Record-Breaking as Relationship Building

“Kaiser's first job in California gave him an opportunity to demonstrate some of his best promotional skills. Not content simply to build the road, he boasted that he was doing so, or would do so, in record time.29 It is not clear how Kaiser knew what the old ''record'' was, but the challenge seemed to spur his men to greater achievement, and the "records" helped to establish relationships with state officials. Kaiser did naturally what many professional promoters did: announce a new record by virtue of being the first to keep track of milestones. The public, meanwhile, enjoyed the idea of a record-breaking performance.30 This was a golden age of self-promotion in the United States. A trait commonly associated with the American character was being institutionalized in the new profession of public relations, as personified by Ivy Lee and Edward Bernays.”

“Kaiser not only had done considerable work for the state by this point, but his self-promotion had clearly paid off. The state engineer noted: "The work done by this firm has *always been completed in record time,* and their . . . experience and ability to carry through the contract of the above nature is unquestioned."35”