I often remark how social media is not a new set of behaviors, but just a new set of tools. We’ve always just wanted to talk to each other, and social media makes that easier than ever. As a professional communicator, social media has provided me with a myriad of new outlets—and challenges—but I believe the basics remain. In order to be an effective member of any social media community, your communications must be clear, honest and transparent.
There is no one that fits that description of communication better than my good friend and mentor Joe Fuentes. I learned today that Joe is fighting for his life against cancer, and it caused me to pause and reflect on the many lessons I learned from Joe while working for him at what was then Adolph Coors Company. The things Joe taught me honed not only traditional communication skills, but his constant example as a warm, caring and open person set the stage for understanding how to use social media 20+ years before any of us had so much as a Facebook page.
It was Joe that told me—again and again, until I got it through my head—that a great editor makes the writing better, not different. An ego is an editor’s worst enemy, he would say. You don’t change it because you can, you change it because your change makes it better.
I remember the first news release I wrote for Joe. I was in my early 20s and, of course, I knew everything. Back in those days, we typed our drafts and handed them off for editing. Joe walked the draft back to my office, literally covered in red ink. No sentence seemed beyond the reach of Joe’s pen. I must have had quite the look on my face, but Joe just smiled and said “oh, don’t mind that… this was pretty good, actually! Let me show you what I did.” And he sat and shared freely more than 20 years of experience as a writer and and editor at the Rocky Mountain News along with another 10 years or so of public relations experience with Public Service Company of Colorado. And consistent with his own advice, there was not a single mark on that page that didn’t make the piece better.
Working for Joe was an ongoing lesson. Long before Google wanted headlines to be less than 22 words, Joe asked what every word was doing there, what role it played, and challenged you to make sure it was the best possible word for the job. If there was to be a drop head, it had to play a part in telling the story. And leads (or ledes, as Joe, ever the newspaperman, would write) had better be strong and to the point. Show up in Joe’s office with a normal PR lead/lede filled with buzzwords and braggadocio regarding your company’s leadership in some area and you were sent back to start again. It was Joe that demonstrated that PR was better for everyone—from company to client to reporter to reader—when the tenets of journalism were followed. “Don’t write puff,” he’ll say, “it won’t get past anyone worth getting past.”
While Strunk and White might have written it first, it was Joe that drove it home for me: “Omit needless words,” he would say, often followed by “I’m pretty sure we don’t get paid by the word around here!”
I’ve had the opportunity to introduce several of my employees to Joe from time to time at different events, and they’d often say, “Oh, you’re the AP Style guy.” And Joe will always smile. “If you want to communicate with someone, you’ve got to speak their language, and AP Style is the journalists’ language,” he’d remind us. Even today, when news releases are more often than not read directly by the general public, it’s maybe more important than ever to have your writing look and sound as professional as any news outlet. It helps give the story credibility. I learned that from Joe.
I remember working on a news release one day, typing feverishly (yes, typing on a typewriter!) when Joe asked me what I was doing.
“Working on a news release,” I answered, a bit incredulously.
“I’m just impressed that you memorized the entire AP Stylebook, since I don’t see it on your desk while you’re writing,” he said. “Make sure it’s all correct when you send it to me.” Joe knows the Stylebook better than anyone I’ve ever known, but his was always within easy reach. Now, I never really put mine away. Like Joe’s, my AP Stylebook is within arm’s length at all times.
But even more important than the writing, Joe is always the professional’s professional. His standards are high and he expects your best work, but rather than yelling or chastising, Joe simply makes you want to do your best because you never want to disappoint him. I’d do anything to meet a deadline for Joe, not from fear, but from respect. Joe and I worked together in a large department that could be difficult at times with office politics and turf battles. Somehow, Joe stayed above the fray, did excellent work and set an example for his staff. Without exception.
I remember one day, Joe got very, very angry with another manager on the staff.
“Darn that guy, he really makes me mad sometimes,” he said in a pretty even voice—and that was pretty much the end of it. I honestly don’t know how Joe put up with my high-strung mannerisms all those years, but he did, and if it drove him half as nuts as I now fear it might have, he never let on. He just continued to show me through example that there was another way to get things done.
In many ways, Joe is a true old-time newspaperman, but at the same time, he has always been years ahead of his time. You see, Joe understands the importance of clear, honest and transparent communication as being the foundation upon which everything else is built. It doesn’t matter if you’re chatting with a friend, writing a news release, completing a column for a major daily or a launching your very first blog, it all begins with clear, honest and transparent communication.
Despite what you probably thought all too often, Joe, I was listening to every word. My very best to you today and every day, my friend.
Photo by ra2 studio/Shutterstock.com
Thanks for sharing this with us. I particularly enjoyed the point, "An ego is an editor’s worst enemy." So true. We all have mentors who have shaped us and our careers, for better or worse. My thoughts go out to you and Joe's family.
Thanks, Dana. I'm quite sure working for Joe helped me both professionally and personally more than I might ever know.
Doyle
i don't know if you remember working with me years ago out at Coors, but I wanted to let you know how very touched I was by your blog on Joe. You captured the gentle strength of a man we were all so fortunate to get to know. Thank you for that.
timothy stortz
Thanks, Doyle, that's a well done and moving tribute. I hadn't heard about Joe. My positive thoughts and prayers are being sent his (and his family's) way.
Don Kirchoffner – a PR transplant from Chicago – is going through a similar battle right now.
