As we look forward to the substance of the G8 and NATO conferences, and the brilliant opportunity for Chicago to present itself as the World-class city that it is, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs (CCGA) has created an opportunity for members of the British American Business Council to gain unique and powerful insight. 

 The CCGA is one of two principal partners in arranging a series of high-level forums, entitled:  IN JEOPARDY? EUROPE AND THE TRANSATLANTIC  ALLIANCE. 

This series will feature public programs on topics such as the future of the transatlantic alliance, the world economy, and other pressing global issues.   (Scroll to the bottom for scheduled sessions.)     

I am also pleased to announce that the BABCC is additionally a partner in this Series.  Our members have the benefit of attending at discounted rates.   For more details about the series and to register, please go to the CCGA Web site by clicking here:   Chicago Council on Global Affairs.  For the BABC promotion code to receive the member discount, e-mail cbrenkus@babcc.org.

We encourage you to attend and look forward to seeing you.       

Scheduled Sessions  

Thursday, March 1, 2012 5:30 p.m.

NATO AND THE TRANSATLANTIC ALLIANCE: THE AMERICAN PERSPECTIVE

The Honorable Ivo Daalder, United States Permanent Representative to NATO – Union League Club of Chicago, 65 West Jackson

SAVE THESE DATES

 Wednesday, March 28, 2012

The Honorable R. Nicholas Burns, Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Politics, Harvard Kennedy School, and former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, U.S. Depart. of State – Hilton Chicago, 720 South Michigan Ave.

 Monday, April 23, 2012

Martin Wolf, Associate Editor and Chief Economics Commentator, Financial Times – Union League Club of Chicago, 65 West Jackson

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

The Honorable Madeleine K. Albright, former U.S. Secretary of State,  Chair, Albright Stonebridge Group.  Venue TBA soon.

  Other speakers to be determined.  Details will be posted on the CCGA’s  website.

At the January 12, 2012 BABCC Board of Directors meeting, K. Thomas Stevens, Principal of the law firm Stevens & Associates, was unanimously elected as the Council’s new President.   Tom is enthusiastic about meeting the challenges facing the Council and ensuring the Council stays effective and relevant to the business community. 

 The Board of Directors thanked Saul Caisman, Director, Midwest Area Risk Management- KPMG, Founding Member of the BABCC, and President of the Council since January 2008, for his outstanding service, leadership, and invaluable contributions over the years.  Saul will remain as the Council’s Treasurer.

Tom is principal of the law firm Stevens & Associates, a successor to the firm he founded in 1989. He is an English solicitor and an American attorney, admitted in Illinois, Washington, D.C., and New York. His focus is upon finance, mergers and acquisitions, entity structuring and governance, tax planning, international transactions, and best practices analyses. He is an avid supporter of young entrepreneurs, providing mentoring at waived costs and fees.  He serves on the Board of The Chicago Lean Startup Circle, a non-profit group approaching 1,000 members. He regularly speaks on issues pertaining to startup companies, law, and entrepreneurial skills, and maintains a blog at www.startup-trebuchet.com.
 
Previously, Tom served as a Special Assistant Attorney General for the State of Illinois, whereby he was involved in corporate tax litigation concerning domestic and international/off-shore entities and transactions. Shortly before leaving government service, Tom was appointed an administrative law judge, overseeing a segment of interstate taxation issues pertaining to railroads. Such followed positions with the Tax and Bond Division of the Corporation Counsel for the City of Chicago and with the Illinois Retail Merchants Association.

In addition to electing a new President, during the January 12th meeting, the following individuals were appointed to serve on the 2012 BABCC Board of Directors:

Officers

David Kay, Chairman – Drinker Biddle  & Reath LLP

K. Thomas Stevens, President – Stevens Associates

Jon Butcher, Vice President – Mintel

Saul Caisman, Treasurer – KPMG LLP

Cindy Shearn – Secretary – Fragomen,  Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy LLP

Ex-officio Director

Robert Chatterton Dickson – British Consul General, British Consulate-General, Chicago 

Directors

Charles Bickers – The Boeing Company

Chris Duchene – Illinois Tool Works

Lynn Durning – Wells Fargo

Philip Gawthorpe – Marsh

Robert Gibbs – 101 Worldwide

Chris Kelleher – LinkedIn

Loretta Kuss – American Airlines

Scott Markman – The Monogram Group

John W. O’Hara – Lloyds America

Greg Onorato – British Airways

Daniel Ryan – Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.

