Most everyone knows consuls as “officials of a foreign nation.” Either in a career or honorary position, they’re all tasked with performing consular functions in locations throughout the United States. But who are these consuls, what do they do, and why are they in our communities? In contrast, consuls representing the United States are stationed abroad and are not part of my topic.

Even before my own appointment as consul, I noticed how the print media filed often-sensationalized claims that consuls did little more than attended cocktail parties to rub elbows with the local socialites and intelligentsia, and my focus then went to educating the misinformed. In presentations and writings (including correcting newspaper stories) I face the major challenge of incorrect terminology, which invariably leads to further misunderstandings about the overall role of the foreign consuls. Once we overcome the linguistic problem (actually, an interesting matter in itself), my presentation moves forward as adjusted to individual audiences. If listeners think the matter of a legitimate consular function alone is easy to define, they’re in for a surprise!

Part of my subject area is the fun matter of the prestige inherent in the word “consul.” Some marketing gurus have appropriated the title as labels for products that have nothing to do whatsoever with the nature of these foreign officials. For instance, there are Consul-brandings of household items, shoes, and so much more, which – along with Consul-titled books, plays, operas, etc – make for fascinating tidbits in my presentations.