NEWS AND VIEWS: The UIA's Man of the Year program: an explanation of its rationale and goals (01/19/03)

NEWS AND VIEWS

The UIA's Man of the Year program: an explanation of its rationale and goals

by Walter Nazarewicz

Two recent and related events conducted by the Ukrainian Institute of America (UIA) - the initiation of "2003 - The Year of the Renaissance of Kyiv" and the selection of Kyiv Mayor Oleksander Omelchenko as the institute's 2002 Man of the Year - have generated considerable response in the community, including two critical letters published in The Ukrainian Weekly and Svoboda. The programs required major effort on the part of the Institute and its supporters, and were established with exacting objectives. We believe most of our objectives were achieved, and achieved exceedingly well, and accordingly would like to comment on some aspects of the letters.

A brief review of the background leading up to the events may be useful. During the summer of 2002, following a constant barrage of highly negative news published about Ukraine throughout the world, the board of directors of the UIA decided to implement a substantial effort to help raise the self-esteem of Ukrainians both in Ukraine and abroad, and to inform non-Ukrainians of the progress achieved in Ukraine since its independence.

The institute established a number of specific objectives to be addressed through its program. The first was to obtain the support of all the major organizations in the diaspora. This was accomplished quickly and whole-heartedly - in itself a signal of the great validity of the essential idea behind our program. The second was to select as the program's theme a topic of major importance, as opposed to one of limited, local interest. The third was to co-opt the support of Ukrainians in Ukraine so that the program would be a truly broad, "hands-across-the-sea" effort many in the United States and Ukraine have long desired. Finally, the institute set as an objective the selection of a theme that would be of interest to non-Ukrainians who generally have little appreciation for or knowledge of the rich culture and history of Ukraine.

After careful consideration the institute decided that one topic could accomplish the objectives described above - namely, the many positive developments that have occurred in Kyiv since Ukraine's independence, resulting in the transformation of Ukraine's capital from a relative backwater in 1989 to one of today's shining lights of Eastern Europe. The institute believes that the extent of this remarkable transformation is not well-recognized by the Ukrainian American community, let alone the rest of the world.

Accordingly, the institute decided to designate 2003 as "The Year of the Renaissance of Kyiv" and to launch a series of programs, to be held at two-to-three month intervals throughout the year, on such topics as Kyiv's architecture, arts, music and even current fashion design.

Our initial plan was to launch the celebration of "The Renaissance of Kyiv" on Sunday, December 8, with two specific events.

The first was the opening at the UIA of a photo exhibit depicting Kyiv as it looked before independence, and as it appears today. The exhibit focuses on the splendid reconstruction of many destroyed historical landmarks and the building of modern public places and spaces, and is slated to travel to other cities in the United States and Canada throughout 2003. The curator of the exhibit, Ulana Bachynsky, who was assisted by Zwen Goy and Dr. Roman Goy, spent 10 days in Ukraine to assemble the photographs. The Kyiv City Administration provided substantial support in gathering the materials, while the institute shouldered the major portion of the financial costs.

The second event was the continuation of the Institute's "Man of the Year" series by which the community could honor Kyiv Mayor Omelchenko as the driving force behind the rebuilding and rejuvenation of Ukraine's capital. This program was scheduled to begin with a traditional luncheon at the Plaza Hotel in New York City on Sunday, December 8, continue with a number of different activities during the next two days, and culminate with a reception at the Institute when the mayor would officially dedicate the opening of the photo exhibit. The institute also decided to invite the Klitschko brothers, world-famous athletes and close friends of Mayor Omelchenko, to attend the "Man of the Year" banquet.

The Grand Ballroom of the Plaza Hotel, site of all previous UIA Man of the Year programs and capable of holding at least 600 people, was reserved for the event.

A casual review of the targets established by the institute can only point to the massive effort required on the part of the institute, essentially an all-volunteer organization, in its attempt to help reverse or otherwise impact the steady din of negative news emerging from Ukraine.

In late September, in my capacity as the president of the institute, I traveled to Ukraine to extend an official invitation to Mayor Omelchenko, which was graciously accepted. The mayor also pledged the support of the Kyiv City Administration for the "Renaissance of Kyiv" program throughout 2003, and promised to use his influence to have important associates and some public figures, as well as artistic performers from Ukraine attend the event in New York.

Following the mayor's agreement to come to New York, the institute initiated a major public relations and publicity effort to generate support within the community. This included commissioning a series of press reports on the "Renaissance of Kyiv," as well as the production of a commemorative journal designed in part to help offset some of the costs associated with the program.

In early October the Institute received news that one of the Klitschko brothers had signed up for a boxing match in Las Vegas, to take place on the evening of December 7. Mayor Omelchenko, long a close friend and key supporter of the brothers-athletes, would be attending the match along with some members of the large Kyiv contingent scheduled to attend the Man of the Year banquet. The mayor indicated that the entire group would then come to New York, including the Klitschko brothers.