Rupert Ward – KPMG LLP

Raymond Vermolen – InterContinental Chicago

Edward West – Baker McKenzie

See the Leadership Menu for bio information on our leadership.  If you have an interest in serving on the BABCC Board of Directors, kindly submit a letter indicating your interest and a copy of your resume.

Over 170 BABC Chicago members, colleagues, clients and friends attended the

BABCC’s annual Christmas luncheon for an afternoon of hearty feasting and merrymaking.

Guests were greeted with a traditional glass of sherry, followed by cocktails, delicious food, networking, exciting raffles, entertainment by Josh Berman, and a live auction benefiting the British Summer Studies Program.  Following the luncheon, guests continued networking at the After Party in the Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse Cocktail Lounge, sponsored by Stevens & Associates.

Stay tuned for the announcement of the 2012 Christmas party date!

Many thanks to our Exclusive Platinum Sponsor, American Airlines; Gold Sponsor, Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy LLP; the InterContinental Chicago; Stevens & Associates, and the Flower Firm, and to the following auction/raffle contributors:

American Airlines -  roundtrip air transportation to exciting destinations

Anita Dee Yacht Charters – 2 admission passes for 45-minute sightseeing cruise

Antler Luggage - full set of luggage:  The Liquis collection sculptured and designed to bring you the ultimate strength and lightweight solution in upright cases.

Blue Man Group – Two weekday performance tickets.

Boeing – Gift basket of Boeing model airplane and space-themed goodies.

British Consulate-General, Chicago - dinner for 4 at the British Consul General’s residence.

Chicago Architecture Foundation - Downtown Chicago Walking Tour Guest Passes.

Chicago Strategic Consulting - personal cosmetic plan, including 1 silk peel microdermabrasion treatment for silky smooth skin and 1 Botox or Dysport treatment to reduce frown lines or crow’s feet, provided by Carolyn I. Jacob, M.D., Chicago Cosmetic Surgery & Dermatology

Cubs Extravaganza –   4 tickets to a Cubs game (mutual choice, excluding Platinum games); lunch for 4 at Rockit Bar in Wrigleyville; and an autographed Cubs’ memorabilia, donated by Chris Kelleher, LinkedIn

Dana Hotel and Spa – One night accommodation in a serene king guestroom.

Emissary Chicago -  a great Sake Tasting experience, education, and materials with some take home bottles for a group of 6-8 people!

Goodman Theatre - Two “preview” tickets to Camino Real, March 3-11

Hard Rock Cafe – Two $25 gift cards

Hotel Burnham – one-night weekend stay in suite accommodations

InterContinental Chicago - luxury hotel stays at exciting destinations:  Athens, Budapest, Vienna, Chicago, New York …

Lawry’s The Prime Rib – Dinner for two.

Made in Britain - Keep Calm and Carry On goodies.

Metropolitan Limousine – Round trip point-to-point chauffeured transportation in a Lincoln Town Car Sedan.

Mintel - Two club level soccer tickets for Arsenal and Newcastle United game, (UK) on Saturday, March 10th 2012–the premier English football league.

New Chicago Beer Co. - Join proprietors Samuel and Jesse Evans and take the (guided) reigns in crafting ales at their New Chicago Beer Company. You will be involved in choosing hops, malts, and yeasts, and working on the equipment.  The new brewery is located at “The Plant,” a fresh, innovative approach to using sustainable energy sources and ecologically friendly techniques for brewing.

Palomar – One night stay in a King Deluxe Room and $75 gift card for Sable Kitchen & Bar

Park Hyatt – Park view accommodations for one night in an inviting guestroom with a spectacular view of Lake Michigan and Water Tower Park.

The Redhead Piano Bar – $50 gift certificate

III Forks – Dinner for two

Roka Akor - Omakase dinner for two

Sax Chicago - Bed & Breakfast packagee:  one night of room & tax in deluxe accommodatons and breakfast for two.

Spencer’s – Jolly Posh Gift Basket including fine selection of locally made and imported British products. 

Wyndham Chicago – One night stay and breakfast for two at Caliterra Bar & Grille.

Zanies - Admission tickets valid at all Zanies Comedy Clubs.

One of your BABCC benefits is access to international intern programs offered by universities in the UK.  Aston Business School, among the top Business Schools in the UK, has one of the largest internship programs with almost 600 undergraduate students on placement each year.

Aston Business School is currently taking applications for the 2012/2013 year–with the internship beginning July 2012 and extending for one year.

