For a second, Jeffrey Wong can barely see his computer screen – obscured by a flurry of frantic female hands, pointing one direction, then the next. 

“Down. Everything down!”  Tatyana Shved instructs as she leans across Wong’s shoulder.

He nudges the computer’s mouse, and a piece of the advertisement that’s coming together on his screen shifts a little lower.

Shved stands back and whispers to Svetlana Adreyeva, who shakes her head.

Wong adjusts a spot of color in the ad.

“We don’t like it,” Shved says.  “Stop!  Stop!”  Wong stops.

Shved pats him on the shoulder.

“We will remember you,” she says, laughing.  “You are a very good specialist.”

She and Adreyeva retreat and launch into an animated discussion in rapid-fire Russian.

Wong, a designer for Circle S Studio in Shockoe Bottom, manages a smile.

“I didn’t want to be an American and just tell them what to do,” he says.

It’s doubtful the two women would have listened if he had.

Circle S is one many Richmond companies that showed off American-style marketing to a group of Russian advertising professionals during the past three weeks.

The 10 women and one man were here as part of the Productivity Enhancement Program, a State Department-funded initiative aimed at giving Americans a chance to show Russians the nuts and bolts of a free-market economy.

The program is run by the Center for Citizen Initiatives in San Francisco.  The Kiwanis Club of Richmond handled the local trip, which ended May 15.

Russia, as part of the Soviet Union, had little use for advertising during most of the 20th century.

“Before, it was like: Go buy!  It was like an order," said Irina Karaldina, a facilitator for the program.

There wasn’t much need for advertising anyway when “people are standing in line for sugar,” said Karaldina, who lives in St. Petersburg and is a professional translator.

But that has changed since the Russian economy began adopting free-market reforms.  “Now, our grocery stores are no different from yours,” Karaldina said.

She and translator Valery Shekhter accompanied the Russian ad folks, whose English skills ranged from fairly fluent to nonexistent.

The Russian advertising industry, fueled by profit-hungry businesses, has been growing rapidly for 15 years.  So a trip to Richmond, which boasts one of the most vibrant advertising industries in a midsize American city, seemed a natural destination for the Russian professionals.

And coming here, instead of a larger city, gave the group a chance to see “a real American city,” one Russian said.  “A typical one.”

*    *    *

At Circle S, the Russians work on a fictitious advertisement dreamed up for them by veteran local adman Doug Burford.  Their assignment: Design an ad for The Jefferson Hotel.

Burford, president of Burford Co. Advertising, is impressed by the visitors’ sophisticated approach to their craft.

“They’ve asked questions I wouldn’t want a client to ask.  Very in-depth stuff – like, why did you lose this account?”

One of the Russians wants Burford’s opinion on an idea for a slogan: “Give me The Jefferson or give me death.”

“That’s hysterical,” Burford says.  “I might steal it.’

The Richmond marketing community embraced the visitors, who spent time at more than a dozen businesses, including advertising and public-relations agencies, studios, a research firm, a bank and a television station. 

Burford, watching the Russians work, breaks into a big smile.

“They’re thinking about things I wouldn’t think about.  I wonder if any of them needs a job?”

Most of the locals were wowed by the Russians.

“They really wanted to know about tactics,” said Peter Habenicht, a vice president who over-sees strategy and account services for RightMinds, a marketing agency in Scott’s Addition.  “They want practical information they can take back and use right away.”

At Barber Martin Advertising in Chesterfield County, Don Morgan, the agency’s president, leads Russians on a tour.  He fields a barrage of questions about technology, commissions, the agency’s business structure and the relationship between art directors and copywriters.

A few of the visitors jot down notes.  Some snap pictures with digital cameras while others record the tour on hand-held camcorders.

Morgan’s explanations are frequently followed by lengthy translations from Shekhter, who was born in the Ukraine but now lives in Texas.  A debate soon erupts over the advantages of Macintosh computers versus PCs.

Planning the trip was a major logistical challenge.

Lee Williams, Elena Siddall and Tony Scott of the Richmond Kiwanis Club helped coordinate the visit, with help from groups such as the YMCA, which helped with transportation. The Russians stayed at the homes of Kiwanis Club members.

“They’re more stylish than we are,” Williams said.  “My wife said they look like they’re from New York or L.A.”

The visit wasn’t all work – it included trips to Washington, Charlottesville and Virginia Beach, plus a nighttime jaunt to Shockoe Bottom and a few hours on the water in singer and songwriter Robbin Thompson’s sailboat.

*    *    *

The Russians live in different parts of their country. Most own their businesses.  None knew each other before the trip.

The day before retuning to Russia, the group reviewed their trip to Richmond, with Karaldina, the program facilitator, handling translation.

“I’ve felt free as I’ve never felt before,” said Vera Buksha.  “America gave me my wings.”

Yelena Gnetova was impressed by the professionalism of the Americans she met, as well as their optimism.

Tatyana Shved said “all the myths we had about America are gone.  I’m thankful for the openness that you showed us.  We found capitalism with a human face.”

The group said they hoped they had dispelled American myths about Russia.

“Sometimes I felt like we had all of Russia standing behind us,” said Alana Svetushkova.  “And we were representing our profession.”

On those counts they clearly succeeded.

By Bob Rayner

Times-Dispatch Staff Writer