January 30, 2003
To Whom It May Concern:
If you are reading this unsolicited recommendation, you are fortunate enough to be considering hiring Scott Foster to work for you. Let me begin to detail some of the reasons why you could not make a better choice than engaging Scott Foster to help with your communications, media, public relations and advocacy work.
First, Scott does not seriously consider doing work unless he fully believes in the issues and goals of the organization. Accordingly, you would be getting his full commitment and Scott Foster’s full commitment, energy, initiative, creativity and resources are equivalent to a small army of normal mortals. He is extraordinarily bright and can assimilate new ideas, data and approaches faster than average people can even read them.
His exceptional acumen and intelligence (not to mention his wonderful sense of humor!) are not limited only to academic analysis or theoretical applications (although he certainly excels in those) but also extend to savvy strategic thinking and big-picture, even visionary, planning. He is an incredibly quick study, with a broad and deep knowledge base. Although he is very adept at executing plans and carrying out directions, my sense is that what really excites Scott Foster is to come up with out-of-the-box solutions, especially when they advance the good cause of the underdog and empower the worthy.
It would be nearly impossible to find someone more prolific or dedicated or reliable than Scott Foster when he hunkers down to accomplish his goal. I have just come off three astounding months of working daily with him on communications (internal and external) and media work on three simultaneous nurses’ strikes involving 1400 RNs. Scott was available and wonderfully responsive every single time we needed him.
There was not a single day in that three-month period when we did not have media coverage– in fact, we believe our strikes at three hospitals received at least as much coverage (and not just local coverage) as any strike in the world in the last decade. Nor was there a single member e-mail that went unanswered, a press deadline that he knew about that was missed, or a reporter’s inquiry to which he failed to reply timely and with great facts, angles, and stories to back up our issues.
Among our nurses, who are, themselves, notorious for working long hours and having incredible perseverance, Scott’s accessibility became legendary. Moreover, without exception the media raved about his responsiveness and the substantive leads he was able to feed them to create dynamic storylines. They had enormous respect and appreciation for his work, and that translated into direct results for us. Time after time we were thrilled to see his media alerts and press releases actually printed (often entire paragraphs, sometimes the whole piece) as he had created them.
LIke any good political strategist, Scott is extremely flexible and adaptable, only without sacrificing the long-range goals or core values. If his first idea works, he runs with it. If not, he will come up with five or six more ways to get the message across. He seems equally comfortable operating autonomously or collaborating on a progressive team. He loves to share and replicate what he knows (gladly would he learn, and gladly teach), taking obvious pleasure in watching others fly with the wing structure he has helped to fashion.
Quite obviously, I am the president of the Scott Foster Fan Club. There are also many nurses in the State of Hawaii who have joined the club. The Collective Bargaining Organizations of Hawaii Nurses’ Association is a tiny organization (in terms of staff), with a miniscule budget. We took on some major powerhouses and he made us look not only good, but great; we absolutely could not have done it without him. If you do not persuade Scott to take your organization on as a client, you will regret it in the short and long terms.
If there is any other aspect of his work or character that I might speak to, or experiences I might share so as to clarify why you should hire Scott Foster, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Very truly yours,
Sue Scheider
CBO Director
About Scott Foster 