May they both win the fight and stick around for many more PR campaigns — our profession needs them here.
Thanks, Maggie, and you're right. We all need all the good people we can get!
What a great tribute to one of Denver PR's finest. I met Joe at PRSA when I was a young PR newbie and remember how warm and welcoming he was to all us recent college grads swarming about him. (We all wanted to be Coors employees back in the day!) You were lucky to work alongside such a great guy. Sending Joe and his family positive energy and strength.
Thanks, Joy. I've had the wonderful fortune to work for and with a few “legends” and “rock stars” in my career, and Joe certainly leads the list. LIke you, Joe and his family are in my thoughts today.
I had the benefit of working with Joe over the past year and a half as I've been on contract with Xcel Energy. I'm part of the team that is working on getting a social media platform off the ground. The first time Joe asked me what I was working on, I started my lecture about how we needed to listen to the conversation and actively engage customers. He told me, "Marie, you're just talking to people. That's what I do every day!"
I also live near Joe and we took the same bus downtown every day. It was on these bus rides that Joe became my friend. We talked about everything from politics, to books we were reading, but mostly, Joe liked to talk about his family.
I once commented to him that he never seemed to get stressed in a job that was very stressful. He said to me there was no need to stress about a job because at the end of the day, it was family that really mattered. He went to work every day to take care of his family. "It's all about them," he said. My thoughts and prayers are with them tonight.
In reading Doyle's well-chosen words and carefully crafted sentences, it would appear that Joe's influence on Doyle certainly took hold. Maggie, Danielle and I cherish our memories of Joe Fuentes as he fights this challenge… he has been, and shall continue to be, in our prayers as a friend, mentor, fellow road-warrior and a beloved individual.
I have yet to meet Joe, but you have shown us who he is and how he has shaped your life. I hope I have the pleasure to call him "the AP Style guy" one day soon. My thoughts and prayers go off to him and his loved ones. Its not everyday that we meet someone who can changes our lives the way he has changed yours, I am sorry he is fighting this battle right now, he seems to be a true inspiration to you and that is very hard to find.
“it won’t get past anyone worth getting past.” -Its so true.
You expressed my feelings and recalled Joe's mannerisms and wisdom better than I could do. As I read your description of his editing, I could actually see Joe's loopy, sprawling handwriting on a piece of paper. I recall all the support and patience he offered when I worked on the annual reports for Coors. Thank you.
For those who knew Joe but never had the pleasure of directly working with him, we learned the same lessons of honesty, integrity and family-first from our dear friend. He was such a treasure! Doyle and Cary, thank you for sharing your loving words.
Doyle,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts with all of us. During my very brief "tour" with Coors Corporate Communications department, Joe once corrected my use of the word 'unique' in a press release, saying that very little – if anything – is actually unique. Joe, my friend, you define the word . . . Deb (Dewald) Markwith
What sad news to learn of Joe's passing. In reflecting on the many years many of us have known him, was there ever a time when Joe was NOT smiling? My hunch is he's already made loads of new friends in his new home… that's just Joe being 'himself.'
What a beautiful tribute to Joe. I'm at Xcel Energy where we were blessed to work alongside Joe until he left to fight his illness. We kept hoping he would come back. If anyone could fight cancer, Joe — with his constant positive attitude — could! I just checked his cube — his AP Stylebook is still in arm's reach, even after all those years.
Doyle, thank you for putting into words what so many of us are feeling today. He will be dearly missed.
I nodded with a smile as I read the outpouring of heartfelt reflections posted above. Joe rose above all in his genuineness and professional demeanor. He instinctively knew that whatever the surrounding chaos, integrity and family were the things that mattered. Joe Fuentes was the real deal … I'm better for having known him.
Well done, Doyle. Joe sounds like he touched many lives and I regret not knowing him, but how nice to share his writing wisdom and good character through you, thank you. I'm sorry for your loss; you and his family are in my prayers.
Doyle, nice job! Joe was a great guy and will be sorely missed by us all. And the Colorado PRSA golf tourney will never be quite the same …
Doyle, this was a lovely piece and your respect and personal gratitude are very moving! No doubt Joe is very proud of how you and many others in the PR/Communications/Journalism communities turned out.
It is now your turn to mentor – and I'm very fortunate to have the pleasure and honor of working with you and to call you my friend!
I will always have a much greater appreciation for the AP Stylebook!
Joe was two years ahead of me at Sacred Heart School (grades 1 through 8) on 27th & Lawrence St. We all looked up to Joe because he was a self-confident natural leader and a very happy kid. Doyle's heartfelt observations of Joe's literary style harken back to our no-nonsense classic education under the Sister of Charity of Cincinnati and the Jesuit priests there. It's good to know that the tremendous comraderie we enjoyed as students accompanied Joe in his professional life.
Doyle, thank you for starting a post where we can share our feelings about Joe. Joe was an amazing person, friend and mentor. I was glad to have been able to work with him at StorageTek and to keep in touch with him after we both left the organization. Joe helped mentor me as I started my career and continued to do so over the years. I am not saying anything different that what has been mentioned above by so many others – Joe was one of the most caring people I have met. He took me under his wings when really there was nothing in it for him. Joe was a great model and someone I hope to emulate. Joe will forever be in my heart.
I worked around Joe at Coors; but I never worked directly for him or with him. I wish I had the opportunity to do so… as a professional, but more important as a wonderful person.