George Knapp was joined in the first half of the program by author and PR expert Maggie Jessup, who shared her insights on personal branding and how to become famous. Jessup said her firm receives inquiries every day from people who want to be famous, some with no apparent talents and others who want to become a brand in order to get to the top of their respective fields. So how does one stand out from the crowd? "You take a page out of old Hollywood and the publicity game, and you position yourself in that way, and you can get there," she explained.
Jessup cited several examples of people who understood the power of publicity and how it could benefit them. Suze Ormon went from a server at the Buttercup Cafe in Berkley to one of America's premier financial advisors, she revealed. Rachel Ray was a pitch girl in a grocery store and is now an important voice in cooking despite that she has no training as a chef, Jessup continued. Fame gives you credibility, she noted. According to Jessup, Mother Theresa also understood publicity, used it to gain a worldwide following, and was able to help countless people because of her celebrity. "If nobody knew who she was, nobody would listen or care and she wouldn't get anything," she added.
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In the latter half of the show, Beatles scholar Chuck Gunderson talked about what it was like during the Fab Four's North American tours and the madness that was Beatlemania. When the Beatles arrived in San Francisco to begin their 1964 tour there were 5,000 teenagers waiting to greet them, he reported, noting how the frenzy forced the band to run for cover immediately after deplaning. The fan hysteria continued in Las Vegas, where the Beatles essentially became prisoners in the Alexandria Tower at the Sahara Hotel, Gunderson said. Casino management even brought slot machines to their suite, he added.
According to Gunderson, no rock act had ever done what the Beatles accomplished on that tour. They sold out the 17,000-seat Hollywood Bowl in three and a half hours at a time when tickets could only be bought for cash at a few select outlets, Gunderson said. In just 33 days the Beatles played 32 shows in 26 venues in 24 cities across North America, earning a record-breaking $1.2 million and changing rock and roll touring forever, he explained. Gunderson also uncovered how the FBI investigated The Beatles. "What they were attempting to observe was racial or subversive overtones in the crowd," he disclosed.