Times I Did Something Valuable at Work

Here’s my second installment of blog entries based on the current book I’m reading. This blog focuses on times when I knew I saved the day or did something important and valuable at work. You can see my first entry on my ideal job by clicking here.

Over the course of my career there have been several instances where I felt I’ve added value. For the purposes of this article, I’ll highlight just a few, starting with the most recent.

For the last six months, I’ve been working with a friend on his company’s annual customer conference. My friend asked me to create and manage a social media campaign for him. His goal was to exceed last year’s attendance with more than 300 attendees.

My friend’s company is in the nuclear industry, specifically nuclear waste disposal. It’s a challenging industry. The strategy is to provide information for customers, partners and employees without generating a lot of unwanted attention and backlash from a substantial group of people that hate what they do.

I created a social media strategy and over the course of six months executed on it. In addition to avoiding the ire of haters, the event was being held at a different venue for the first time in more than a decade. Over the six months leading up to the event, more than 300 attendees registered making this year’s event the largest ever. My friend’s bosses complimented him on the event and what a smashing success it was. They were thrilled with the attendance and attributed that to the strong social media campaign and awareness it helped create.

In addition to social media leading up to the event, I also did live posting to the company’s social media channels during the conference and to the company’s website. As a result, conference attendees and other followers had immediate access to photos and speaker presentations.

I am friends with the owners of a local haunted house called the Fear Factory. I’ve been working with them for a couple years now to generate publicity and awareness about the haunt and drive attendance and ticket sales. The haunt is open beginning in mid-September on weekends and then every night during October and the first week of November.  They also do other events off and on throughout the year, specifically opening on Friday the 13^th weekends during the year.

My PR strategy included press releases to announce upcoming events, new features and special promotions. I also recommended a media night where local media can come and go through the haunt and do interviews with the owners.  In 2017 these efforts led to more than 40 media interviews, coverage pieces in all the local print, online and broadcast media outlets.

Additionally, my PR strategy led to a number of national recognitions over the last several years, including:

• In 2017 FrightFind named the Fear Factory one of the top haunted houses in Utah.
• In September 2016 the BuzzFeed community named the Fear Factory the third scariest haunted house in the world.
• In 2015 the Travel Channel named the Fear Factory one of the Best Halloween Attractions.

The owners of the Fear Factory call me their secret weapon.

I’ve also had the opportunity to work with FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention (formerly Salt Lake Comic Con). Leading up to the first event in September of 2013 I began setting up media interviews with the founders and the local media. The founders were thrilled with the press coverage and some of the celebrities that had committed to come to the convention took notice as well.

One celebrity in particular, Lou Ferrigno, the actor that played the Hulk on the original Incredible Hulk TV series was impressed by the media coverage I was generating. In fact, he said he’d be open to doing some interviews if I thought I could arrange some.

I told him that I could and decided to be bold and told him that if he would come out a day or two before the convention started that I could set up a series of interviews with all the local TV and radio stations as well as the daily newspapers.

Ferrigno was doubtful but said to go ahead and if I could provide him with a schedule of opportunities he would consider coming out a day or two in advance of the convention.

I began pitching the media immediately.  I hadn’t given it much thought before speaking but I was confident that most news outlets would be interested in talking to him. As I began talking to the press my hunch was confirmed. The press was very eager to meet with him. I began building a schedule of press interviews and within a couple days of our initial conversation reached back out to Ferrigno to present the schedule and secure his final commitment.

Ferrigno was impressed and agreed to come to Salt Lake City two days early.  When he arrived, I spent the two days leading up to the event chauffeuring him around town to meet with every TV station, radio station and daily newspaper.

Riding around with the Hulk was fun. He’s a great guy and he shared a number of stories and experiences from his career. The media we met with loved him. At one radio station, one of the hosts asked for a photo and requested that Ferrigno put him in the sleeper hold, similar to what he did to one of the characters in the movie, I Love You Man. Ferrigno obliged and started adopting this into the photo’s he’d take with fans at his booth on the show floor during the convention.

After the con ended, Ferrigno reported that he had his best show ever. He attributed the success to the fact that he came in early to do all the media interviews I set up for him. After that first Salt Lake Comic Con he engaged in more social media activities and began seeking media opportunities in other cities where he attended comic cons.

