Maxim Behar's Blog, page 12

Maxim Behar: "COVID-19 brought new normal and leaders must adjust their behavior"

Maxim Behar was a guest on Darik Radio with Raina Damiana to comment on how COVID-19 brought new normal and leaders must adjust their behavior. This is the main theme in his new book ���The Morning After���, which reflects on current pandemic difficulties, faced by business leaders.

���The book "The Morning After" would be useful for many people, taking into consideration it was read and liked by respected people such as Stefan Valdobrev, Levon Hampartsumyan, Georgi Milkov, Prof. Lyubomir Stoykov, Svetlin Nakov, Solomon Passy and Plamen Rusev - people with different methods of doing business and different life in general.���, commented Maxim Behar.

Listen to the full interview here.

Official presentation of "The Morning After" by Maxim Behar in Sofia

The first book - guide for leaders during COVID-19 is already a fact in Bulgaria! "The Morning After" was officially presented by the PR expert and author Maxim Behar at Greenwich Book Center. Among those attended the premiere were prominent business entrepreneurs, diplomats, journalists, university lecturers, and celebrities.

The premiere was broadcasted live on Facebook in front of an even larger audience of fans, who also watched the real-time presentation and learned more about the content of "The Morning After��� by the author, and positive impressions by its publisher - Neiko Genchev, owner of the publishing house "Faber".

"The Morning After" is a special book - it refers to everything that happened in Bulgaria and in the world from March 1 this year until now. In it I share my experience - how I restructured my business, what I did with my company so that the crisis, caused by COVID-19 would not affect us. The book also contains many examples from the business in Europe and the United States and advice from proven experts in various fields. Other crises, such as the financial crisis in 2008 is also analysed and compared to the coronavirus situation",��said Maxim Behar during the premiere.

The book is also one of the first on the market dedicated to leadership during a pandemic and can now be purchased from all major bookstores in the country.

Maxim Behar for BG Radio - 10 Favorite Songs

Maxim Behar presents his 10 favorite Bulgarian songs and personal stories related to them in the "Favorite 10" podcast section of BG radio.

10. FSB - High
- FSB is a group of great musicians. It is one of the symbols of my generation - the 70s, when we all listened to rich music formed by the messages of the group The Beatles.
FSB is the first group in Bulgaria to be born rich with sounds and instruments.
The song and the title "High" show where we should go, and since then this is my standard - high.

9. Georgi Minchev and the Crickets - White Silence
- Of all their songs, I like "White Silence" the most, although they have far more complex and interesting songs related to many of their messages.
I remember how the picture of Georgi Milchev and the Crickets in front of Alexander Nevsky Cathedral suddenly appeared on our black-and-white Opera TV. This whole poetry of the song was not typical for Bulgarian pop, even in those years. I like it and it doesn't just take me back to the 70's, but rather tells me that there is white silence in today's life, and we have to create it.

8. Tangra - Wealth
- This is a very nice student song that is easy to remember - especially the part about the landlady who ���comes in the morning to ask about the rent and brings coffee and muffins���, who does not exist in real life ��� then and now. We all danced a lot on this song.
In the 70's I joined a band "Tears" and we played together - I was on drums, Krasi Nikolov, who currently has a recording studio, was on bass guitar, and Chavdar from the band Impulse was on solo guitar.
I recently talked with Dancho Karadzhov from Signal and he told me how they came to this Buxton club every Friday night to listen to "Tears" and make fun of us. However, we went to watch the early Bandarats before they became Signal, in Ovcha Kupel every Saturday night.
I also grew up with Kosyo Markov, the founder of Tangra, with whom I lived almost on the same street and I called him "Kosyo the antenna" because he was the only one who had a TV antenna and caught Serbian television. We often gathered at his place to watch movies and especially to listen to rock bands.

