Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Taj Campton Place Hotel
Noon – 1:30 p.m.
Award-winning journalist, Julian Guthrie, answers questions about the public relations dilemma the event has become.
How does a major global sporting competition like the America’s Cup come together? In her recently-released best-seller, The Billionaire and the Mechanic: How Larry Ellison and a Car Mechanic Teamed up to Win Sailing’s Greatest Race, the America’s Cup, award-winning journalist and author Julian Guthrie reveals the inside story between the unlikely alliance of Bay Area technology mogul Larry Ellison and the Commodore of the blue-collar Golden Gate Yacht Club to bring the America’s Cup back to the U.S.
Julian will address such topics as the bitter rivalries between Oracle and its competition, the management of the passionate athletes involved in the race and the public relations dilemmas created by such a high-profile, politically-charged sporting event.
The San Francisco Chronicle had this to say about Julian’s best-selling book: “The Billionaire and the Mechanic succeeds as a lively primer, history, and up-to-date soap opera, full of local color, leading up to the America’s Cup races in San Francisco Bay.”
Julian has been a reporter in San Francisco for more than 15 years, first at the Hearst-owned San Francisco Examiner and then, after the merger, at The San Francisco Chronicle. She has won numerous awards, including the Best of the West Award and the Society of Professional Journalists’ Public Service Award. Her feature writing and enterprise reporting have been nominated multiple times for the Pulitzer Prize.
Julian’s articles have been published by Salon.com, San Francisco Magazine, Forbes FYI, The Huffington Post, and Conde Nast Traveler. She wrote her first non-fiction book in 2011, The Grace of Everyday Saints: How a Band of Believers Lost Their Church and Found Their Faith (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt).
Reservation Policy
To guarantee a seat you must make your reservation via Eventbrite, by midnight, Thursday, July 18 – or until limited reservation slots have been filled. Why? Once we place our final order with the hotel, the PRRT must pay for all reserved meals. So, do not delay. Vegetarian meals can be accommodated ONLY if requested ahead of time. No changes allowed except for health reasons.
Effective July 2013 Lunch Reservations must be Prepaid
For faster luncheon check-in and to avoid the pain of collecting payment from no-shows, reservations for luncheons now must be pre-paid online via credit card. Beginning with the July 2013 meeting only reservations booked online will be accepted. Lunches for members are $39 plus processing fees and for non-members $49 plus processing fees.