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WAC'S MAD MEN KEPT THE WORLD COMING Getting the word out about a World's Fair in a city most people had never heard of, in a state regularly confused with the U.S. capital, was no easy feat for Seattle "Mad Men" Jay Rockey and Don Kraft. "People will say to me, 'How did you do it?' or 'I didn't think it could be done' and I say, 'Well, we all had our moments,'" says Jay, who was the official public relations director for the fair. According to the Washington State relations job in New York and moved back to the Pacific Northwest to take over the position, which eventually included running a staff of more than a hundred. It also meant juggling myriad details and handling all manner of potential PR nightmares, such as the fair's quintessential symbol not getting done on time. "The Space Needle just barely made University grad and one-time WAC member, his greatest public relations accomplishment wasn't getting the Space Needle on the cover of Life magazine twice. It was simply "surviving." "Seriously," he says. "It was very intense for about a year, and that does get to you. But it was a great adventure." it," he remembers. "It was pretty close." Along with Elvis and astronauts and cosmonauts and dignitaries from around the world, Jay met Don Kraft, who handled advertising for the World's Fair Corporation, and the two became lifelong friends. "You can't believe stuff could happen It was also a big risk. Jay quit his public former WAC president. "I once had all the leaders of the Massachusetts legislature." Don also was tapped to escort Col. John Glenn, who had just come back from space, from the downtown terminal to the fair. that fast," Don says of the fair's incredible momentum. "Somebody would say the Monorail would be good to connect with downtown, and they quickly made a deal with a German company, and a bunch of German engineers came out, and a local company built it, and it was ready to go on opening day." Don, whose advertising agency also represented Alweg—the company that came up with the Monorail—says one of his jobs was to show off the "highway of the future" to potential clients. "We had people coming from all over the world to see the Monorail," says the "[The Monorail] may have been a little tame compared to what he was used to riding in," Don quips. Fifty years later, Don and Jay agree the World's Fair was an unmitigated success. "It was a seat-of-your-pants operation," says Don, who still lives in Seattle and is a lifetime member of the WAC. "We had 10 million people at the gate, and it ended up in the black, and Seattle ended up with the Space Needle, the Opera House, the KeyArena, the Science Center. It was a giant catapult for Seattle." The adventure isn't over yet, adds Jay. "I was down at Seattle Center yesterday with a group of people planning what we're going to do next," says the eternal PR man. "Stay tuned. There's more to come." —Diane Mapes MAY / JUNE 2012 | Washington Athletic Club Magazine | 35 TOP: MUSEUM OF HISTORY & INDUSTRY; ILLUSTRATION: COURTESY DON KRA FT