The next year as we were ramping up for the second annual Salt Lake Comic Con I got a call from Barbara Eden’s agent. He asked if I could do for Barbara what I had done for Ferrigno at the first Salt Lake Comic Con event. I told him that I could and proceeded to do the same thing for Eden. Every show since I’ve had agents or celebrities reach out asking if I could set up media interviews for them.

Word spreads fast in the con community and celebrities and agents alike know that Salt Lake Comic Con will do whatever it takes to make them successful. What started off as bravado on my part has helped make Salt Lake Comic Con a can’t miss event for celebrities which is something that I’m very proud of.

Another FanX/Lou Ferrigno example that comes to mind is also from the first FanX event. As we prepared and planned that first event, the FanX founders kept telling me that the press always wants to interview attending celebrities but that the celebrities typically don’t do interviews during the convention. Hearing this, I made the recommendation that we do a kickoff press conference and invite celebrities to attend and participate.

I recommended that we set up tables in the Grand Ballroom of the Salt Palace Convention Center, the venue for the convention and treat it like Super Bowl media day where the celebrities can sit at a table and media can approach them and interview them.

As we were about to start the press conference, Ferrigno asked how long the press conference would last. I told him an hour and he said he would stick around for 30 minutes. We had about a dozen celebrities in attendance and about 150 media that were all eager to interview the celebrities.

About 30 minutes in I walked over to the table where Ferrigno was sitting to tell him that 30 minutes had passed and get him out of there. One of his handlers saw me coming, stopped me and asked what I was doing. I explained my conversation with Ferrigno and his handler told me not to worry about it. In his words, “Lou’s having too much fun with this, he’s not going anywhere.”

He and most of the other celebrities stayed for about an hour-and-a-half to make sure all the media got the interviews that they needed. Ferrigno approached me after and told me that he goes to all the comic cons in the country and nobody else does a press conference like this. He expressed how much he enjoyed it and how beneficial it would be for the celebrities and creating awareness of their appearance at the convention.

Other celebrities expressed the same sentiment to me and the founders. Since that first show, FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention kicks off its convention with a press conference. It’s one of the things that has helped differentiate Salt Lake Comic Convention from other cons around the country. Each year our celebrity participation at the press conference increases. They all know we do it and all want to be a part of it. Additionally, at that first con, multiple celebrities told us that the awareness generated led to them having their best and most successful con ever.

I feel I’ve been very fortunate to date in my career to work with some amazing companies and individuals. One of my favorites was when I worked for the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the Olympic Winter Games of 2002 (SLOC).

In 2001 SLOC CEO and now Utah Senate candidate Mitt Romney came to me and the rest of the PR team and said he was going to be in New York and had a free night. He said if we had anything or wanted to plan anything for him he’d be happy to do whatever we recommended.

There was the usual talk about who we could reach out to for an interview. However, I wanted to do something different. Mitt was always up for different and I was eager to take advantage of his adventurous spirit.  I came up with the recommendation to see if I could arrange for Mitt to throw out the first pitch at a New York Yankees game. I checked the schedule and the night he was going to be in town the Yankees were scheduled to play their longtime and bitter rivals, the Boston Red Sox.

I presented the recommendation to the team and we decided to act upon it. In those days, all requests to throw out the first pitch went through George Steinbrenner himself. I wrote him and explained what I wanted to do and why. Mr. Steinbrenner approved the request and we set the date.

When I told Mitt about it, my boss arranged to walk Mitt through the lobby where a colleague and I were playing catch with our gloves and a baseball. As my boss and Mitt walked out, Mitt saw us and wondered why we were playing catch. We told him we were there to help him warm up to throw out the first pitch at an upcoming Yankees game.

At first he didn’t believe us. As we assured him it was happening he kept saying, “no, no. no.” We thought he was excited but it turns out he had injured his shoulder a few years prior while skiing and was limited in his range of motion. He didn’t think he could throw the ball far enough and didn’t want to embarrass himself.

My colleague and I spent the next couple weeks working with Mitt and helping him warm his shoulder up. We measured the actual distance from the pitchers’ mound to home plate. I acted as his catcher and when the time came for him to leave for the trip back East he was ready and could throw the ball the entire way.

His trip included a stop in Washington, DC before New York. As Mitt was wrapping up his visit to our nation’s capital and heading to the airport, he was driving past the Pentagon when the freeway was suddenly engulfed in black smoke. As his car exited the plumb of smoke, Mitt realized that there had been an accident at the Pentagon. He didn’t know it at the time but terrorists had just flown a plane into the Pentagon and into the World Trade Center in New York City.

