On Friday October 6th 2017, close to 200 people packed into the 7th floor at Publicis NY Headquarters to toast relationships forged across 5+ decades at Benton & Bowles/DMB&B. It was our 10th alumni reunion, held 15 years after the agency died. Publicis generously hosted the food and drink, and everyone had a truly memorable time. In addition, 200 more people reconnected with us this year via email, and so were with us in spirit that night.
Attendees came from the four corners of the earth … the Philippines, New Zealand, France, Russia plus from around the US … California, Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, our Tri-State area and more...
The unspoken themes of the evening were friendship – friendships forged from intense years of working together, whether at our beloved B&B or its successor entity DMB&B, friendships that have withstood the proverbial test of time, that live again in recounting shared memories; appreciation – appreciation for the agency's core values that were instilled in each of us no matter where we worked afterwards; and finally, respect – the respect that agency leaders had, and still have, for their people.
Evidence of the first two themes, friendship and appreciation, could be heard in every conversation that evening, and could be seen in all the smiles, hugs, booming laughter and delight across the room. Evidence for the last theme, respect, was highlighted by how Jack Bowen was missed yet still celebrated. He could not attend because of impending knee replacement surgery, but he sent a message of warmth and regret to us all that was read aloud mid-evening. Indeed, thanks to Don Blauweiss and his son Stephen, a celebrated documentary filmmaker, a video of greetings was recorded that night for Jack. Jack watched the video this Spring with his children and grandchildren, and was very moved, noting with pleasure what an extraordinary agency family we had.
Below is a list of who came on the 6th, followed by those who hoped to come but couldn't at the last minute, plus those who knew they couldn't attend but asked to say hi to everyone. You can also click on the link below to preview the Jack B video, and to see the pictures from that night.