Teaching Her Children Well
August 2, 2011 by Charles Wasilewski · 1 Comment
St. Margaret of Cortona School
While Maureen Wall Bentley and I were roughly the same age (she was younger, which gave me pause as I confronted the news of her death), I looked up to her.
We lived parallel lives that brought us to a similar place: Aartrijk, a branding and public relations firm formed by our shared business colleague, Peter van Aartrijk, in 1999. I joined in 2001 as a consultant after a 17-year career in corporate communications; I had known and respected Peter from my early career days as an editor at A.M. Best Company. Maureen joined Aartrijk a year later from Independent Agent magazine and the Big I (Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America), where she had worked with Peter, after starting in magazine publishing.
I realized this connection when I walked by Maureen’s grammar school, St. Margaret of Cortona School in Bronx, N.Y. on the way to her funeral Mass. The paved schoolyard, the well-built school building, the flag flying high — these were similar to my grammar school, St. Paul School in Princeton, N.J., 90 miles south of Maureen’s on Riverdale Avenue. Read more
Tribute to a Mentor & Friend
July 12, 2011 by Peter van Aartrijk · 21 Comments
Death leaves a heartache no one can heal;
Love leaves a memory no one can steal.
—From an Irish Headstone
Maureen Wall Bentley, Aartrijk’s executive vice president of Brand Strategy, passed away a few days ago at the age of 47.
Words can’t possibly describe how we all are feeling for her friends and family. Our sympathies go to her husband, Mark; her mom, Betty; and the many close relatives of Meaux’s extended family who she loved so much. And it is a loss to the family here at Aartrijk—our employees, our consultants, our clients, our friends.
Speaking of words, that was Maureen’s original true love. When I first met her 20 years ago, she was editor of IA magazine, which to this day is still an Aartrijk client.
She was meant to be an editor, and she was outstanding. Editors take a written word—individually and in groups that create sentences and paragraphs—and work some magic on them. Whatever her pen touched just got better. It wasn’t only a matter of correcting mistakes. Meaux saw what was missing in the words, ultimately shaping them, improving them, providing context and meaning, and enhancing and enriching them. Read more
Aartrijk Mourns Passing of Maureen Wall Bentley
Communications Leader Developed Trusted Choice, Aartrijk Brand Camp, Other Branding Initiatives
Springfield, Va. (July 11, 2011)—Maureen Wall Bentley, executive vice president, brand strategy of Aartrijk, died peacefully on July 9, 2011, after a recurrence of cancer.
A native of Bronx, N.Y. and a graduate of Cardinal Spellman High School and Boston College, Wall Bentley is survived by her husband, Mark Bentley of Baltimore, Maryland. She was 47.
Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Wednesday July 13, 2011 at 10:45 a.m. at St Margaret of Cortona Church, 6000 Riverdale Avenue, Bronx, N.Y.
Wall Bentley began her career as an editor at Murdoch Magazines and then Condé Nast Publications. She went on to broader communications and branding roles at the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America, where she was publisher of IA magazine. Maureen’s led the research, development and introduction of the Trusted Choice brand.
At Aartrijk, she co-created Aartrijk Brand Camp as an industry conference, and recently led the redevelopment of brand identities for several prominent insurance associations and organizations. She focused on brand assessments, identity development and marketing-communications strategy and was the editor of Zoom, a step-by-step branding guide for independent insurance agents.
“I spoke with Maureen nearly every workday for more than 20 years, first at the Big I and then when she joined Aartrijk,” said Peter van Aartrijk, founder and CEO of Aartrijk. “She was invariably smart, sharp-witted, creative, and always looking out for the challenges and interests of clients. She was a colleague and confidant many people could trust both personally and professionally, turn to for sage insight, and count on for quality work. She prided herself on excellent writing and set high standards for our work.”
- – - – -
Note: In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations in honor of Maureen Wall Bentley be made to St. Margaret of Cortona School, 6000 Riverdale Ave., Bronx 10471.
Maureen Wall Bentley VA Service Details:
Date: Saturday, July 30, 2011
Time: 2:00 PM
Location: Mt. Vernon United Methodist Church
http://www.mountvernonumc.com
Reception: Immediately following service – Location TBD
The organizers are in need of a count for number of attendees to determine exact location for reception to follow the service. Thus if you could pass this email along to anyone we may have forgotten who you know would like to attend/be informed we’d be grateful. We are in need of your RSVP by next week so that we may reserve the appropriate size reception location. Thank you so much, and we’ll have the gathering/reception location & directions available at the church service on Saturday July 30th.
Please RSVP the number of attendees who will be coming in your party to the service/gathering after the service – thank you.
Many thanks,
Hosts:
Michelle Gillen
Jill Calabria
The spokes-nightmare
May 17, 2011 by Maureen Wall Bentley · Leave a Comment
This morning Arnold Schwarzenegger confessed to fathering a child with a household employee 10 years ago. While I’m shocked, I’m not at all surprised, as Ahh-nold has had his scrapes with lascivious and arrogant behavior before. 
After sending out good mental vibes to Maria and the kids, who deserve way better than this, I got to thinking about the corporate fallout from this. While Schwarzenegger is not currently a spokesman for anyone (that I know of), he has been busy reviving his film career, including the announcement of an animated children’s program called The Governator. Which means that somewhere there is a PR office (other than his own) madly constructing spin and corporate lawyers reviewing the morals clause of his contract to determine if, indeed, Schwarzenegger has “committed any act that offends the community or any segment thereof and/or public morals and decency.”
Now, you and I may consider this a fairly cut-and-dried case for terminating a relationship with a celebrity spokesperson, but if the situation is not about right or wrong but merely right for us or wrong for us? What if the spokesperson’s private life simply veers from the brand it is representing? What if, for example, we saw photos of Sam Waterston gambling in Vegas—instead of conservatively investing his money with TD Ameritrade? Or if Raymond Burr had declared his homosexuality while he was representing the traditionally conservative Big I, instead of being outed after his death? Today it wouldn’t be be a big deal (nor should it), but in the 1980s? Good luck with that. Read more
Big Field Man on Campus
April 29, 2010 by Peter van Aartrijk · Leave a Comment
At a time when people are skittish on the economy, it’s great to hang out with folks who are bullish.
One of my favorites is Charlie McShane, and his company is State Auto, based out of Columbus, Ohio.
Recently Maureen Wall Bentley, our executive vice president of brand strategy, and I attended Charlie’s grand opening of State Auto’s new Hunt Valley, Maryland offices, just north of Baltimore. Charlie is the company’s eastern regional president—he actually founded the region for State Auto and was the only employee there a few years ago. (In case you don’t recognize Charlie, he’s the big man on campus in the center of the photo.) Read more