 Laurel Kennedy |
Blink OnDemand Crisis PR™ is working on what it says is the world’s first crisis PR planning software. The cloud-based software leads users through the crisis planning process, including team organization, risk assessment, media response, incident simulation and recovery planning. Company president Laurel Kennedy, who developed the software in partnership with Paula Hahn, says the software will be the “first in a portfolio of related products aimed at providing companies with the tool kit, process and templates to develop and implement professional public relations programming at a fraction of current prices.” The beta version of the platform is scheduled to be out this quarter, with a full release coming in the first-quarter of 2018.
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WorldWise PR Affiliates, a network of international and independently owned public relations firms, has established a fund intended to help the victims of the recent Mexico earthquake, in conjunction with the American Red Cross. The relief efforts support the network’s Mexico-based affiliate, Avalos & Associados. The fund was organized by the network’s corporate social responsibility arm, One World. “The need is tremendous and incidents like this remind us that we are all one global community and we were pleased to be able to do our part,” said WorldWise PR Affiliates co-founder Sissy DeMaria.
 Don Yount |
Critical Mention is expanding its reach to include international content. The platform now connects to more than 700,000 news, blog and social sources from over 273 countries in 91 languages. The added content triples the amount of online news Critical Mention makes available to users. “We see global content as a ‘must-have’ for our clients,” said Don Yount, Critical Mention CEO. The company says that it now aggregates, on average, more than 71 million articles per month from more than 1.2 million online sources.
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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