In the fall of 1987, then BBA President Gene Dahmen walked out the doors of
the BBA’s 16 Beacon Street headquarters with a recent meeting with the Boston
Globe fresh on her mind. The BBA had asked the Globe for its advice on creating
a more consistent public relations effort, and the Globe’s suggestion was to
hire a full time, committed Public Relations and Communications professional. As
fate would have it, Gene bumped into an old friend who was headed back to work
at the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Quality Engineering (now known
as the DEP) after her lunch break. Gene’s friend was a trusted source she had
known for many years, beginning at the daycare where they took their four-year
old daughters. Hoping her friend could help her with the problem that was
weighing on her, Gene asked:
“Do you know anyone who would be good for this job?”
“Gene, it’s funny you should ask. It just so happens I do,” replied
Bonnie Sashin. “Me”
Bonnie started working at the Boston Bar not long after, on January 4 of
1988.
“Bonnie’s hire brought about a sea change in the way the BBA was seen in the
community -- the first time I remember my presidency getting good press
attention was because of Bonnie,” Gene told BBA Week. “There is not a single BBA President that who can say their
presidency wasn’t enhanced by Bonnie.”
BBA Week was given the impossible task to try and fit all the
highlights of Bonnie Sashin’s 25 year career as the BBA’s Director of
Communications. So, rather than speaking for others about Bonnie, we are going
to let them speak for themselves.
Here is what they had to say:
J.D. Smeallie – Holland & Knight and BBA President
Bonnie is the face of the BBA to all our local media
outlets. In the first couple of months of my term as President, editors and
chief legal reporters at the Boston Globe, Boston Business Journal and
Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly gladly made time to meet with me, all because
Bonnie asked them to do so. At those meetings, she artfully moved the
conversation to matters of importance to the BBA if I happened to let
conversation wander. It was very apparent that these journalists all
harbor tremendous respect for Bonnie and the work she does for the BBA.
All of us who have been lucky enough to serve as the BBA President know how
well prepared we are for every speaking engagement. Along with other
staffers, Bonnie provides detailed bullet points for whatever topic we may be
addressing. If we stay on script, it is hard not to shine.
Lisa Goodheart – Sugarman, Rogers, Barshak & Cohen and immediate
Past President
One of Bonnie's special talents is her ability to prepare each BBA president
to speak for the Association on a wide variety of subjects and in a range of
contexts. I learned early on that if I listened to Bonnie, I would know
everything I needed to know. At one point last year, I was asked to appear on
short notice on Dan Rea's nighttime radio program to discuss the BBA's letter to
President Obama about the National Defense Authorization Act. It was a topic
that was new to me and a completely unfamiliar experience, but Bonnie got me
through it and somehow made it seem easy and fun. She was literally by my side
throughout that interview and many others, and I knew that I could always count
on her not only to remind me of the substantive themes to be emphasized but also
to quietly tell me if I had lipstick on my teeth or if there was something I
should know about my interviewer. Bonnie guided me expertly through many media
encounters, with her lightning-quick ability to produce talking points and her
encyclopedic knowledge of BBA history and the Boston media world. She is a great
asset to the BBA and I feel lucky to have had the chance to work with her
closely and benefit from her skill and experience.
Hon. Margaret Marshall – Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court
(ret.) and BBA Past President
Ned Hines -- a great President of the
BBA -- was a fountain of excellent advice when I became President in 1991. His
best advice? “Get to know Bonnie Sashin; put yourself in her hands. She is a
marvel.” I followed Ned’s advice, and the rest is history. Bonnie cares
passionately about the BBA and its mission, and much of the success of the BBA
over the past decades can be traced to her. She seeks out every opportunity to
promote the BBA, and its individual leaders, with insight and focus, and always
with an eye on substance. There is nothing frivolous or shallow about Bonnie,
who has a sharp instinct for frauds and self-promoters. She is warm, welcoming
of all…and eager to have everyone’s picture on the BBA website. Don’t be fooled
by the St. John suits and the Ferragamo shoes: a millennium heart beats inside
her classic look, willing to embrace Facebook and Twitter and every other new
form of social media to make sure that the BBA is always on the cutting edge.
Does this paragon have an Achilles heel? Ask her about grandson Jack and she
will melt in front of you. And she’ll whip out her latest iPhone and show you
all 492 pictures of Jack from his last visit with grandma. I cannot imagine the
BBA without Bonnie: she is part of the bricks and mortar of the place. She
always will be, a revered part of a great organization.
Hon. Sandra L. Lynch -
Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and BBA
Past President
When I think of Bonnie I think of three P’s,
Professionalism, Preparation and Perceptiveness.