Mitt missed his flight to New York. He was scheduled to throw the first pitch out on the night of September 11, 2001. Needless to say, it never happened.

The last example I want to share is from an agency I worked at a few years ago. While at this PR agency, we had a client that I didn’t work with. I was part of the leadership team and it came to our attention that the client was unhappy with the service they were getting. The agency owner asked me to step in and help.

I jumped right in. I didn’t remove the existing team or the account lead. Instead, I worked with them and provided my support. The client was a little hesitant to new recommendations and the tension between our team and the clients was palpable.

After a few weeks, the agency account lead left for a pre-scheduled vacation. He put me in charge of the account in his absence. I proceeded to do what I normally do, communicate on a regular basis with the client. Unbeknownst to me, my contact at the client was impressed with the way I operated and the increase in communication and results. When my colleague came back he expressed his displeasure with the account lead and said he preferred me leading the account.

With that knowledge, we made an immediate switch. It wasn’t until later that I learned just how bad things were. The account lead confided in me that his company had been looking for and interviewing other PR agencies to replace us. We had come within days of being replaced.

Due to my leadership and the increased results, the agency kept that clients for more than two years. When our contact at the company left for a new job, he proceeded to hire my agency to represent his now company. I led that account and worked with him for another three years until he left for another new job.

Over the course of that relationship, his companies were our agencies largest accounts and led to unprecedented growth.

These are just a few examples of value I’ve added. I don’t share them to brag, but rather to remember past success as part of the book I’m reading. I’m proud of the work I’ve done and look forward to adding value at other places of employment for years to come.

Book Review: Potevka’s Gifts

Book Title: Potevka’s Gifts

Author: Mike Ramsdell

In 2005 my wife’s aunt told me about a book she had just read called A Train to Potevka. She told me it was written by a local Utah author and detailed his life as a spy in Russia. As she described the book, I thought it sounded interesting and asked my wife’s aunt if I could borrow her copy. She had it lent out at the time but promised I could borrow it was returned to her.

In the meantime, a few weeks later my wife and I were shopping at Costco and ran into the author, Mike Ramsdell as he was doing a book signing. We stopped, talked to him, bought a book and had him autograph it.

A Train to Potevka is the story about Ramsdell, an American intelligence agent and his tale of failed espionage, escape, and second chances. He started writing the book as a way of sharing his storied with family. As he wrote these stories, his family wanted more and started sharing them with their friends. Soon people were telling him he should write a book.

He self-published A Train to Potevka and it turned into a best seller. After publication, there was talks of turning the book into a full-length feature film. Following its success, in 2011 Ramsdell wrote Potevka’s Gifts. Potevka’s Gfts is a collection of short stories is based primarily upon his experiences as an author and speaker since A Train to Potevka was released.

I loved A Train to Potevka and I had high expectations going into this book.  I was disappointed in the book. Mainly because my expectations were so high. I had a hard time finishing the book. I was hoping for more stories from his days as a spy as opposed to the stories about his life since retiring.

The story I found most interesting was towards the end of the book when Ramsdell discusses the end of his career and how it intertwined with Robert Hanssen, the FBI agent who spied for Soviet and Russian intelligence services against the United States for 22 years from 1979 to 2001. Hanssen is currently serving 15 consecutive life sentences at a federal supermax prison in Colorado.

For a while, the FBI team investigating this spy operation had narrowed the list of potential suspects don to 3 or 4 potential suspects. Ramsdell was one of those suspects. As the investigation was being conducted, it was discovered that Hanssen had gained access to computer networks through Ramsdell’s login. He logged in as Ramsdell and that set off alarms that he could be the spy.

Ramsdell was cleared but it affected his career and he was basically forced into retirement. I remember when Hanssen was arrested and what a shock it was that a US intelligence officer would sell US secrets to Russia. That tie in to Ramsdell was interesting an something I didn’t know anything about prior to reading the book.

Ramsdell indicated that he is writing a third book related to this situation. If and when that book comes out I will read that.

Book Review: Damn Few: Making the Modern SEAL Warrior

Book Title: Damn Few: Making the Modern SEAL Warrior

Author: Rorke Denver with Ellis Henican

Pages: 287

I met Rorke recently at a conference in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was a special guest and spoke to the audience about his career as a Navy SEAL and more importantly about leadership. Knowing going in that he was a SEAL, in my mind, he had immediate credibility.