Intern Program Benefits to US Companies:

* You will work with intelligent, motivated and effective third year undergraduates with an international mindset, available from July 2012 for one year

* Students are from various disciplines, including marketing, HR, accounting, IT, operations, finance, purchasing, logistics, economics/statistics, general management, engineering, and social sciences.

*Cost effective:  the ONLY cost to the organization taking the intern is the cost of a visa

With all that international interns can bring to a business—including diverse educational backgrounds, specialized expertise, and multilingual skills—your company can become significantly more competitive by taking advantage of this outstanding opportunity.

Not only will your company benefit, but you will be helping to shape today those who will shape tomorrow.

If your company would like to consider an undergraduate student intern for 2012/13, (starting July 2012), please visit http://www.aston.ac.uk/absugplacements or contact:

Carolina Salinas

011+44 121 204 3211

c.salinas@aston.ac.uk

OR

Rachel Cox

011+44 121 204 3020

r.cox@aston.ac.uk

Make BABC Chicago’s annual Christmas luncheon the first stop on your party circuit this holiday season–the premier holiday event for the British-American community.

The festivities include cocktails, delicious food, networking, exciting raffles, and a live auction benefiting the British Summer Studies Program.  This elegant holiday event is perfect for client entertainment, networking, and celebrating the season with colleagues and friends.  And stay for the After Party to continue the festivities and networking!   Business attire.

Reserve your ticket(s) and/or table(s) today and start putting together your invite list now!  Click below to register:

A VERY BRITISH CHRISTMAS – REGISTRATION

Thanks to our Raffle & Auction Contributors!

American Airlines -  roundtrip air transportation to exciting destinations

Anglotopia.net - stay tuned!

Antler Luggage - full set of luggage:  The Liquis collection sculptured and designed to bring you the ultimate strength and lightweight solution in upright cases.

Boeing – Gift basket of Boeing model airplane and space-themed goodies.

British Consulate-General, Chicago - dinner for 4 at the British Consul General’s residence

Chicago Strategic Consulting - personal cosmetic plan, including 1 silk peel microdermabrasion treatment for silky smooth skin and 1 Botox or Dysport treatment to reduce frown lines or crow’s feet, provided by Carolyn I. Jacob, M.D., Chicago Cosmetic Surgery & Dermatology

Cubs Extravaganza –   4 tickets to a Cubs game (mutual choice, excluding Platinum games); lunch for 4 at Rockit Bar in Wrigleyville; and an autographed Cubs’ memorabilia, donated by Chris Kelleher, LinkedIn

Emissary Chicago -  a great Sake Tasting experience, education, and materials with some take home bottles for a group of 6-8 people!

Hotel Burnham – one-night weekend stay in suite accommodations

InterContinental Chicago - luxury hotel stays at exciting destinations:  New York, Budapest, Athens, Chicago …

Made in Britain – 26″ x 20″ wood- framed pub mirror made in England and reproduction of an old Coca Cola sign.

Mintel - Two club level tickets for Arsenal –the premier league football

New Chicago Beer Co. - Join proprietors Samuel and Jesse Evans and take the (guided) reigns in crafting ales at their New Chicago Beer Company. You will be involved in choosing hops, malts, and yeasts, and working on the equipment.  The new brewery is located at “The Plant,” a fresh, innovative approach to using sustainable energy sources and ecologically friendly techniques for brewing.

Palomar – One night stay in a King Deluxe Room and $75 gift card for Sable Kitchen & Bar

The Redhead Piano Bar – $50 gift certificate

III Forks – Dinner for two

Roka Akor - Omakase dinner for two

Sax Chicago - Bed & Breakfast packagee:  one night of room & tax in deluxe accommodatons and breakfast for two.

Stevens & Associates

Wyndham Chicago – One night stay and breakfast for two at Caliterra Bar & Grille

STAY TUNED FOR MORE EXCITING RAFFLE/AUCTION PRIZES

Have an item you’d like to donate?  Contact Chris

Stay tuned for more exciting raffle and auction prizes.  Do you have an item you would like to donate to the raffle/auction?  Kindly contact cbrenkus@babcc.org. 

Proceeds

Proceeds from the raffles and live auction are used to send deserving Chicago high school students—chosen by Horizons-for-Youth, to the British Studies Summer program, which is a two-week study/travel program in the UK that strives to bring British history to life by enabling students to explore and connect with art and events from the past 400 years of British history.  This is a life changing experience for these students—many of whom have not travelled outside Illinois.

