Mark Pestronk
This week, I am deviating from my Q&A format to pay tribute to one of our industry leaders, who is retiring at the end of September: Paul Ruden, who has been the vice president of ASTA for 25 years. Before that, as an attorney in private practice, he represented ASTA and other travel companies for nearly a decade and a half, so his work with ASTA really approaches 40 years.
When my clients tell me that they don't belong to ASTA because the association doesn't do anything for them, I respond that Paul Ruden and the staff that he has trained over the years deserve support because of how they stand up for the agency industry in court, in the halls of Congress, in supplier negotiations and in the media.
I've known Paul for about 37 years, ever since the old Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) days. I met him when the CAB launched an investigation into the level of agent commissions and other carrier marketing practices in 1978 or 1979.
Even back then, Paul was so important to the industry that on the first day of the CAB hearing, with about 50 or 60 Washington attorneys present, they had to adjourn after lunch when it was reported that Paul had to go to the emergency room when he got a fish bone stuck in his throat. The show couldn't go on without Paul. It seems funny now. It wasn't funny then, as the agency community's best hope was temporarily sidelined.
Paul Ruden is a man of contrasts.
He can see the big picture, the theory, the causes and the consequences as well as all the details. He can edit a legal brief so that it shines, and then concisely summarize it for a judge or arbitrator. These combinations of skills are rare for lawyers.
Paul accomplishes ASTA's goals by the force of his intellect as well as the force of his emotions. Recently, when some clueless publication called travel agents a "useless job," ASTA's press release stated, "Ruden responded quickly and with vigor," a perfect characterization of how Paul sticks up for the industry.
He can be a fierce litigator, as opponents such as ARC will tell you, and yet is still a Southern gentlemen, even a modest one. He's the only person I know who went to Harvard but never mentions it.
Paul has a another talent: He can reconcile the interests of mom and pops, the megas and the OTAs and unite them on issues common to all, like his protest of IATA's intentional exclusion of agencies from development of the so-called New Distribution Capability. He puts coalitions together and keeps them united.
In perhaps his finest hour, I worked with Paul when he saved the agent community millions of dollars after ARC planned to nearly triple agencies' annual fees starting in 2008. Thanks to Paul's effective advocacy, the arbitration panel shot it down. Travel Weekly called the decision "a win for the agency community, and a big one."
Since no one can replace Paul, the best that the agency community can hope for is that he will continue on a part-time basis in the years ahead, with intellect, emotion and vigor.