Public Affairs Firm Ranks CEO club at No. 2 in World

Global public relations firm Weber Shandwick ranked Boston College's Chief Executives' Club of Boston No. 2 in the world.

 The Club took second place to the Clinton Global Initiative, while finishing ahead of the Wall Street Journal CEO Council and the World Economic Forum of Davos.
"The purpose [of the Club] is to further enhance the reputation of Boston College and the Carroll School of Management (CSOM)," said Peter Rollins, founder and president of the Club.

The Club provides exposure for CSOM, as well as the BC community at large. "We [the BC community] already know what a great university this is, but about 90 percent of the people in the CEO club are not BC people, so they get an opportunity to experience BC," Rollins said.

"What it has done, is it has really helped the reputation and brand of the school, not only in Boston, but nationally and internationally," said Dean of CSOM Andy Boynton.
Rollins, a graduate of Parsons College in Iowa, has been at BC for 19 years and started the Club in 1991. He said he hoped the Club would become a respectable venue where presidents, chairmen, and managing partners could gather, listen to prominent CEOs from outside the Boston area, and discuss new subject matters. "I came here with a blank canvas and just started throwing the paint," Rollins said.

"Peter Rollins and his team have done a superb job," Boynton said. "Rollins' leadership has put Boston College and the Club at the pinnacle of CEO events that occur around the world."

The Club holds eight meetings a year, each featuring a keynote speaker from the business community. Past speakers at the Club include business professionals such as Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft; Jeff Kindlar, CEO of Pfizer; Jim Skinner, CEO of McDonald's; Les Moonves, CEO of CBS; and Bob Iger, CEO of Walt Disney. Phillippee Dauman, CEO of Viacom, is scheduled to speak at the Club's next event.

 The allure of the Club, however, might lie in the list of attendees, Rollins said. "What makes it unique is the audience. There's no audience quite like this one, because literally there were about 300 people and 85 percent were presidents and managing partners, and the attendees are a ‘who's-who' locally," he said. "Word around is if they're in town, they come. It is a thing to do now in Boston, which is great for BC, which was the objective."