Fetig Conversation 6.25.2020
A Conversation with James Fetig
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - June 25, 2020
With all the turmoil we face in the upcoming presidential election, I invite you to “drop in” for this incredible conversation with my friend, James L Fetig, former White House director of public affairs for the National Security Council who has worked in Washington for nearly 30 years. I’ve known Jim for over three decades. Agreeing to join our weekly Zoom group of women who graduated in 1967 from the legendary Philadelphia High School for Girls, Jim shares candid thoughts and anecdotes, past and present, fueled by his Washington D.C. “insider” knowledge, background and experience and infused with his wisdom.
Jim Fetig bio
Born in International Falls, Minnesota, Jim is a military brat and career Army officer who has resided in 19 states including Pennsylvania, three foreign countries and over his lifetime has had 64 permanent mailing addresses. He has traveled to all 50 states and 44 foreign countries. Jim’s sense of humor is warm and wry: “I have tried to speak six languages but am proud of the fact that I’ve talked my way out of traffic tickets in three of them - English, German and Spanish, mostly by pretending not to understand.”
Jim “retired” January 1, 2013, after service in the Obama administration as chief of external relations for the Corporation for National and Community Service in Washington, D.C.
Prior to that he was the associate vice president for communications & marketing at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, vice president, media relations for the Raytheon Company and vice president, public relations for the Lockheed Martin Corporation. Before joining Lockheed Martin, he was the assistant White House Press Secretary for Foreign Affairs and director for public affairs with the National Security Council.
For the preceding 20 years, James was a military public affairs officer. His service included a year sabbatical as an account executive with Ketchum Public Relations. He also was a Visiting Fellow at the RAND Corporation in Washington where he studied the military's relationship with the news media during the Persian Gulf War.
He has led teams that have won two regional EMMY awards and two Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Silver Anvil Awards. He is a charter member of the PRSA National Capital Chapter Hall of Fame and was named Georgia Tech administrator of the year for 2010.
Schaefer Communications, based in Minneapolis, MN, established in 1984, is a woman-owned firm providing writing and strategic communications services for individuals, governments, businesses, NGOs and nonprofits.
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