Jonathan O'Herron (l-r), chairman of
American Red Cross of Greater New
York; honoree Geoffrey Boisi, vice
chairman of JP Morgan Chase & Co.,
and Mike Armstrong, chairman and
CEO of AT&T. | AMERICAN RED CROSS
Speeches Are Short
But Gain Is Huge By Tim Boxer | " |  | NYONE who speaks more than two minutes gets the hook!” warned Jonathan O’Herron of Lazard Freres. Along with David A. Coulter, vice chairman of J. P. Morgan Chase and Roy J. Zuckerberg, limited partner of Goldman Sachs, O’Herron was dinner co-chairman of the dinner dance of the American Red Cross of Greater New York, held at Cipriani 42nd Street. The speeches were short but the money raised for this paramount cause reached a tidy $675,000. 
Robert Bender, CEO of American
Red Cross of Greater New York,
presents the Community
Partnership Award to Lt. Col.
William LaMarr of the Salvation
Army. | The Red Cross dinner is one of the most enjoyable events of the social season. The music is wonderful (Peter Duchin – how can you go wrong?), the guests are lovely and friendly, food superb, the atmosphere to die for, the gorgous centerpieces (majestic red roses) are strictly for take home, and the speeches, as you know, are short. O’Herron must have learned the Three Bs of Speaking: 1. Be brief.
2. Be concise.
3. Be seated. Actually, dinner chairman C. Michael Armstrong, AT&T chairman and CEO, allowed the speakers to stretch the two-minute limit – as long as they increased their donations! Guest of honor was Geoffrey T. Boisi, vice chairman of J. P. Morgan Chase, who received the 2002 Humanitarian Award. 
William H. Weed, vice chairman of
Ray & Berndtson and member of
the Red Cross executive committee,
presents Community Service Award
to Steve Paulis, general manager of
NY1. | In addition, Robert M. Bender Jr., chief executive officer of the American Red Cross in Greater New York, presented the Community Partnership Award to the Salvation Army of Greater New York, and the Community Service Award to NY1 News. |