I knew as part of his appearance and participation in the conference that I was going to get an autographed copy of his book. At the time, I didn’t realize that he was one of the stars of the movie Act of Valor. I saw the movie when it came out in 2011 and loved it. I thought it was so cool that actual Navy SEALs were starring in the movie. There are great actors, but none of them could really do what a SEAL has been trained to do and in the action scenes, they were clearly at a different, real level.

I thought Rorke did an amazing job with his presentation. He walked up and immediately had everybody’s attention. He shared stories of experiences in the war against terror, SEAL training and how the training he received helped prepare him to lead warriors into battle. At one point he had the entire audience on their feet jumping and counting at the top of our lungs as if we were participating in physical training (PT) with he and his fellow Navy SEALs. Then, at the end of his presentation the entire audience gave him a “Hoorah!” I’m sure other guests at the hotel where the convention was held were wondering what was going on in our banquet hall.

Needless to say, when his presentation was over and I got my book, I couldn’t open it and start reading fast enough. The book didn’t disappoint either.

I’ve read a number of books written by Navy SEALs and they all write about going through BUDs and Hell Week. Rorke approached it a little differently though. He did talk about both of these experiences, but he approached it from the standpoint of how it prepared him to not only be a fierce warrior but to be a better leader and command the respect of other warriors to the point that they would follow him into battle.

One other difference I noticed in this book was as he ended the book, he wrote about some challenges our nation and military is currently facing. Instead of simply complaining and pointing a finger, he meticulously identified the problems, discussed both sides of the argument and then offered his own solutions. I have to admit, his recommendations resonated with me and I found myself thinking, “Yeah, I could support that idea.”

Throughout the book, Rorke’s natural leadership ability and commitment to his country and family was front and center. He was an effective SEAL in battle, leader and moved on to achieve high levels of success training the next generation of SEALs. His attitude and approach made it easy to see why he was he was so effective in every phase of his military and SEAL career.

There were a number of aspects about the book that stood out to me, but the one that resonated most was the idea of the “Swim Buddy.” When a potential SEAL shows up for BUDs training, they are assigned a swim buddy. This swim buddy is another candidate that you team up with and work together with get through BUDs training. You watch out for each other and help each other when necessary.

If your swim buddy drops out of BUDs you are assigned a new swim buddy. You always have a swim buddy and if you pass BUDs, as a SEAL you’ll always have a swim buddy that you can rely on to help and watch our back. Several times through ought the book Rorke references his swim buddy’s. In fact, at the end of the book in his acknowledgements, he calls a friend out by name and says he can be his swim buddy anytime. This is truly high praise for his friend.

A swim buddy is very important to a SEAL. I think this concept relates to other aspects of life, including personal and professional life. The importance of having a swim buddy or another person that you can count on to have your back and watch out for you can’t be overstated. Everybody should have a swim buddy in their lives. It gives confidence and is a valuable resource.

In my career, I’ve had a number of swim buddy’s. I didn’t call them that at the time, but they performed the same functions a SEAL swim buddy does. I relied on these people and found they added tremendous value to my career.

In addition to having a swim buddy, I’ve performed the same role for others. This role has been almost as valuable to me as having a swim buddy. I learn as much being somebody else’s swim buddy as I do in having one.  I wish there was more focus on this in the business world because I think it would provide unmeasurable benefits to organizations of any size and industry.

On the second to last page Rorke shares the values that SEALs live by, the values that SEALs measure themselves by, and how these values apply far more broadly. Like him, I’ll share these values here:

• Be excellent.
• It pays to be a winner.
• The only easy day was yesterday.
• Don’t ever let your teammates down.
• Carry your full measure of the load.
• Don’t disrespect the game by not preparing fully or playing it as well as you possibly can. Be present always.

I highly recommend this book. This is a book that I am going to share with my 15 –year-old son. I’d like him to read it so he can gain and understanding of the commitment these SEALs have and gain another appreciation of how hard work pays off and can help make you the best at whatever it is you want to be or do with your life.

My Ideal Job

I’m currently reading a business book by an author I follow on Forbes.com.  Early in the book the author asks reader’s questions about their careers, what their ideal jobs would be, what they’re good at, who inspires them, their dreams and where they’d like to be or doing ten years for now.

