A Jack of Many Communication Trades
/Book Review: Confusions of a Communications Man
Surviving Radio, TV, Movies, Journalism and Advertising
by Greg B. Macabenta
2019, 361 pp.
Confusions of a Communications Man By Greg Macabenta (click on image to buy the book)
When the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) and Cebu Visitors and Convention Bureau convened the Third Global Filipino Networking Convention in Cebu City (2005), this was where I learned what it was like to be hammered to perfection by Greg in a CEO boot camp atmosphere, when he was the Chair of the Organizing Committee and I was the Executive Coordinator, the key communications position.
“Hammered” is the appropriate verb because whatever personal challenges we faced, he made sure our work together was an oasis of professionalism, tenacity, and dedication. The ultimate compliment I received was when Greg mounted a Global Filipino Heroes photo gallery during the convention and I found out, to my surprise, that he considered as “heroic” my volunteer work for many causes that empowered the Filipino community through the past few years.
It is through my NaFFAA “eyes” that I write this book review.
Greg B. Macabenta
First, this soft cover book is a memoir that arrived on time, just before Greg Macabenta’s 80th birthday. It is available through Amazon.com -- 361 pages of text, photos, posters, and selected articles document almost 66 years of history in radio, television, movies, journalism, and advertising from the author’s perspective.
What a romp into strategy and history this book proves to be! It took me almost a month to digest every word. I could understand Greg's “confusions” because he was deeply involved in two or three --- or even all --- of these communications’ mediums simultaneously. I felt like I was taking a trip through the Philippines’ history of communications during its exciting, groundbreaking days of renaissance, when the world was just learning how not to be so insular, way before digital technology broke traditions.
Since Greg has been drawing cartoons since his early childhood, he lifted a cartoon from his article about Senator Claro M. Recto in 1957 for the book cover’s image. The barely 18-year-old journalist has his back to the reader, wearing a T-shirt and low-waist jeans. Jinx Macabenta, Greg's youngest son, created the book’s cover design.
Greg categorized his table of contents, linking his past to his present in chronological order, such as “when radio advertising was, becoming a reporter the hard way, initiation into yellow journalism, covering the movies, decades as a newspaper columnist, publishing a magazine and a newspaper, the movie years, life in a movie studio, the TV years, Pinoy abilidad in America, the advertising years, and starting from scratch in America.” The last chapter of the book highlights the confusions of family and friends.
The index is a surprising revelation of people’s names, places, publications, and business entities. Some people’s names didn't make it to the index, but the author, in his narratives, fondly mentions them. There are memory triggers as I find a friend, someone I admire, or a celebrity in the chapters. I automatically checked the index to see if Greg included their names.
There are Filipino terms or idioms that are thoughtfully footnoted at the bottom of each page. This makes it easy for the non-Tagalog language reader to relate to Greg’s stories.
Typographical errors, from my personal experience with Greg, are not in his vocabulary. Although I spotted a few typos here and there and noted some typing errors, I concluded that the future editions of the book, and the digital editions, would make the corrections. “Mr. Perfectionist,” my label for Greg, is learning how to relax in his perfectionism.
“Greg relates his stories in the first person. They are honest, candid chronicles about his struggles and achievements. Survival is the common thread that binds his stories.”
Second, Greg relates his stories in the first person. They are honest, candid chronicles about his struggles and achievements. Survival is the common thread that binds his stories. His insights and reflections are interspersed with anecdotes and recollections that seem like klieg lights beaming into the universe he lived and thrived in. Greg's writing style is journalistic, sometimes informal, often precise and elegant.
My favorite story is the one he wrote for Kislap-Graphic magazine, “A Teenager Looks at the Big Man,” his feature article about Claro M. Recto and his determination to secure an appointment to interview the senator. I could consider it as a milestone event in Greg's writing career.
I cheered and cried with Greg as he shared many how-to stories. “Hustling for script assignments, how not to write a story & screenplay, fighting and surviving the advertising wars, communications counsel or media mercenary, helping elect a future dictator” are some of my favorite must-reads.
As a journalist, Greg learned that veteran reporters engaged in merciless teasing as part of the initiation process. Eventually, he became faster with his riposte or verbal retaliations.
There are many inside stories about his life in the movies. Greg recounts his pride when his script won Best Short Film at the FAMAS Awards, the Philippine version of the Oscar Awards. No one congratulated him. Greg broke down in tears, realizing that show business was, indeed, a “dog eat dog world.”
His on-and-off involvement with television hit me like a lightning bolt. I did not know that the ABS part of ABS-CBN Corporation is the acronym for Alto Broadcasting System. TV aficionados will appreciate Greg's journey within ABS-CBN, inside the network’s inner sanctum in the early 1960s. I had only known about his relationship with GMA International (GMA Pinoy TV) in the early 2000s. Greg also reveals that the acknowledged Father of Philippine TV is James Lindenberg.
A career in advertising provided the financial stability that Greg had sought during his “confusing” years when he juggled multiple jobs. He didn’t know what an account executive's job responsibilities were. Greg thought “account executive” meant “accountant.” At first, he was unwilling to delegate responsibilities to his group. When Greg became a college professor, quite an achievement for a college dropout, he learned how to build a team “that could replace and relieve me.”
Greg’s company in the U.S., Minority Media Services, Inc., is recognized as one of the pioneers of ethnic marketing. In this book, I find out that Greg co-founded an association of Asian American advertising agencies. His focus was the Filipino market. He says: “The community is small. We learned to work together in spite of differences.”
In one of the later chapters, Greg reveals what he would do to recapture Nescafe’s leadership of the instant coffee market. He calls them “musings of an old man - a romantic, for sure -- that may have no relevance to today’s marketing realities.”
What did I get out of Greg’s book?
Paraphrasing the book’s introduction, I know Greg achieved his objective. He said: “The communications man sees events from a different perspective. While average folks see things up front, I had had a backstage view. They see the puppets. I have seen the puppeteers. And I have also seen the human beings in those who pull the strings.”
Key phrases in Greg's memoir that resonated with me:
“Code of ethics. Word of honor. Efficiency. Working habits that involved no sleep. Self-starters with a ‘never say die’ attitude. A fierce competitor that always went for the jugular. A matter of conscience choosing not to take advantage of my influential position. A balance between my principles and my communications practice.”
I empathize with Greg Macabenta when it comes to commitment and getting a project done, especially in encouraging my team members to live up to their highest potential as human beings.
Greg’s book makes me feel whole.
Click here to buy the book: https://www.amazon.com/Confusions-Communications-Man-Journalism-Advertising/dp/1071294571/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Greg+b+macabenta&qid=1565276754&s=books&sr=1-1
Lorna Lardizabal-Dietz
Lorna Lardizabal Dietz is a member of the board of directors, San Francisco Filipino Cultural Center, and a Filipino community publicist, wherein the Filipino community is her celebrity.
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