. And Frank, you mentioned, you know, the data centers. What we've got to figure out is how they can help communities and not hurt them. Yeah.

32:49Jim Weiss: And look, Elon was all about electric cars and environmental friendliness. So he could be very influential with the president and others and the data center agenda for sure. And there are electric solutions to that, by the way. There are cleaner solutions to that. So let's talk Edelman. Actually, funnily enough, we did a story about them winning a data center accountant, didn't we, the other day? But they've also won the American Egg Board, Creator AOR. Yeah, this is interesting work and an interesting account. It's a Creator AOR. So it is focused on working with influencers and creators on behalf of the American Egg Board in an effort to drive demand for eggs in the U.S.

33:33It's a really interesting time for this given the protein boom. So they're going to work on creator ideation, vetting, selection, and management of the influencers and creators the Egg Board works with. The Egg Board, the organization, is still working with Golan Ketchum. It was a Ketchum account before that, at least through the end of the year. And we shall see what happens next.

33:57Jim Weiss: Yeah, it felt like Kenny Gold, who we had on the pod a few weeks ago, was fairly intimately involved in that pitch by the sound of it, didn't it? Yeah, interesting win. And that's an independent agency winning an account instead of the holding companies. And we chatted about this the other week. And obviously Edelman's lost Starbucks to Omnicom, but they're winning business from Ketchum and others. there's some more stories to come on that. Jim, I'd love your take on this. You know, indies versus holding companies. I'm sure you've had every holding company in the world chatting to you to try and buy real chemistry and the former iterations over the years.

34:43Jim Weiss: And then obviously there's the private equity involvement. Are you still an indie when you've got private equity involvement? Discuss. I mean, I think so. Ultimately, yes, the way we've run ours anyway. I say that it's not like when I 100 % owned it. Obviously, that's very different. But, you know, we try to create through the private equity platform ownership, right? So people get into ownership. Even Edelman, I don't think that's true, right? I think the family owns and runs it. I don't think there's other, I don't think they have ownership in that particular independent as opposed to what we do through the private equity type platform.

35:26So I think there's some advantages to that. The other thing about the holding companies, I don't know, do they really value the PR firms all that much? They seem much more organized around media and advertising. But tell me what I think this, and now the influencer and creator economy, which, you know, we've been doing that through my star power division since, you know, for 10 years, you know, or more. And I've been teaching that at Syracuse, you know, where I have a center. And now we're collaborating with a new center at Syracuse that you should probably look into if you're covering creator economy.

36:04They have a whole pretty big initiative as part of Syracuse University that they're investing in. So So this is no surprise to me to see it. You know, this is the way it's going.

36:19Jim Weiss: Yeah. And look, that sort of business could just as easily go to a creative firm, couldn't it, as a PR firm and vice versa. PR firms can win creative business and PR firms don't have a monopoly on earned media either, you know, as we see it can each year. So, yeah, look, everything's getting mixed up. But there's a public affairs elements to both of those wins. And that is, I think, where the edge is. I agree. Public affairs, crisis, corporate reputation. That's the stuff that the marketing and advertising firms don't. They run a mile from that. And yeah. Frank, let's get back to the stories. Cornell, a bit of a sexual abuse crisis, which may have been historical, but it's kind of been brought back into the limelight by some journalists.

37:08Yeah, what has happened here is that a civil case has brought back up into the public attention a decision not to prosecute seven Cornell students who were accused of raping a student in 2024. This has become something that's really exploded into the news cycle over the past few days and over the past week. And it's brought up a lot of questions about safety on campus, Greek life, a lot of different parts of it. But in terms of the facts of the case, I'll let them speak for themselves. But I would want to highlight on this podcast the incredible work that the student journalists did at Cornell and putting the names out of the seven students who were accused, which the university didn't do before.

37:51You have to imagine that for the editorial board of the newspaper there at the college, I mean, it's an incredible decision to have to make. I'm sure they wrestled with it. I'm sure they ran through all of the pros and cons. and the investigative journalism that they did there I think was really impressive. You know, credit to them for the work they did and, you know, what they were able to accomplish in terms of what I would call public service journalism and doing that.

