Melissa Kinch, a partner and 19-year Ketchum vet, is being elevated to lead Ketchum's West Coast operations.
Kinch, a former associate director of the firm's North American corporate and public affairs practice, takes the director role responsible for San Francisco and Los Angeles previously held by Dave Chapman, who is moving to a new role focused on environmental reputation.
The changes take effect July 1.
Ketchum senior partner and CEO Barri Rafferty called Kinch "a real star in our business" and a "well-rounded leader." She noted that Chapman will play a key role in an environmental field the firm sees as a significant growth area.
DJE Holdings, parent of Edelman and Zeno, launches RUTH as an independent shop named after Ruth Edelman, mental health advocate, wife and longtime business partner of Dan Edelman.
New York City PR firms make up the largest slice of O'Dwyer's 147 firm overall ranking with 33 of 40 in the New York/New Jersey area either calling Manhattan their home or having a presence there.
Subject Matter+Kivvit, which joined forces in May, has rebranded as Avoq, an integrated shop with more than 200 professionals in Washington, New York, Asbury Park (NJ), Miami and Chicago.
While PR pros stationed at in-house comms. teams and those working for agencies share many of the same objectives, they also have markedly different top priorities, according to a recent report.
Edelman is cutting 240 employees or about four percent of its workforce to cope with the cooling down of the PR sector, according to a memo from CEO Richard Edelman.
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