In total, the author had 20 such questions. They got me thinking and I decided it would be fun and informative to answer these questions in the form of a blog entry. I’m not answering these in any particular order, just as they jump out at me and call to me.  The first one that got my attention and has had me thinking the most is, “What is your ideal job?”

Obviously, I want to be paid well, but in reality, that is not the most important thing to me. Aside from pay, the things that matter most to me and make for my ideal job include:

• I want to be challenged. I don’t do well performing the same tasks day after day, week after week month after month and year after year. I like diversity and having a challenge that stretches me and forces me to be uncomfortable and learn or acquire new skills and expertise. That’s part of what drew me to PR is the ability to be constantly challenged and experience new things.
• I want to contribute and make a difference. I like to have a voice in and contribute to success. I was raised to approach things as being the solution to problems. I may not always have all the answers and don’t claim to know everything, but I want to do my part and carry my fair share of the load. I like to be a good teammate and be able to say at the end of a successful project that I contributed and made a difference.
• I want to enjoy the work. It sounds simple, but I find when I enjoy the work I’m doing it doesn’t seem like work. I work with Salt Lake FanX (formerly Salt Lake Comic Con) and when we have events, it’s three days of non-stop action. The weeks leading up to the events are crazy busy and there are a lot of long hours, but it is so much fun that the time flies and I feel invigorated the entire time. When the event is over I’m tired and ready for a break, but I look forward to the next event and can’t wait for the adrenaline rush that comes with it. I want that feeling as often as possible.
• I want to look forward to going to work every morning. Over the course of my career, there have been times where I dreaded going into work. I always work hard and am driven to succeed, but I find when I enjoy the work and the people I work with I’m excited to go into work and look forward to attacking the day and crushing it.
• I want flexibility. I remember a job years ago at a PR agency where the owner required us to commit to a daily start time. Once we did that she assigned us a specific time for lunch. If you were assigned to arrive at 8:00 am and were a minute late, the office manager would greet you at the door with a sarcastic, ”Good afternoon!” If you were scheduled to take lunch break at noon but got caught up with work and didn’t leave until 12:15, you were still expected to be back promptly at 1:00 pm. As a PR professional working with 8-10 different clients, schedules were tricky but this business owner wouldn’t allow for flexibility to effectively do the job. I’m not saying I want to do the minimum or be out of the office as much as possible, but I want the freedom and flexibility to do the job the right way to achieve and exceed expectations.
• I want to learn new things. Like I said earlier, I don’t know everything. I feel like I learn new things all the time from colleagues, friends and my kids. I like and actively seek the opportunity to learn new things. At a recent client conference, I had the opportunity to learn additional skills related to website design. I have some basic knowledge and skills mainly from working and managing my own blog. At this conference, a colleague asked if I could help and said he would show me how to so some new things. I jumped at the opportunity and am grateful that I have a new skill that makes me more marketable and valuable to my current and future employers.
• I want to provide for my family. I have three young, active kids. As a father, nothing makes me happier or brings me greater joy that to see my kids get to experience new things, develop new skills and discover new talents. My son started playing tennis a couple years ago. When he started, he was using his grandpa’s old racket. Thirty years-ago when grandpa bough the racket it was top of the line. My wife and I wanted him to play and see if he liked it before investing in a new racket. Once it became evident that he liked tennis and was interested in continuing in the sport we bought him a new racket. The difference was immediately visible. Since starting to play, he made the high school team last year as a freshman and is currently looking forward to the start of his sophomore season in a couple weeks.  I want to support him and my other kids and provide the opportunities and equipment they need to excel and develop their talents and skills.
• I want work and the colleagues I work with to feel like family. I’ve been fortunate to work with incredible people during my career. In many instances, I’ve stayed in touch with colleagues even after we’ve moved on to other opportunities. I helped a friend and former colleague at a conference a couple weeks ago. He and I worked together at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake nearly twenty years ago and have been friends ever since. I’ve had other colleagues that I go to movies with, comedy shows and other activities outside of work. To me, these people are more than colleagues, they’re like family and people that can depend on me and I can depend on them.
• I want to be treated well and fairly. To start off this blog I said money isn’t the most important thing. It’s not for me, but it is important. My time is also valuable to me. I once had an employer that understood this and when we’d have big projects and worked longer hours than normal, he was quick to give us time off to make up for it or give bonuses for a job well done. I never asked for these things but he offered and made sure I was taken care of. I always appreciated that and have carried that with me when I’ve been in leadership positions. I would have run through a brick wall for this employer, all because he treated me so well and was fair with me.
• I want the company to take good care of me and my colleagues without us having to beg or ask. I’ve had employers that have made promises and never kept them. I’ve had to ask and hold them accountable. In these instances, they seem to resent it. I’ve also had employers that make promises and deliver on every single one of them. The difference is refreshing and allows me to focus on doing my best work.
• I’d like a long-term opportunity. I’m not afraid of change, but when I find a good opportunity I am loyal and will stay with it for as long as possible. There are times when change is necessary, but I like to stay with good opportunities for as long as makes sense.