38:17Jim Weiss: Yeah, because if you get that wrong, you've got a massive lawsuit coming down the pipe. If you're naming people who are not guilty, and I'm not making any judgments here, I'm just talking about media law generally, there are different rules in different parts of the world on that but um jim i suppose the wider issue here is and your you mentioned your work at syracuse is being a student in the current world is very different to back in our day for example you know there was no social media there were no cell phones there was no there was no internet in my day i wrote my dissertation out longhand but it's just such a much more complicated world and um i'm sure bad things used to happen and maybe and they did get you know it was it was a constant um tension between the student newspapers and the the authorities but how do you how do you think um universities are coping with this this new environment well i think they have so many things to cope with this is just one more thing um you know they they really the bigger problem and we've seen it written about is you know getting foreign students over here thinking also do kids think they need to go to college anymore in the creator economy that's not how things typically you know work now right you can start a business when you're in high school become an influencer when you're in high school publish music all these things can happen now with AI it can all happen faster easier you know and they can program themselves so I think that's probably the biggest obstacle you know do kids think they you know they have to convince parents and kids to spend that money for for what exactly then on top of it if there's questions about safety and these issues you know that's all true but you know we were talking about there was actually a movie you guys we were talking about the late 80s I remember uh I think Jodie Foster won an Oscar for it and it was all about a woman who was this is in the pre-social stage who was you know gang beat up and raped and you know in a bar and you know it was all those questions of what's right and wrong and what's okay and you know I think this comes back to you know are the students you know doing the right things too I mean in 2024 they can't not know that this stuff is gonna get out there right you know this this is different um so I think you know universities have an obligation to keep their kids safe they've got to follow through and you know and all the way to to make it possible for people to feel like if something bad happens to them they're going to get the justice they deserve yeah no it's it's serious stuff and anyone who's you know got a child especially a daughter who's who's going away you know it's going to be very concerned about this I think giving Cara and Scott another plug here, but Cara Swisher mentioned a film called Promising Young Woman, which deals with those issues and which moved her, certainly.

41:42Jim Weiss: So, yeah. But like you say, Frank, it was great journalism. Let's finish on an up note, the PR Week Healthcare Awards. We've launched the call for entries, and we've already talked about what a massive area of PR it is. But Frank, what are the highlights of the launch for you? Two new awards this year. One that deals with the most outstanding obesity work. And Jim, you mentioned a bunch of these things before in terms of GLP-1s being one of the most important things that's happening in the scientific and technology world right now. this is an opportunity for agencies and in-house teams to show off what they're doing not just with GLP-1s but around the treatment of obesity and removal of stigmas and things like that so a lot of opportunities to show off work there and also in terms of public policy as well so we've got a few new categories and it's always a good award show it will be next spring, New York.

42:45Jim Weiss: Yeah, and Jim, I mean, I suppose it speaks to the fact that healthcare is such a big part of PR that we've got a standalone awards program for it. But back in the days you were talking about, it wouldn't have been a very big awards show, would it? So we're pleased to celebrate that work and all the fantastic professionals who are in it. You know, we don't launch this stuff just for fun. And, you know, it's demand. And are there a couple of things, if you were a juror, that you would want to be seeing in terms of the winning work in healthcare and pharma? Well, I mean, keeping it real, you know, that's what Get Real is about.

43:34I mean, you've got to be authentic. um you know the work has to feel like it's relevant to real people and real patients and you know makes an impact that it reaches the target and does the work i mean again we can get more people out finding their you know knowing all their numbers you know and preventing the event uh so they can avoid getting hit by the bouncing ball you know that's that's sort of ending where we started. This is like you realize health is the wealth. You can have all these other things. If you're not healthy, you really can't do much.

44:21Jim Weiss: It's always a great night actually and we're happy to say I'm certainly going to be celebrating it more than ever this year. It's a great sector. with you know it hasn't always been easy to innovate in a highly regulated field either and i think the creativity is improving all the time too so it is and it's showing up on the can stage and you know we're seeing health things win the overall award you know which you never saw before so i think by doing it steve and thank you for doing it i think it does raise the bar for creativity and all those things quality all those things if you've got these awards you know we saw at can when they finally added a healthcare track and now we're seeing them win you know the overall award same kind of thing here you know i think you know we have a great creative group at real chemistry we didn't really have before i mean i bought 21 grams that was to add that capability um it's not what healthcare communication has been known for but i think there's a lot of opportunity there yeah definitely and maybe there's a category for your get real podcast jim and uh hopefully real chemistry will put a few entries in so uh yeah i think they will i think they're working on them right now sounds good thanks for joining us my friend and um stay strong and you know you mentioned it these things don't go away the bouncing ball hits you and uh you know you you you push forward and you keep going don't you but it it still comes back to you and our thoughts are with you and everyone at PR Week.

46:01Jim Weiss: So keep doing the good work and yeah, everyone check out the Get Real podcast. Thanks, Steve and Frank. It's been great talking to you. We'll see you soon. Can't wait to have you on mine. Yes. Well, it'd be nice to be a guest for a change. So yeah, thank you, Frank. And we'll see you next week. And yeah, we'll see you next time on the next edition of the PR week.

47:03Jim Weiss: We'll see you next time.