Rotarians Hear Advice From Member’s New Book

At 81, Bernard S. Otis still knows how to sell. The consultant for world-class restaurants, hotels and casinos, who is a longtime resident of Sherman Oaks, debuted his book  Revenue Generation Through the Sale of Kumquats … and Other Things, about the business of selling, to his friends at the Studio City-Sherman Oaks Rotary Club on Tuesday afternoon.

"The most important thing to learn from the book is about building relationships," Otis said, talking about meeting the man who started K-Mart, S.S. Kresge, on his 90th birthday.

Otis learned sage advice, saying, "Very simply, if you want to live with classes you have to learn to live with the masses."

Although it seems like the world is heading toward cyberspace more and more, Otis said that smart business leaders are encouraging staff to use telephones more than e-mail in this overwhelming world of Internet and Facebook and Twitter.

"Right now, the construction industry is in shambles, and people are graduating with MBA degrees that are worthless because they won't find jobs," Otis warned.

His advice: "There are three things you should come up with about your product other than describing quality, price and service, and then you'll do fine."

For young people seeking work, he suggested, "Have a positive attitude and be willing to learn."

The local group also was recognized by the national Rotary Foundation for its contributions to the $200 million collected for End Polio Now, a group that gets vaccines to poor countries around the world. It also recently kicked in to help on a project t0 educate 1,500 Afghan children, said the local Rotary's president, Benjamin Lupu.

The Rotary International club (www.rotary.org) is a civic community organization that also puts on the arts festival twice a year at Moorpark Park.

It also plan to reach out to youth at local schools, including high school students at Harvard-Westlake and Campbell Hall and college students at Valley College. 

The Studio City/Sherman Oaks Rotary Club meets on Tuesdays in a second-floor conference room near the pool of the .