Check out the pictures from our British Consul Awards Dinner.  Warm congratulations to the 2011 recipients:  Boeing, Chicago Shakespeare, and Laurence Geller.  Special thanks to our sponsors Baker & McKenzie, Boeing, Wells Fargo International, and the InterContinental Chicago; and to our featured speakers, Robert Chatterton Dickson, British Consul General, Chicago, and Deputy Mayor Mark Angelson.

If you would like a copy of any of the photos, e-mail cbrenkus@babcc.org.  Thank you.

BABC Chicago member, Scott Markman, CEO, Monogram Group spoke with Ad Age about his company’s latest survey of Americans’ perceptions of Chinese brands. Below is a reprint of the article appearing in AdAge Global:

By: Ad Age Staff Bio
RSS feed Published: October 06, 2011 

Why the U.S. Marketplace Is Prime for Chinese Products

Americans are increasingly open to buying Chinese products, according to a survey by The Monogram Group, so President Scott Markman is advising Chinese marketers to make the jump into the U.S. market now.

Based in Chicago, Mr. Markman has been helping Chinese brands grow internationally since 2007. He hired China experts and started visiting the country, where he tried to explain the importance of American marketing concepts to technocratic Chinese executives.

Mr. Markman spoke with Ad Age about his company’s latest survey of Americans’ perceptions of Chinese brands.

Ad Age: Your survey this year showed that 24% of Americans believe goods made in China are high quality, up from 16% in 2008. And there was a drop in the percentage of Americans who believe Chinese goods are low quality, down to 39% from 55%. What’s behind the shift?

Mr. Markman: In the last two or three years there’s not been any sort of poisoning stories in the national press about products coming from China, so it’s a little bit of that. People tend to have short memories. … But we all make perceptions on a handful of data points and fill in the dots. The problem with China is a lot of the dots out there are about shoddy quality.

China’s price times quality equals value ratio is on the ascent. They’re going in the right direction. Gradually China — in the collective sense — needs to continue going up that curve; it needs some bellwether brands to lift the whole perception.

Ad Age: One finding from the study is that more Americans are open to purchasing Chinese products in categories such as computers and cars. But interestingly, the trend also includes categories such as toys, herbal products and soaps and shampoos. Were you surprised?

Mr. Markman: Those were the biggest shockers to us. Categories we queried were purposefully all over the place. Some of the news stories about dangerous products being recalled were about toys. And products like soaps and shampoos are personal things.

With soaps and shampoos, we took that as a powerful signal that American consumers are open to considering excellent Chinese products and brands that do their work correctly and follow global branding standards. The real missing piece for Chinese companies is the marketing piece, it’s what they don’t value and don’t understand. There’s often the perception that ‘I make a very good product, get it on the shelf and it’s going to sell.’

Ad Age: What needs to be done to change this perception?

Chinese don’t tell their stories in an American way. I can guarantee you the first image on the homepage of 90% of Chinese companies’ websites is a bird’s-eye view of their factory, because it’s important to them to say to the world, ‘We’re legitimate, we’ve very big’ and the best way to show that is the roof of their gazillion-square-foot factory.

The second thing is always an image of the chairman-CEO sitting at his desk, scowling. Third, they show scans of their quality certificates. And, if they take the time to develop branded imagery, it is Chinese faces smiling, looking off into the sunset … life is good, life is harmony.

Would Kraft ever do that? Of course not. To an American, it comes off as goofy, but this stuff is infused in every Chinese website. And you say, “Look it’s fabulous for you in China but here in the U.S. it means nothing or is going to take you off message. So are you going to invest $40,000 to American-fy your website or not?” Well, a lot of Chinese companies won’t.

Ad Age: Which Chinese brands have done a good job of marketing themselves in the U.S. market so far?

Mr. Markman: Lenovo and Haier are the two brands spending tens of millions of dollars on major campaigns, so from a sheer investment spend, they are the two guys playing the game at a world-class scale. Their brand awareness numbers, I promise you, while on the rise, are pretty low. They will have to do this for years to become a household name. Haier is a big sponsor of the NBA, so they are absolutely headed in the right direction.

After these two companies, there’s a massive drop-off. There’s really nobody else pouring people, time and money into brand building that are even close to those guys. I think very soon Li-Ning will be the next one because an American company [Chicago-based digital marketing firm and joint venture partner Acquity] is bringing them into the U.S. market and they’re going against Nike. So if anything, they’ll have to overspend. Will they do it skillfully and not just copy the leaders? I’m not sure.

For more info on the study, contact Scott Markman at the Monogram Group.