In the past, I’ve worked places where I’ve had some or most of these things. Others, some or most have been lacking. The difference is my mind is clear. I’m driven to excel and exceed expectations, but I can honestly say that the instances where these items have been present the experience has been far more enjoyable.  Those were the opportunities that were long-term commitments and where I felt I learned and grew the most.

I’ve had enough experience to know and recognize what is and isn’t a great opportunity. More and more I relish the good opportunities and strive to keep them and take advantage of all they offer.

Book Review: Confessions of a Cartel Hit Man

Book Title: Confessions of a Cartel Hit Man

Author: Martin Corona with Tony Rafael

This was another Christmas gift. I know, the look on people’s faces as I opened this book and the other book I got at Christmas was one of disbelief and disgust.  Both books about two stone cold killers and their lives of crime.

This one focused on Martin Corona and his involvement in Mexican gangs in California.  He was exposed to gag life at an early age and found acceptance through is “homies.” The more he broke the law and the deeper he got in the gang life the more acceptance he felt.

From the start of the book he said he decided to write the book as a way of giving answers to his victims and their families and to come clean and repent of his wrong doings. At the time of writing the book a couple years ago he was still in his late 30’s or early 40’s and most of his life has been spent behind bars. He was in and out of prison from an early age.

He started off in juvenile detention and found that he liked it. So much so that he was never afraid of going to prison and found that once he was back he encountered a wealth of friends that helped make serving time enjoyable. Due to his gang connections, he and his “homies” could get just about anything they wanted while in prison.

When he’s get out of prison his reputation was enhanced each time and he was presented with new, more daring and dangerous prospects. He did everything from selling drugs to eventually becoming a hit man for one of the Mexican drug cartels. Planning a murder and carrying out the plan came naturally and easy to him. He admits to a number of murders and shared a number of details about them in the book.

It wasn’t until he got arrested and charged with these murders that he had a realization of just how far he had sunk and what a bad person he had become. In prison, he admitted his crimes and became a witness for the government to help convict others involved in the deadly drug trade.

At the time of writing the book he was a free man. While he said he felt guilty and was trying to make emends by writing the book, it felt to me like he was reliving the glory years of being a gang member. It didn’t feel as remorseful as I expected it to be. It could be the result of his life experiences and he just doesn’t express those feelings like others.

Regardless, I did find the book incredibly interesting and enjoyed it. It’s always amazing to me what people are capable of and the characteristics the people that are the best at what they do have in common. Martin was considered very good at what he did and it’s lucky he was caught and busted when he was. I think it’s valuable to have these types of discussions and to know the effects our actions have on others.

Book Review: Chin: The Life and Crimes of Mafia Boss Vincent Gigante

Book Title: Chin: The Life and Crimes of Mafia Boss Vincent Gigante

Author: Larry McShane

I read a lot of books about the Mafia. It’s a topic of intense interest for me. In all the books I’ve read, one name always seems to come up, Vincent Gigante. Or, as he’s known in the mob, “The Chin.” Most references to him consisted of the same common thread, he acts crazy but was really one of the most powerful men in the mafia and one of the most elusive to the FBI and other law enforcement agencies pursing him and organized crime.

The more I came across his name, the more intrigued I became. When I saw this book at my local Barnes & Noble, I made my wife buy it for me instantly as a Christmas gift. This was in late October and I could barely wait for Christmas to come so I could start reading the book.

It didn’t disappoint. I loved the book. Despite his paranoia and extreme measures to evade law enforcement for more than 30 years with his crazy act, by the time the gig was up law enforcement, specifically the FBI knew a lot about his life and crimes.