7. Donnie and Momchil - Tired Wings
- This is a modern song, which is surprisingly lyrical for the 90's, when it was created ��� at times when life was not calm and well-organized. That's why the song made an impression, and they are both very good musicians.
Momchil had a long break period, and in recent years he wanted to return to his music career. And what Donnie is doing, together with Netty, in the last years of his career is very good for the Bulgarian stage. They are very good performers who travel around the world, including America, where they are also loved by fans. But it all started with Tired Wings.

6. Agate - The Black Sheep
"There are several reasons I like her." Agate is a very good band with wonderful musicians, especially Zvezdi. A few years ago, I participated in a show "The icing on the cake" and
Zvezdi had to appear and sing a song based on my lyrics, which I had written quickly, absolutely amateurishly during the show. We did a great show together then.
For those years when the song was written, being a black sheep was not as positive as it is today. Now that means being different, more interesting, more revolutionary, having better ideas.

5. D2 - One hundred years
- The band has a lot of good songs and I will never forget one night when I was at the Swing Club, which still exists today, and I heard a band performing covers. I went to one of the boys and told him, ���You know, I want to hire you to play for one of our projects for a client. What is your name? Who are you?��� And he replied that he would come and bring me a CD of their songs to hear what they can offer. This boy, Mitko Karnev, rang my doorbell one Sunday night and handed me a CD - no cover, nothing, just written with a felt-tip pen ��� D2. The name D2 comes from Dichi and Dimitar, and that was the moment they decided it was going to be the name of their group.
This was long before the songs "100 Years" and "Ice Girl", which are one of the emblematic songs for the band. I still regret that Dicho is no longer part of the group because they both had a lot of chemistry. At the same time, Mitko Karnev has grown a lot over the years. He is a wonderful musician, the engine of the band at the moment and whenever I find out about their concert or show in a club, I am their spectator and fan.

4. Sprint - Domino
- The song has great energy, good lyrics, and such a good rhythm that I calmly put it as one of my first favorite Bulgarian songs.
When one day, a few years ago, I came across a conference and Peyo from the Sprint group came to me, not knowing if I remembered him, and I glowed and told him, "You're the one with Domino," then he wondered that I know his song.
Domino is a very good song, which speaks not only about the years in which it was written and performed, but also about the fact that in Bulgaria there was estrade, which was not only presented at Intervision or the Golden Orpheus, with respect to the festivals of that time, but as estrade with a western character. The singer has a very good voice and performance, and I would be very happy to meet her and Peyo.

3. Avenue - Escape
- The performers from Avenue are some very good friends of mine. The song is very pleasant and lyrical, as well as very interesting. When I first heard it in the mid-90s, I said that it was not possible for such a song to be written in Bulgaria. So musical, enduring and enjoyable, and at the same time with such strong messages in it.
I love this song very much and I am very close with both Zaki and Bobby, but Zaki and I had a lot in common. I am glad to have such friends - musicians. They are much more than musicians. They are people who are into business and have a broad general culture.

2. Poli Genova - If love was a crime
- A great singer and a very good friend, with whom I communicate quite often.
Her song reached 4th place at Eurovision and was the only one in the entire chart with English lyrics and an English title, which is typical for the rules of Eurovision. I have a lot of respect for the performers who prefer to sing in Bulgarian, but English is already a world language. They often criticize my Facebook posts, which I write in English, and I explain that Facebook is not Bulgaria, but the World. Polly Genova is in the same situation.
"If love was a crime" is a very well-made song, well composed, with good lyrics, choreography and performance. I think she is one of the best Bulgarian singers at the moment and has a very bright future and career ahead. I'm glad we have this song and I'm sorry, of course, that she didn't win Eurovision.

1. Charisma - You pass through me
- The song is very modern, well structured, with good lyrics and wonderful performance, and in general the whole song is interesting. There are no elementary choruses, no simple messages, at the same time it is very musical and difficult to perform - vocally.
I have known Miro and Galya for many years, since the 90s, when there was a restaurant in Sofia called Opera House, where students from VITIZ and NATFA were hired, among whom were Militsa Gladnishka, Orlin Pavlov, as well as Miro and Galya. The students were waiters and served with microphones, making a great show.
The Swedes, the owners of the restaurant, were our customers and we took care of all communication, PR, opening events and everything related to the restaurant. The opening was one of the most important events in Sofia for the whole decade. All these people I listed above made such a show that it was obvious each of them would succeed more and more in the near future. And so, Miro and Galya wrote this song "You pass through me", which seems to me to have remained the best song in Bulgaria for the last 20 years.