The news immediately raised several problems for the institute. First was that given the time difference between Las Vegas and New York City, the Man of the Year luncheon could not be held on Sunday as originally scheduled but would have to be postponed to Monday evening. Next, the institute learned that the Plaza Hotel's Grand Ballroom had been already booked for Monday by another group, so that the Man of the Year celebration would have to be moved to another, significantly smaller banquet room.

The change brought on a second potential problem. Immediately a number of doomsayers from within the community proclaimed that Ukrainians would "never" attend a formal event on a Monday night, or indeed during the work week. Attendance projections from these sources ranged as low as 100 attendees.

The institute discussed with Mayor Omelchenko the possibility of postponing the entire function until the spring, but the mayor simply could not make a commitment to travel abroad at that time. What's more, the opportunity for the community to meet with the Klitschko brothers, who have become world-famous goodwill ambassadors for Ukraine, would also have been lost.

Accordingly, the institute felt it had no choice but to move ahead with the Monday night date. To generate even greater interest for the event, the institute stepped up its public relations efforts, even hiring a professional public relations firm, Romyr Consultants, with offices in Kyiv, Washington and Toronto, which contributed substantially to the success of our program.

The rest is history. Despite some dire predictions, 430 attended the banquet, while at least 120 others had to be turned away, including a number of institute members (who are our chief financial supporters) as well as prospective members. The UIA had adopted a policy of bringing in as many attendees as possible to show Mayor Omelchenko the community's great appreciation for his efforts to "turn things around" in Ukraine's capital, and in retrospect perhaps we tried to accommodate too many people considering the size of the banquet hall. But who can forget the roar and sustained applause from the attendees that greeted the mayor and the Klitschko brothers when they entered the reception area.

This letter reflects some of the many challenges encountered by the Ukrainian Institute of America in putting on a very major program. The organizers may not have focused primarily on "crowd control," one of the criticisms implied by one of your letter writers. Our interest was to give access to guests, not to keep them away from attendees. With this in mind we deliberately seated the Klitschko brothers at tables separate from the mayor's. In fact, most of the attendees were highly complimentary to the institute for enabling easy access to our honored guests, who seemed to appreciate the attention and plaudits they received.

It's always easy to find something to criticize in just about any event of this magnitude. Unfortunately, some in the Ukrainian community have a tendency to emphasize any perceived negatives while belittling the positives and failing to see the larger picture. There are other communities that have learned to search out and emphasize the pluses - an approach we would do well to emulate.

The institute believes the "Renaissance of Kyiv" and the man of the year programs overwhelmingly produced many positives for Ukraine and the Ukrainian American community. Consider the following.

Mayor Omelchenko performed admirably throughout a very hectic two-day schedule. Unlike the reputation of most major Ukrainian political figures in the news today, he was gracious in his demeanor with a very demanding community, spoke eloquently, and demonstrated his love and devotion to Ukraine. He was an obviously right choice for man of the year honors. His nomination as man of the year and the award banquet in New York received extensive and highly positive news coverage across Ukraine.
Our community had an excellent opportunity to meet and interact with two world-renowned figures from the world of sports who consistently and publicly demonstrate their Ukrainian heritage and voice their love for Ukraine. We have recorded the Klitschko's visit to St. George's Ukrainian school on December 11 on video, which will be available in the near future. The video clearly shows the warm feelings of the Klitschkos toward our community.
The institute's programs enabled Mayor Omelchenko and other Kyiv city officials to meet with prominent non-Ukrainian groups, and led to a visit with the managing editor of Business Week and his staff to discuss business issues pertaining to Ukraine.
Judging by the many comments the institute has received, we firmly believe that the vast majority of banquet attendees walked away with a strong feeling of pride for their Ukrainian heritage and community. We readily acknowledge the vocal "exuberance" of some of the attendees, but feel this was in part a manifestation of circumstances - specifically the unfortunate need to move to a much smaller room, with a low ceiling that magnified sound, and our community's manifest pleasure to be able to experience something positive as opposed to the negative environment we have seen in the recent past. That in itself was one reason why we attempted to maximize the audience for the event.

The institute, however, greatly regrets that the over-enthusiasm of banquet attendees did not provide our special musician and singer guests from Kyiv the proper setting for their performances - something we hope to re-address in the future.

Bottom-line: the positives far outweighed any negatives. During my visit to Ukraine in preparation for the program, I had the opportunity to meet with several top and successful business executives of Ukrainian descent who expressed their full support for our program. As one noted to me, it represents "one of the first times someone from the diaspora has come to us with a program to help gain recognition for the positive changes in Ukraine." Most diaspora visitors to Ukraine, he added, only criticize and lecture locals on how to improve the situation there. While no one is blind to our ancestral land's shortcomings, we at the Ukrainian Institute of America take great pride in our decision to recognize, celebrate and publicize the many good things you'll find about Ukraine if only you're willing to look for them.

Walter Nazarewicz is president of the Ukrainian Institute of America.

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