Gigante earned the nickname from his Italian mother. She used to call him by the Italian pronunciation of his given name, Vincenzo (Vin-CHEN-zo). Neighborhood friends and neighbors took to calling him Chin. He grew up in New York, in Greenwich Village and was exposed to the Mafia life early. He started out as a boxer and was a pretty decent boxer. It didn’t take long though for him to give up boxing and focus his life and energy on La Cosa Nostra.

Chin’s early legal issues inspired his crazy act. He served a prison sentence and hated it. It was well known on the mob world that he never wanted to go back.

From that point in, he became the “Oddfather.” He knew if we could convince authorities and law enforcement that he was crazy he wouldn’t have to stand trial. He began wearing a ratty old bathrobe daily as he wandered through the neighborhood. He would mumble to himself, and act as if he were in a constant stupor. He even began voluntarily checking himself into a mental health facility. Over the next thirty years, he voluntarily checked himself into the same mental health facility more than thirty times, usually right before he knew he was about to be arrested or charged with a crime. He called these check-ins “tune-ups.”

He’d stay for a week or so and then return home. When the FBI and other law enforcement officials showed up to question him, he’d mutter nonsense, stare blankly or blurt out wild and crazy answers to their questions.

While doing this he continued to thrive and climb the ranks of the Genovese crime family.

He was so paranoid about law enforcement and going back to prison that he took extreme measures to avoid surveillance, wire taps and other means of recording and gaining insight into his life. Some of the precautionary measures he took included sleeping all day and only leaving or “working” at night. His theory was that the FBI would be sleeping late at night and wouldn’t have the resources to tail him during the night.

At his social club where he hung out and played cards with friends, he had someone come in and check it for bugs on a weekly basis. Nobody was allowed to say his name. Saying his name out loud was punishable by death. When somebody wanted to reference him, they were told to simply point to their chins.

At home, his windows all had bars across them, were blacked out and had the curtains drawn at all times. He never spoke on phones and if somebody was talking on a phone near him he would get up and walk away or move. He didn’t even want law enforcement to hear his voice.

Over the course of 30 years, FBI wiretaps never picked up his voice and only rarely heard his name mentioned out loud, and never when Chin was present.

Chin never ventured far from his Greenwich Village home. He lived with his mother and would only occasionally stay overnight with his wife and family. The FBI found out that Chin had two families. His wife’s name was Olympia. He had children with her but also had a girlfriend by the same name. He had a second family with her. The FBI called them Olympia 1 and Olympia 2. Olympia 1 and her kids lived in Greenwich Village and Olympia 2 lived with her kids in New Jersey.

Chin would visit them both regularly and spent time with them. For many years, the FBI would be trailing Chin and would lose him. The wondered for years where he was heading before finally being able to track him to Olympia 2’s house. Chin didn’t know they had followed him and for a brief period the FBI successfully surveyed him and observed him with his guard down and crazy act on hold. They watched him walk into the house, take his bathrobe off, hang it on a coat hanger and sit down at the kitchen table talking to his kids about their day.

Once Chin found out the FBI was watching, the windows of this house received the same treatment his Greenwich Village home did and surveillance became impossible.

Chin was a ruthless killer and zealot of the old-world mafia rules. He hated guys like John Gotti that drew a lot of unwanted attention to themselves and their world. While he never traveled or left anywhere beyond Olympia 2’s home in New Jersey, he was making millions and millions a year in ill-gotten gains.

His downfall was a windows scam that made him millions and had mob members all trying to get in on the action. As more and more people wanted a piece of it and greed kicked in, members of Chin’s inner circle began turning state evidence and testifying against Chin and his associates.

Chin was able to throw law enforcement off with his crazy act, but as more and more convictions came and “rats” turned and began testifying against Chin, his crazy act was exposed and he was eventually convicted and sent to prison. While in prison he was indicted on other criminal charges. As he prepared to fight it, authorities began targeting his family, specifically his mother, wife and children.

By this time in his life, Chin was old and suffering from a number of health maladies. His fear of family being persecuted drove him to admit to his crimes and to the fact that he had faked the crazy act to avoid legal persecution.

I thought the book was fascinating. It mentioned some news stories and videos about the Chin and his life. I got online and watched those videos and was mesmerized. I recommend this book. It was insightful and entertaining. As I said earlier, I was surprised at just how much information law enforcement had despite Chin’s efforts to keep his life a secret.