Maxim Behar speaker for the online conference ���Africa Brand Summit��� 2020

Maxim Behar has participated in the online conference "Africa Brand Summit 2020", which took place on October 7 in Cape Town, South Africa with a dynamic composition of influential local and international speakers.

He commented on the importance of global PR organizations, such as ICCO and the World Communication Forum Association in Davos, Switzerland, in creating a much better environment for transparent and ethical communications. At the conference, the PR expert also presented his new book "The Morning After" in Bulgarian, which will soon be published in English on Amazon.com

About Africa Brand Summit:
Representatives from Africa, along with other parts of the world, are working to restore Africa's economic development, the positive reputation of the continent and African citizens, the creation of cultural, social, political, legislative, corporate and economic initiatives, and the attraction of more African professionals and business leaders on the continent.

Maxim Behar for the Correspondent newspaper: "The pandemic woke us up and told us: business is changing"

Businessman and PR expert Maxim Behar commented on the changes in business in Bulgaria after COVID-19 and presented his new book "The Morning After", in which he shares how he stabilized his company M3 Communications Group, Inc. to avoid the crisis in 2020.

He also commented on the challenges facing the PR business - the lack of freedom of speech, the negatives of mass publicity access and the spread of fake news.

Read the full interview:

Mr. Behar, what are the highlights of your new book? Why and how did you decide to write it and do you expect it to achieve the same sales success as your latest editions?
With this book I set a kind of record, I wrote it in less than two weeks. I am extremely glad that Faber Publishing House in Veliko Tarnovo managed to react just as quickly and expeditiously, which prepared it for printing in a very short period of time. Many thanks from the bottom of my heart to the owner of "Faber" Neiko Genchev, in whom I found an intelligent, creative, businesslike and hardworking man. The book is touched to the smallest detail. I hope it surpasses the success of my previous books.

"The Morning After" is a more special book, it refers to everything that happened in Bulgaria and in the world from March 1 until now. In it I share my experience - how I restructured my business, what I did with my company so that the difficulties from the coronavirus crisis would not affect us. The text also contains many examples from abroad, mainly for American companies, there are also comparisons of experts, as well as an analogue with other crises, such as the financial crisis in 2008.

The reviews represent that the book is easy to read, and I hope it is really useful. I especially appreciate one part - the hundred tips for modern leaders. My message to readers is to find at least one sentence suitable for themselves. Because sometimes a sentence that comes at the right time can open your eyes, change your business, even turn your life around. If people find their sentence by closing the book, then I have succeeded.

How specifically did the pandemic affect the PR business you run?
It shook us hard, woke us up and told us: business is changing. And it doesn't just change in general, it has to happen right now. One of the things that was abruptly stopped was the event business, and for PR companies in Bulgaria this is the main way to earn money. It became clear that we will work from home, that the events will be done online, at a distance. But here came the question of forming teams to act quickly, almost in a flash. The PR business suffered negatives, perhaps not as visible as it did in tourism, for example, but it affected us.

You are a world expert in the PR industry, but I want to take you back to an average Bulgarian city, where the Municipality and the Police, the District Administration, the Energy and Water, the Court and larger companies, universities, hospitals, etc. have PR. Trained and less prepared, educated and less educated people do this work. How would you comment on this?
I do not want to offend anyone, but these people cannot be called representatives of the PR business. These are employees who must convey to the media the messages of their boss, wrapped in kind words. Public relations business means serving customers, developing strategies, it's not just working in a service. It is a combination of many other activities. For example, in my company there are at least 20 specialists in various fields - graphic designer, social media expert, event expert, etc. For years in Bulgaria there is a layered misunderstanding of this business. Another problem is that there is no good school to train PR specialists. Yes, there is a specialty "Public Relations" in universities, but the truth is that there is a huge gap between theory and practice, and that even among teachers there are people who do not know where the sun rises. Figuratively speaking, if the theory moves at 20 km / h, the practice is 100 km / h. Until recently, the motto of our college for training PR specialists was "Practice teaches best". That's why I always advise children and young people: if you want to learn something, work - during the holidays, in the summer, when you have time. One month of practice can give them as much knowledge as half a year at school or university.��

You started working in a newspaper. This business is also developing dynamically. Newspapers are replaced by electronic media and social networks. However, what will happen to the classic newspaper forms - the old extensive interview, the investigation, the report, the essay. Where will they find a place, we know that long texts do not grow on the Internet?
They will change. 110 years ago, when Henry Ford introduced the so-called petrol carriage, everyone was saying: how are we going to drive this, run over someone, break it. We will ride our horses and carts. But it is a fact that everything has changed. People on the Internet do not have time to read long texts. Or, if they have, they will find, for example, a site that is only for analytical materials - anyone who wants to write will do so there. Another question is how this site will survive.

Won't that be the end of the word?
No, because if someone writes a long text and there is no one to read it, it is meaningless. It's like cooking a wonderful dish that no one will try and throw it away. It may be in-depth, scientific, critical, but not readable ... There are several sites in Bulgaria at the moment that show that good journalism can be done in an online edition.

Back in 1999, in an interview, I said that the last newspaper in Bulgaria will be published in 2025. This provoked a great reaction, especially among fellow journalists. My good friend Valeri Zapryanov, with whom I made "Standart" together, called me and scolded me ... I tried to explain to him that everything goes online. A newspaper can do great journalism, publish great materials, but the problem is if there are no advertisers. The huge difference between print and any other media is that, for the first time, social media advertising is measurable. You can know how many people have seen it, how many have clicked on it, how many of them are men and women, how old they are, where they live. For example, a newspaper shows the advertiser his box on page 9 at the bottom right. He asks how many people have seen it. The editor-in-chief says a bombastic figure. Who will prove if this is true? This make people who pay the media to go online. It's just that the economy is different now and needs flexibility.

An example of this is a journalist like Kevork Kevorkian, who managed to find his place in the online space. People who have a sense change.��

You often say that you can make a professional out of an inexperienced person, as long as there is a sparkle in your eyes. Is that really so?
Yes, definitely. I can make an amateur a professional, as long as he/she has the desire to work. When I select people for my team, I don't look at their CVs. I never ask three questions in an interview - what education do you have, where did you study and where are you from. It does not matter. What matters is what this person wants to achieve and whether he is ready for it. I can't make a lazy - hard-working or a schemer - team player. The character of a person does not change. I bet on people who are eager to learn, with ambitions for success, honest, loyal and punctual.

The term "speech of hatred" has often been used in recent years. What do you think this means?
When someone is rude to another person. This is unacceptable between normal, intelligent people. It is true that at the moment in Bulgaria politics is total chaos, people are super divided and there are many reasons for that. Both sides are impatient - some want to stay in power, others want to overthrow them. An awful lot of mistakes are made on both sides. I speak from a PR point of view, from a communication point of view, not from a political one. Mistake after mistake has been made.

In relationships and disputes, the most important thing is the arguments. And the speech of hatred automatically excludes arguments.

The problem is that now everyone has media in their hands. Before, when you get drunk and want to take it to someone, you do it with relatives, neighbors or friends. Now, however, after two brandies, you sit down at the computer, log in to Facebook and start. And there everything can be seen by millions of people from all over the world. In my previous book, I said that we as a society do not realize our huge responsibility to have media in our hands through social networks. They allow everyone to become popular. 15-20 years ago, who were the popular faces? Politicians, athletes, artists, showmen, TV speakers. Literate people were involved in politics in order to have access to the media and to be able to send their messages. And now all of them have their own media. It may be sharp, what I am saying, but for me today's politicians are people who would find it difficult to place themselves elsewhere. But I think that in the next five or six years this will be experienced and everyone who sits behind the keyboard will do their job well. This is especially true when it comes to fake news and its spreading. I have raised the issue with them in many world forums and I demand that fake news be criminalized. If you steal something, you go to jail. But if you write something that can ruin a person's business or his life, it's unpunished. I do not know a person in Bulgaria who has been convicted of fake news, and this is a criminal act for me.

