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It was unintended symbolism: Mayor Thomas Menino speaking at the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce's Annual Meeting - not from the stage where other powerful dignitaries addressed the 1,500 attendees, but from the floor of the Convention Center hall, visible because his image was fed onto giant screens looming above the crowd.

"If you see anybody out there being negative about Boston, step on them," Menino urged the leaders of the city's most influential businesses and institutions.

In that moment, two decades of Boston's political past crystallized. Here was the quintessential "strong mayor," the self-styled urban mechanic who had firmly grasped the city's levers of power and imagery since 1993, unapologetically preaching defiant optimism despite being forced to step down from the spotlight.

Just 12 hours earlier, four leading journalists had debated the positives - and the negatives - that will shape the future of Boston at a panel discussion hosted by Solomon McCown & Company and attended by nearly 150.

With the city preparing to elect only its fourth mayor in 45 years, the SM& Presents event surfaced concerns ranging from leadership styles and Boston's vanishing middle class to the chronic challenges affecting planning, mass transit and public education.

"Given time, dedication and opportunity, a mayor can have a profound impact on the fabric of city," said Meghna Chakrabarti, co-host of WBUR's Radio Boston, who praised Menino's impact on commercial development.

But Chakrabarti also wondered aloud whether "a city can outgrow its mayor" and whether the next mayor might do more to position Boston as "a world-class city."

Referring to a 2012 study by the Boston Indicators Project depicting the widening income gap that parallels the loss of manufacturing jobs, Paul McMorrow, associate editor of CommonWealth magazine, expressed concern that Boston could come to resemble "ancient Rome" - a city of "the wealthy, the not wealthy and no one in between."

McMorrow pinpointed public education as "the big lever a mayor can pull" to recruit and retain a new generation of middle class families.

NECN Business Editor Peter Howe lauded Menino's unique ability to "make people feel good about themselves" and said the biggest challenge for the next mayor may be to "not screw up" the positive momentum the city seems to have achieved.

But Howe also complained about the chronic inability of mass transit to work efficiently on behalf of residents in the city's working class and minority neighborhoods.

"MBTA riders are the most shockingly under-utilized political force in the state," he said, calling for a concerted effort to "rebuild trust" in the MBTA by solving basic service problems and rooting out perceived waste and favoritism.

With a new school superintendent and a new student assignment plan looming on the city's horizon, Boston Globe columnist Joanna Weiss said, "Reforming education will require a big vision from the next mayor."

Good urban schools are integral to the growth and vitality of strong neighborhood communities, argued Weiss, who also spoke passionately about the need to address several emerging public health issues among young women in the city's poorer neighborhoods.

"It's striking to me that Mayor Menino has not hand-picked or groomed anyone to continue his legacy," she added. "It will be left to the public to winnow through this vast group of candidates... and they could pick someone very different."

By Ed Cafasso, Senior Vice President at Solomon McCown & Company

On May 8, more than 150 people joined us at our SM& Presents Panel examining the issues facing the City of Boston in the post-Menino era.

With Boston voters preparing to elect only the city's fourth mayor in 45 years, the event featured a lively discussion of the key issues Mayor Thomas M. Menino's successor will inherit -- commercial and affordable housing development, a growing  gap between the rich and the poor, urban mass transit headaches, recruiting a new school superintendent and implementing a new student assignment plan, what it will take to grow Boston's middle class, and casino gambling.

Our panelists - NECN Business Editor Peter Howe, Boston Globe Columnist Joanna Weiss, Meghna Chakrabarti, co-host of Radio Boston on WBUR-FM, and Commonwealth Magazine Associate Editor Paul McMorrow - began and ended the session with a debate about "leadership style," and whether the next mayor should be a manager, a mechanic or Machiavelli.

Moderated by SM& SVP Ed Cafasso, a former Boston City Hall reporter, it was the 19^thpanel discussion presented by Solomon McCown in the past decade. Thank you to our panelists for their participation and great insights.

Click here to watch what three words attendees today have for the future of Boston.

(left to right) Ashley McCown, Solomon McCown; Peter Howe, NECN; Paul McMorrow, CommonWealth Magaine; Joanna Weiss, Boston Globe; Meghna Chakrabarti, WBUR; Ed Cafasso, Solomon McCown; and Helene Solomon, Solomon McCown

More than 150 attendees at the May 8th panel held at Boston Properties' Atlantic Wharf

Solomon McCown CEO Helene Solomon kicking-off the early morning discussion

(left to right) Ed Cafasso, Vice President at Solomon McCown & Company moderating the media panel featuring: Meghna Chakrabarti, WBUR; Peter Howe, NECN; Joanna Weiss, Boston Globe; and Paul McMorrow, CommonWealth Magazine.

On Monday of this week, Solomon McCown CEO Helene Solomon Tweeted from the Back Bay Association's annual meeting that panels & events across Boston will have to add extra time to the program to announce all the candidates in the room as we enter a busy election season. On Tuesday, the West Roxbury Courthouse Neighborhood Association forum literally didn't have enough space at the table for all the mayoral hopefuls in attendance.

On Wednesday, we saw candidates for several offices at our SM& Presents panel on Boston's post-Menino future. Josh Zakim, a candidate for District 8 Boston City Councilor shook hands during the networking time. A staffer from John Connolly's campaign arrived for the panel. Suffolk County District Attorney and mayoral hopeful Dan Conley joined the in-person discussion and one happening simultaneously on Twitter with some on-message comments-a shrewd strategy to make himself a part of the conversation as it continues online.

