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The hostess of possibilities for GOP convention

Patricia Kitchen | Change@work

August 29, 2004

One afternoon early last week -- as workers were still hammering, stapling and moving bins on the convention floor -- Maureen Reidy took time to reflect on the moments when a year's worth of work starts taking tangible shape. About as much reflective time as could be taken between her many cell phone calls and BlackBerry checks.

"It's so great to see everyone's handiwork come together," she said on a behind-the- scenes tour of Madison Square Garden and the Farley Post Office, as the city prepared for the arrival of 5,000 Republicans and as many as three journalists for each one of them. This, of course, for the presidential nomination convention that starts Monday.

Just two months ago, postal workers had been sorting mail over there, she said. And this plywood floor on the bridge spanning Seventh Avenue? That's to be covered with red carpeting. Here's the media center desk to be staffed with 100 professional concierges. Already, a week before the onslaught of the bulk of media types, the desk was getting quizzed on where to find such items as cell phone batteries.

Reidy was taken with all the before-and-afters she's seen since assuming the job last September as chief operating officer of the New York City Host Committee 2004 -- the nonpartisan group charged with co-hosting and organizing welcoming activities for an event so big it's got who knows how many Manhattanites skedaddling out of town.

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Certainly it's a high-profile job -- also high in glamour, pressure and variety. She recently gave the twin daughters of President George Bush -- Jenna and Barbara -- a tour of the host committee offices. She's worked out all kinds of partnerships with area institutions -- such as a promotional banner blitz with Citibank. And she was on hand for the filming of a television commercial starring former Mayor Ed Koch and a circus elephant.

But a few years back there was nary a politician, promotional professional -- or jungle beast -- along her career path. No, she had her sights set on making partner status with PricewaterhouseCoopers, where she was a CPA in the entertainment practice. In fact, already working with the likes of Disney, Miramax and MTV, she had been tapped for the firm's Columbia University MBA program.

Then, at a charity event, she bumped into Donald Trump. "What do you do?" she recalls him asking her. When she told him, he said, "Get the hell out of here. You don't look like [a CPA]."

When he told her to give him a call, she left assuming he wanted to hire her firm. Her thought: "I'm going to land the Trump account."

Instead, he landed her an auditing job with the Trump Organization, reporting directly to him. She helped him evaluate the Miss Universe contest when he was looking to buy it. And when he wasn't satisfied with job candidates, he tapped her -- at age 26 -- to be its president and conduct an extreme makeover to bring the pageant up to date. Trump now says of this early apprentice that "she had great energy and great intelligence." She did an excellent job for me. And I'm proud of how well she's doing."

So, was it a tough decision to walk away from a Big Six accounting firm and Ivy League MBA? While it was a risk, she says, "I knew it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. ... at the end of the day, it was the easiest decision. I made it without hesitation." As for that MBA: "I learned the art of the deal from the master of the deal," she likes to say. That includes lessons in confidence, negotiating and that reach for excellence.

Those are certainly qualities that serve her well today. But still, might some people try to minimize the work and ideas of an attractive young woman? Yes, some do. But you do believe her when she says, "I worked for six years for Donald Trump. They should not underestimate me."

Like her former boss, Reidy is a big thinker, says Maureen Murray, her first hire at Miss Universe, who has followed her to the host committee as co-director of marketing. And when you're around Reidy, "don't even bother thinking small."

Take that concierge desk. Not satisfied to staff it with regular volunteers, Reidy cooked up partnerships with hotel concierge associations in the city with an eye to "setting a new standard."

Indeed, says Murray, "she sets high standards for herself and others," but is willing to support others along the way. Murray remembers that sinking feeling when she came on board with Miss Universe -- just two months before the live broadcast. She was making a leap from sports marketing to entertainment marketing, but Reidy sent her the message, "I believe in you."

A longtime resident of Smithtown, Reidy, now a Manhattanite, says she was influenced early on by her mother, a math teacher at Sachem High School, and took a shine to numbers. At the University of Maryland, she majored in accounting, which she calls "the language of business." And she has advice for young people still in school or just starting their careers:

Join campus business and management organizations. Attend seminars on career issues or business etiquette. That's what she did in school, calling herself "a sponge."

When confronted with a new opportunity, consider leaving that safety zone. Don't be afraid of risk. "Believe in yourself," she says.

Find mentors. Indeed, when Reidy arrived at the Trump Organization, she caught the eye of vice president Norma Foerderer -- and you might recall her as one of the Trump lieutenants who on last season's "The Apprentice" TV show gave a thumbs-down to contestant Amy Henry. Foerderer says she saw great potential in Reidy and was glad to answer questions and advise her on issues such as presentations and the boss' likes and dislikes. "I wanted her to succeed."

What she says Reidy: "She took the pageant on with so little experience. It's amazing how she pulled the event off and so well. ... It's a joy to work with someone who is so quick."

Work hard and take the bad with the good -- a lesson from her dad, a retired New York City firefighter. Though she says, "I only take on what I feel passionate about," she does admit that those early days with Miss Universe -- which included the Miss USA and Miss Teen USA events -- were stressful. Seven-day, into-the-wee-hours work weeks, shuttling every two weeks between New York and Los Angeles. But passion for the job, she says, is what gets you through.

She'll be back in that "all- consuming" mode this week as the convention kicks in, saying she has dibs on the conference room couch. But up until now she's been able to keep regular 12- to 14-hour days with weekends free. As for a social life, "New York is a late city," she says. "You can work until 8 p.m. and then jump in a taxi to meet friends." On weekends, she gets replenished by morning runs around Central Park, horseback rides and cooking dinner for friends and family.

And after next week -- well, there'll be plenty of wind-up work. And then it's back to her other job as executive director of NYC Big Events, which is charged with luring other blockbuster events to the city. Among its targets: the Country Music Association Awards, which has never left Nashville.

But first, she's planning some vacation time with friends at the Venice Film Festival and visits to other locales in Italy just "to sleep and soak up the Mediterranean sun."