What is important for doing successful business in Bulgaria?
Innovation, flexibility and a lot of work. No matter how life changes, there will always be basic pillars on which to support society and these are the eternal human values ������- kindness, honesty, ethics, morality. For me personally, transparency is very important - whether it's human relations, business, friendship. For me, the definition of business ethics is to make profits transparently. I know many people who succeed in this way. Despite the general perception that in Bulgaria one gets rich only by stealing and swindling, I believe that there is another way and it is the right one.

Maxim Behar for BG On Air: "Trump declares another electoral victory"

"Trump has been playing a well-directed show since he was in the White House. He played it even better these days. He had to have another electoral victory and he did. No one can prove his infection. The show with his discharge from the hospital, the removal of the mask and the helicopter ... were great and added positive points,���commented Maxim Behar on the demonstrative recovery of the US President from the coronavirus.

At the end of the show, the PR expert presented his latest book "The Morning After", which is dedicated to what happened in the last 6 months of COVID-19, the response of businesses and leaders, and how we have changed ourselves.

Watch the whole conversation here.

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"The Morning After" is already on the Bulgarian market

The world-famous PR expert, diplomat and journalist - Maxim Behar, will present his new book "The Morning After" at the official premiere on October 15, 2020. from 18:00 at the Greenwich Book Center, in Sofia. The author personally took the first copy from the Veliko Tarnovo publishing house "Faber" on September 25 and thanked the publisher Neyko Ganchev.

The subtitle of the book - "COVID-19 brought "new normal" and business leaders must adjust their behavior. Read how it can be done.��� reflects the current difficulties in the pandemic environment faced by small and large business leaders.

"These days will change the world forever. The world that, after the social media revolution, thought that hardly anything could happen to divert it from its hectic path forward. Well, it happened. The COVID-19 pandemic. I talk about it and many other things in this book. ", wrote the author in the preface.

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The book can also be purchased online:

Helikon

Dbooks

Faber

Ciela

Maxim Behar and M3 Communications Group, Inc. signed the Diversity Charter in Bulgaria

Maxim Behar and M3 Communications Group, Inc. signed the Diversity Charter in Bulgaria. The document was developed by the Bulgarian Business Leaders Forum (BBLF) and the Center for the Study of Democracy, and aims to promote equality and diversity in the workplace.

Maxim Behar, an honorary member of the BBLF and its former chairman, took part in the official launch event of the Charter. During the ceremony, he said: ���Diversity and equality are embedded in the culture of M3 Communications Group, Inc. since its inception 26 years ago. It is important for us that the people who become part of our team are professionals and have a sparkle in their eyes. These have always been our only criteria. Our company supports the Charter for Diversity, because we believe that it is important for business in Bulgaria to set a good example and promote equal opportunities in the workplace."

The event for the official launch of the Diversity Charter in Bulgaria was honored by the Minister of Labor and Social Policy Denitsa Sacheva, the President of BBLF Levon Hampartzoumian and a number of representatives of business, non-governmental sector, diplomats and media.

10 Bulgarian companies and members of BBLF were the first to sign the Charter as its founders. They are AstraZeneca, Alaric Securities, Japan Tobacco International, ��������������, M3 Communications Group, In., ������, Siemens, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Shell �� Unique Estates.��

Watch the ceremony here:��https://www.facebook.com/BulgarianBusinessLeadersForum/videos/1059015737862720/

About the Charter:
An agreement of public importance that encourages companies to create and implement policies related to diversity management, prevention of discrimination and promotion of equality. By signing the Charter, each organization voluntarily assumes the responsibility to promote equality of opportunity in the workplace.