I was surprised none of the other candidates chimed in on Twitter when they saw Conley's thoughts posted. It would have been a great way to get some messaging out to the influencers on the panel and in the room while showing off their social media chops. But it's understandable. Some candidates took to the airwaves for interviews this morning. Others were out collecting those all-important signatures. One candidate was at an event sponsored by the current mayor. There's a lot to do in this campaign, and not much time to do it.

As the race heats up, it will be interesting to see where the 24 mayoral hopefuls spend their time in the run-up to the primary. Will candidates maintain Menino-esque 14-hour days? Or will some use the power of social media to speak for them when they're not around? I can't wait to see how it shakes out.

By Amy Derjue, Senior Account Executive at Solomon McCown & Company

State House News recently covered our client, the Massachusetts Developmental Disabilities Council, and its 35^th annual legislative reception, "Our Voice: Now More Than Ever." The article discussed Governor Deval Patrick's speech, during which he urged citizens to talk to their legislators and addressed his legislative priorities for those living with developmental disabilities. The article mentions the moving stories legislators and MDDC council members shared during the event.

A relaxed Massachusetts Governor Deval L. Patrick held court on November 14 at our 18th SM& Presents event, offering candid views on everything from how President Obama might persuade Congress to avoid the "fiscal cliff" to the role of big money and race in the nation's political discourse.

Patrick, a close friend of and campaign surrogate for Obama, made news in predicting that there will need to be at least one "unpleasant confrontation" between the President and Congress in resolving the nation's budget challenge. He also suggested Obama consider bringing "a little South Side to the table," referring to the Chicago neighborhood where Patrick was raised.

"Frankly, if there's a list that they don't finish - the work they need to do around a compromise around deficit reduction, he ought to haul them in there over Christmas and make them sit their behinds in the seats until they finish," Patrick said during the event moderated by SM& CEO Helene Solomon.

More than 150 business & civic leaders from education, real estate, healthcare, government, public policy and professional service firms from across the Commonwealth attended the program.  A brief video highlighting the  conversation will be  available  here soon.

During the wide-ranging discussion, the Governor also:

• Acknowledged that leaders like the President and those in both the public and private sectors must remember their role as "narrator in chief," adding: "Even if people are tired of hearing from you they actually need to hear from you;"
• Described as "obscene," the amount of money raised and spent at all levels of national politics, "especially when you consider the unmet needs in this country;"
• Warned that Massachusetts budget would take a $250 to $350 million hit in the current fiscal year if the failure to craft a compromise deficit reduction plan triggers automatic federal spending cuts; and,
• Became emotional briefly in acknowledging that "it's hard to engage on race in America," adding: "It's all around us, but we haven't figured out as a nation yet how to acknowledge both the extraordinary progress we have made ... and how much remains to be done."

We sincerely thank Governor Patrick and all of those who joined us at The Boston Harbor Hotel.

Coverage of the event can be found at Boston.com.

An overview of the discussion is also available through Storify.

To watch video highlights of the conversation, click here.

SM& CEO Helene Solomon was featured in national PR trade, PRWeek, providing her perspective on the 2012 presidential election. In the article, Solomon highlighted a poignant Democratic National Convention, Obama's leadership during hurricane Sandy and Mitt's notorious 47 percent comment as specific events that would yield four more years in office for the President.

Click here to read the full article

Follow Helene Solomon @Helenesolomon

SM& Senior Vice President, Ed Cafasso, reminds companies and insitutions about the importance of strong public affairs and government relations during the 2012 election season.

Click here to watch.

SM& Senior Vice President, Ed Cafasso, was featured in the PRSA's spring edition of PR Strategist magazine providing some early lessons learned around the unpredictable and highly publicized 2012 Presidential election.

Click here to read the full article.

I am filled with nostalgia, emotion, and smiles remembering my salad days as a young professional in Mayor Kevin White's administration.  I felt so lucky to get an entry level job with a starting salary of $11,400 back then, and little did I know that five years later I would feel like I earned a post graduate degree in urban affairs, government, politics, real estate development, education, and communications.

As I get ready to head up to the wake and pay my respects to Kathryn, Mark and the rest of Mayor White's family, I have dusted off both my memories and campaign memorabilia. How precious to still have an original bright kelly green and white button that simply says "The Mayor" - there can be no mistake about who that refers to.  My memories include learning about every neighborhood in the city as the administration prepared for the first property assessment since Mayor Curley, how federal funding fueled local development and how to identify voters and build sincere relationships with them as a Precinct Captain in Ward 21 Precinct 11. Oh what a time it was.  Thank you, Mr. Mayor for the opportunity of a lifetime. Rest in Peace.

By Helene Solomon, CEO, Solomon McCown & Company

The Boston Globe: "Boston Says Goodbye to Former Mayor Kevin White"

Boston.com: "Kevin White Remembered with Procession, Mass"

NECN.com: "Funeral To Honor Longtime Boston Mayor Kevin White"

Helene Solomon, SM& CEO, shared valuable PR lessons learned from her recent trip to Israel as part of Governor Patrick's Innovation Economy Mission to Israel 2011 with communications online resource, CommPRO.

Click here to read the full article