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GETO & DE MILLY INC. RANK (BY COMPENSATION): #9 PREVIOUS RANK: N/A COMPENSATION: $2,342,588.00
MICHELE DE MILLY Principal
TO WHAT DO YOU ATTRIBUTE YOUR SUCCESS? What distinguishes our firm from other firms is a lot of the others on the top 10 list are law firms and pure government relations/lobbying firms. What we bring to the table that’s a little bit different is we have an integrated approach that involves government consulting, community affairs and public relations. We’re very involved with utilizing social media and other digital platforms. We do web sites and e-blasting and advertising. That’s a component of our government affairs activities. It’s a very integrated approach. Another thing that’s distinguishing is we’re very analytical. We’re extremely well-versed in a broad range of public policy
issues that we have worked on for decades, and we work very hard to thoroughly understand the context of every client issue as well as all of the stakeholders involved. We’re very respectful and embrac e the pro c e s s e s that include communities in decision-making in New York City. Because we have real expertise in those processes, we know them thoroughly and we encourage our clients to be responsive to communities, to their concerns and the agendas. We feel that it’s not only the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do. WHO ARE YOUR MA JOR CLIENTS? I would put them into two big categories. First of all, a lot of what we do is not lobbying. We
develop and implement effective marketing and branding and m e d i a s t ra t e g i e s t h a t h a v e no need for us to register as lobbyists, and that’s a good chunk of what we do. As for lobbying, we have a pretty diverse client base, and we always have. More than half of our work has been not-forprofits, and there are social services organizations and education and health care institutions, labor unions. The next big category of client is the land use and real estate issues. Some of those clients are also educational and health care institutions – everybody has a land use in New York, if you’re a property owner – but it also includes all the major developers that we work with, Toll and Zeckendorf and Forest City Ratner and so on.
MERCURY PUBLIC AFFAIRS RANK (BY COMPENSATION): #10 PREVIOUS RANK: #9 COMPENSATION: $2,231,913.93 WHO ARE YOUR MA JOR CLIENTS? It’s New York, right, so there’s always going to be real estate playing a prominent role for any of these businesses on the list. It’s an eclectic mix.
MIKE MCKEON Partner
HOW IS THE LOBBYING BUSINESS CHANGING? There’s no question that it ’s changed a fair amount, and largely for the better. I think it’s gotten much broader. It’s not just about going and doing the meeting. You have to understand the politics, and there are plenty of things you can do from a public affairs perspective that are important to success for clients. Relationships will always
matter, but understanding politics and understanding the environment you’re working in and how to impact that is a lot more part of the effort these days – and I think that’s all for the better. Going in and asking someone for a favor because you’ve known them for 20 years, that’s not a business model, and fortunately that’s more and more in the rearview mirror. That’s the stigma attached to the industry, and fortunately from my perspective, it’s less and less the reality. DOES IT CHANGE FROM MAYOR TO MAYOR, OR MORE SPE CI F I CALLY, F R O M T H E BLOOMBERG ADMINISTRATION TO THE DE BLASIO
ADMINISTRATION? No. Personalities change, people change, the skill sets of the people you’re working with change. I have great respect for the people inside the Bloomberg administration. They cared very much about the jobs they did, and I find the de Blasio administration equally as passionate about the work that they do and the city they serve. Everything is different based on individuals – some people are stronger, smarter, better than others – but no, I don’t think there’s any real difference. WHAT ’S THE BEST PART OF YOUR JOB? Trying to figure out solutions.