Krug: I've Got a New Home at 1851

Already awash in a sea of half-baked opinion, blah-blah-blabbering and rambling commentary, do readers need another columnist pulling down the collective intelligence of the social discussion? I hope so, my friend. My name is Chris Krug. I’ll be stepping away from my day job as president of No Limit Agency*, a progressive media communications firm in Chicago, each Tuesday and checking in with you through the 1851 Project, the Chicago-based magazine that focuses on entrepreneurism, small and midsized business and everything under the big top of franchising. Call it a favor for a close friend. Who owes whom the favor is a matter for debate. I’ll write about leadership. I’ll also write about the shifting sands of traditional media and it’s influences on marketing to mass audiences. I’ll also check in with observational thoughts on changes in consumer attitudes and, as often as possible, I’ll write about the opportunities in small and midsized business. I may mix in some thoughts on politics from time to time, too. I live in Illinois, so I suspect that stuff will come along that’s too salient to bypass.

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So, who am I, you ask? I’m your huckleberry. I’m a former newspaper executive whose career started in the field as a sports reporter. I’ve been an NFL beat writer, covered the Michael Jordan-era Chicago Bulls, met Muhammad Ali and, in the course of writing a Sunday general-interest news column for nearly 10 years, shared a smoke with President Obama. (He did the smoking; I just shared it second-hand.) I’ve held top roles in the newsroom and sat in the publisher’s chair almost long enough to make it warm. As a quick summary, I have written articles, opinion columns, and editorials for the op-ed page. I’ve edited copy, and designed pages in the pre-and-post electronic eras. I’ve served as a sports editor, managing editor, editor-in-chief, executive editor, group editor, vice president for news, vice president for news and content, vice president for digital, held the title of general manager and earned the industry’s top operational role, publisher. I’ve overseen expense and revenue budgets in the tens of millions. Oh, and I delivered the newspaper when I was 13, which probably was more challenging and at least as rewarding. But more on that at a later time. Throughout my career, I’ve always looked for the next thing, the new challenge, a chance to flex a different set of muscles and to grow as a professional. I’ve managed P&Ls as if they were my own. I like learning. And instead of indulging in a Porsche as my solution to a midlife crisis, I took on my MBA at the age of 43. I still want the Porsche. So this column may delve into challenging your conventions, helping you to find the strength to seek out a new beginning or tack in a new directions from time to time. Then again, it may devolve into old war stories.  Or new war stories. Hard to tell. This is the first one.

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If you are going to spend a few minutes with me each week, and I hope that you do, I think it’s only fair that I make some kind of initial disclosure. Over time, plenty will ooze out. But let me air out a few to get us tracking: I believe that there is nothing more noble or pure than entrepreneurism as it is applied to small and midsized business. I believe that the one thing that we can all agree about with regard to the Affordable Care Act (or as our president now likes to call it Obamacare) is that it’s legislation that none of us has read in totality. Not even the guy for whom its nicknamed. I believe that there is still a place for a daily newspaper, so long as it has the name of your little hometown on it or is the Wall Street Journal. I believe that as our TV screens grow larger, we become dumber. I believe that what happened to revenue in local newspapers over the past six years is about two years away for local television affiliates, and that they’re even less equipped to deal with the consequences. I have great regard for the 1st, 2nd and 21st Amendments to the Constitution, although not always in that order. I believe Chicago is the center of the universe. And, with a job that has me flying all over creation, it could benefit from a real airport. But enough about me, let’s talk about something important. Next time, of course. I promise far fewer “I’s” then. Stay classy. Chris Krug is president of the progressive media communications firm No Limit Agency in Chicago. No Limit is a full-service agency whose practice focuses on strategy, brand management, creative campaigns and delivering unparalleled placement in the media. No Limit Agency works with some of the best-known brands in the United States, and that’s not a coincidence. Contact Krug by calling 312-526-3996 or via email at [email protected].