Meet the 2 newest bloggers: Stan Rapp and Jim Garrity

As I'm heading out to Africa on a pseudo-vacation (I wouldn't be relaxed if I wasn't wired), I thought I'd turn over the reigns of Jaffe Juice to a few luminaries sure to cause a bit of provocation.

The last time I did this, I handed over the conch to Tom Biro and Chris Thilk, then both instilled in the wonderful AdJab (sniff)

This time I reached out to a very close group to me - the group that endorsed my book, "Join the Conversation" - namely: Jim Stengel, Mark Greatrex, Beth Comstock, Nick Brien, Roy Spence, Stan Rapp and Jim Garrity.

Completely understanding busy travel and holiday schedules, I didn't expect too many to respond in the affirmative, but was very pleased that Stan and Jim (the two youngins in the group)

Both Stan and Jim have become (whether they know it or not), mentors to me and so I'm very much looking forward to reading their contributions over the next few weeks.

For those of you that don't know Stan and Jim, I've posted bio's (Stan's is on its way) in the extended post. In short, newly-retired Jim Garrity was Chief Marketing Officer of Wachovia whereas Stan is the same Rapp from Rapp-Collins and a founding father of Relationship Marketing (yes, the category).

I'll do my best to pop in from time to time, but in the interim I'll leave you in the hands of Stan and Jim....

Jim Garrity

   

Jim Garrity has worked for three   Fortune 50 companies in his career in sales and marketing positions. His career   began with IBM in sales in the Tri-State (NY-CT-NJ) area. After 14 years in   sales and sales leadership roles, he tranisitioned into Marketing &   Communications. Garrity held a number of marketing and communications   postions, the last one being Director of Advertising, IBM US, the position he   held when he left IBM in 1992, At that time, he went to work for Compaq in   Houston where he held two positions, the last being Vice President of   Communications. From 1997- 2007, he served as Executive Vice President &   Chief Marketing Officer at First Union in Charlotte, NC, which today goes to   market under the Wachovia brand as a result of the First Union-Wachovia   merger in 2001.     Accomplishments include development and launch of new advertising campaigns   at IBM 1988-1992 which significantly increased awareness and consideration   for the IBM masterbrand as well as the specialized business unit offerings   spanning business and consumer markets.     At Compaq, Garrity led the rebranding and repositioning effort to drive   awareness that a) Compaq was much more than a premium-priced product company   with only high end products and b) a company that was bringing highly   innovative products to the consumer market (a new market for Compaq in the   mid 90's).     At Wachovia, he led the efforts to transform a virtually unknown brand   (Wachovia) into a national financial services powerhouse, virtually building   a Fortune 50 brand, “from scratch." He also developed a highly regarded   marketing ROI measurement system that ultimately led to moving the marketing   investment decision making mode from intuitive and anecdotal to fact-based   decision making.     Garrity retired from Wachovia in July, 2007 after ten years there as CMO.   Today, he is advising a small number of technology startups with business   models that he finds to be exciting and personally engaging.     He also enjoyed a long and deep relationship with the Assocation of National   Advertiers (ANA) and served as a member of the ANA board of directors from   1995-2007. In 1998, he served as Chairman of the Board of the ANA. From 1995-   2007, he served as founder and chairman of the ANA's New Technology Committee   - a group focused on emerging developments in marketing and marketing   communications techniques and technologies. From 1996-2007, Garrity also served as a director of the board of the   AdCouncil.     For the past several years, Garrity has been teaching MBA classes at Wake   Forest University's Babcock School of Business. In addition, he has taught undergraduate   and MBA classes at Stamford, University of California, Berkeley, University   of North Carolina, and Duke.