I was always a press neophyte, and Bonnie helping me out of my shell was one
of the ways she was most helpful to me professionally. I specifically recall one
instance of Bonnie taking me aside to explain to me that as BBA President, it
was my obligation to get myself in photos of events when a BBA presence was
important. She taught me the importance of leaders of the bar having the public
perception that they are representing the bar on important matters.
Press and media people are always very
persistent, and the BBA had to be persistent with them in getting the message we
thought was important out there. Bonnie excelled at that.
Bonnie understood the media in
a way that most lawyers and bar presidents did not. She would give great advice
on how to deal with the media. On top of the three P’s, Bonnie also happens to
be a lovely person.
Christine Netski - Sugarman, Rogers, Barshak
& Cohen and past Chair of the Boston Bar Journal Board of
Editors
I had the great pleasure of working
closely with Bonnie on the BBJ Board of Editors and was so impressed by her
ability to juggle all of the ingredients that go into producing a high-quality
publication. Bonnie is not only a fantastic writer and editor, but she
approaches her work with incredible energy, unbelievable organization and great
judgment. Bonnie just knows how to get things done – on time, on budget
and always with a smile.
Joan A. Lukey - Ropes & Gray and BBA Past
President
Bonnie is truly in
a league of her own. Operating, as she does, in the media/PR world, she
knew the intricacies of Twitter and Facebook well ahead of the curve. At
the same time, she has a complete awareness of the nuances of dealing with good
old-fashioned reporting and reporters. She bridges technology and the
generation gap as no one else does.
Joel Reck, Ret. Partner, Brown Rudnick and BBA Past
President
To know and to work with Bonnie is
to love her. Her commitment to serving the BBA and its members in the many
aspects of its work is extraordinary in so many ways. She genuinely loves
the BBA and its multi- faceted mission. A true professional, Bonnie exuded
integrity, passion for her work and real caring about others.
Not surprisingly, I worked most closely with Bonnie during my term as
President of the BBA. Bonnie helped me and was there to support me in so
many ways. But what comes to my mind first is how Bonnie helped me with
the President's Page, which was daunting for me to anticipate producing every
month. Bonnie assured me, and she was true to her word, that all I needed
to do was to select a topic and write a draft of it. She would then edit
it and polish it and make me look good. In fact, whether it was drafting
speeches or quotes for press releases, Bonnie repeatedly spoiled me with
her flawless work, always delivered with her exceptional competence,
enthusiasm and graciousness. The relationships of mutual respect and trust
that she built over the years with so many reporters and organizations enabled
her to communicate the BBA's positions to the right audiences and at the right
times. Her work was never done in a self-aggrandizing way. Quite the
contrary--but there was no mistaking the pro-active and critically important
role that Bonnie was playing.
Frank Moran – Former Executive Director, Boston Bar
Association
Bonnie was, indeed, the
consummate Communications Director, always knowing the right “spin”, what to
say, when and how to say it and to whom. Her enormous success was due in
no small measure to the personal relationships she developed with the members of
the public media. She also knew the community and its governance and what
issues were important. In the mid-1990’s, the BBA was one of the first bar
associations to develop a web site and sophisticated electronic communications
with its members, which became one of its most valued membership
resources. Bonnie Sashin was at the forefront of developing the standards
(“fresh and crisp information,” she would demand) and the infrastructure among
our sections and committees to create the information flow. Information
quality and relevance were her guiding principles throughout. One of our
fun projects together was to “conspire” to take the Boston Bar Journal from a
somewhat “musty law review” to a periodical highly relevant to law practice that
it is today.
Bonnie’s communication skills have served the BBA so very well. She is
an expert in her field, delivering presentations on a national level. Her
greatest contribution, however, transcends her reputation as a communications
maven. Her greatest value has been as a team player at the BBA providing
thoughtful counsel and guidance to staff and leadership!
Paul Lannon, Holland & Knight and current Chair of the Boston Bar
Journal Board of Editors
It’s hard to imagine publishing the
BBJ without Bonnie. In
many ways, she IS the BBJ – its history, its energy, its driving force.
She’s the one behind the curtain magically making everything work. Bonnie knows
how to get the job done but with style and humor. She brings
enthusiasm and professionalism to everything she does. If we were
the Red Sox, we’d retire her number. If we were the Celtics, her
jersey would be hanging from the rafters. Congratulations on her 25 year anniversary.
BBA Staff would like to send a “retweet” from Sree Sreenivasan, Chief
Digital Officer at Columbia University and Professor at Columbia Journalism
School that captures exactly how we feel about Bonnie’s 25 years at the
BBA:
From @Sree : Here's to another 25 years of @BSashin at @BostonBar!
#BBAisLuckyToHaveHer