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DEL.ICIO.USNational media having feeding frenzy
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Kathleen Whyman, the 35-year-old deputy editor of Attractions Management magazine, had a list of 31 questions to ask Atlanta philanthropist Bernie Marcus. But by the end of her interview, Whyman had asked only six questions, including: Do you mind if I tape-record this?
“I don’t know that I got anything different than anyone else, to be honest,” Whyman, a British journalist, said after Marcus moved two tables down for an interview with an Atlanta news-talk radio station. “But that’s to be expected from a public relations media day.”
RENEÉ HANNANS HENRY/AJC
Among the dignitaries on hand Saturday (from left): Mayor Shirley Franklin, Robert L. Fornaro of AirTran Airways, Gov. Sonny Perdue, Bernie and Billi Marcus.Whyman was among hundreds of national and international journalists who descended on downtown Atlanta on Saturday to tour the world’s largest aquarium.
The 250 newspaper reporters, freelance photographers, travel and entertainment writers and TV producers were among the first to see the completed $290 million attraction, which was financed in large part by Marcus, the self-made billionaire who co-founded Home Depot.
“We’re getting international exposure, international exposure,” Marcus said as he arrived for what would be the first of dozens of interviews and speeches. “I’ve gotten calls from England. I’ve gotten calls from Germany. We’re doing international press, which is what we want.”
Between filming beluga whales, whale sharks, sting rays and other sea creatures, the journalists sipped wine and listened to speeches by the corporate leaders who helped fund the exhibits, Mayor Shirley Franklin and Gov. Sonny Perdue, who was sporting a Georiga Aquarium logo shirt.
“Bringing the ocean to Atlanta is no small accomplishment,” Perdue said to Marcus. “But you did it.”
Before sampling salmon and caviar, beef tenderloin and other delicacies prepared by celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck, who is running the aquarium’s catering operation, some journalists sat with him at a strategically placed table by the beluga whale exhibit.
“Everyone asks the same question: Why are you here?” said Puck, noting that he had had interviews with CNN and FOX as well as an Atlanta-based Spanish language TV station. “I think Bernie created something really special.”
Aquarium officials declined to release a list of the media that attended the five-hour event, but many represented area outfits, including the Rockdale Citizen, Where Magazine, a free entertainment guide, and the Georgia Tech alumni magazine, which is doing a feature on aquarium executive director and Tech alumnus Jeff Swanagan.
Much of the worldwide coverage came from CNN, located right down the street.
Swanagan and other aquarium employees manned exhibits ready to answer questions, while public relations executives passed out news releases touting everything from the structure’s “unique exterior profile,” which mimics the bow of a ship, to the “underwater experience” of the gift shop from which visitors exit at ground level.
Creel McCormack, vice president of marketing and communications for the aquarium’s design firm, walked through the ballroom clutching an armful of news releases, CDs with digital images and business cards.
“I’d love to have you talk to Gary,” she said, referring to one of the designers.
One group of reporters sitting around a table in the atrium seemed to grow restless as noon passed and there still was no sign of the promised Puck goodies.
“What I want to know is how big the whale sharks are going to get,” one remarked.
“What I really want to know,” another retorted, “is where’s the ? food?”
Staff writers Patricia Guthrie and Jim Tharpe contributed to this article.
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