Maxim Behar for BG On Air: "We need reasonable arguments to exit the crisis"

The PR expert Maxim Behar took part in the TV show "Bulgaria Morning" on the TV channel Bulgaria ON AIR. He shared his impressions of the civil protests in the last 62 days and the current unmanageable political crisis in our country, which coincides with the epidemic conditions. He also expressed his expert opinion related to the government and the actions it must take to get Bulgaria out of the crisis situation.��

"It was not an unexpected crisis. It was expected for 2-3 years. It was known that this division in society exists, but it���s visible just now. This crisis is absolutely unmanageable. There is hardly a way out of what is happening now. "One of the two sides will have to back down," Maxim Behar said.

See more at:

Maxim Behar for ���Totalprestige��� Magazine: There is no elevator to success, you should take the stairs

The Best PR Professional in Europe (according to the international competition PRWeek Global Awards 2020) for 2020 Maxim Behar appears on the cover of the prominent "Totalprestige" magazine. He shares priceless lessons over his professional development before and after launching M3 Communications, changes in the industry, achievements, and knowledge that transformed him into a respected ���communications guru��� for over three decades.

Maxim, M3 Communications Group, Inc. provides a full range of communications services. Before we get into the company, however, let���s look at your past in the communications industry. What led you into the communications sector?

I was a journalist for many years and suddenly one day got a quote by Winston Churchill saying ���You can achieve a lot of things with journalism, but you should know when to quit������ So, I did, but also, I was considering this change as an upgrade of my media career, as something which is more sophisticated, as the next peak to climb in my life. And I must admit that I was right.

In 1981, you began a career in journalism in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, and Poland. What was it like to be a journalist in those countries during the 1980s and what did you learn from the experience to help you in the future as a communications expert?

It was a completely different world. On the one hand, there were so many emotions and hopes in Eastern Europe. In the whole of human history, no government or personality had made even an attempt to transfer the centralized economy into market one. So, Poland was the first back in 1989 and I had the great chance to be a journalist there and to be a witness of dramatic historical changes. Then it was Hungary, Czech, East Germany collapsed, Bulgaria��� Each country with its specifics, achievements and disappointments.

Back in Bulgaria, I founded together with a group of Friends one of the first private independent daily newspapers ��� Standard. It was, in fact, the first media in the country which stood steady behind free market values and was even slightly conservative. I spent almost three years in the position of managing editor responsible both for the editorial content, but also for the business development and sales departments. It was really a great school for me, the first one in the environment of free competition, an environment in which I have spent all my life since then.

Answering straight to your questions ��� the most important lesson I���ve learned spending almost 15 years in journalism is that freedom of speech is the ���mother��� of all freedoms and the absolute base of each democracy. Of course these days ���freedom of speech��� has an absolutely different meaning, keeping in mind the ���tsunami��� of social media, but let me tell you, whatever changes could��happen in the global media landscape, freedom, integrity, transparency and ethics always��will be the very base of every communication (and not only) business.

You have been labeled as a ���communications guru��� by clients and others in the industry. How did you receive this label and when did you realize communications was something you excel at?

All my life related to communications. It is widely known that when I was 13-years old ���publishing��� a neighborhood newspaper called ��� I don���t remember why in English ��� Daily News. It was just in five copies typed on a typing machine with indigo paper. Since then, everything I do is dedicated to learning and innovating in the field of communications and management. For all those 25 years in business, I received global awards, but the latest one I got at the end of May this year really flattered me. The global edition of PRWeek announced me as ���The Best PR Professional in Europe��� for 2020.

If you happen to come to our main office in Sofia, it will be easy to see the sign on each stair from the ground to the first floor where our offices are: ���There is no elevator to success, you should��take the stairs���. This is the main understanding of how people must develop their business. And then it is learning, learning, learning. Every day. That���s what we do in M3Communications Group, Inc. and the result is not only receiving tens of very high level international��and local awards but mainly happy clients and amazing teams.

You can read the whole interview here:��https://bit.ly/3hdfBrF��