H&K WINS $2M ARMY MORALE CAMPAIGN

Hill and Knowlton has picked up the U.S. Army Community and Family Support Center account, a piece of business that may be worth $2 million during the next five years. Two others pitched.

It will promote the Center's 250 "morale, welfare and recreation programs" in 90 Army installations throughout the world, says Laurie Gibson, the Center's senior marketing manager.

Those include concerts, sporting events, theater, and social/health/educational programs designed to make life better for soldiers stationed in hot spots, such as Macedonia, Saudi Arabia, Kosovo and Bosnia.

CONDIT DROPS EIN AS SPOKESPERSON

Rep. Gary Condit is no longer using veteran Washington, D.C., PR counselor Marina Ein as his spokesperson. There's been a shift in the "focus" of Condit's PR activities, she told this NL.

Condit wants to move beyond the Chandra Levy story to concentrate on legislative affairs as the House returns to session. That's why Condit's Congressional staffers will now be the main points of contact for journalists.

Ein, however, said her firm, Ein Communications, is available to Condit on an "as-needed" basis.

RUBENSTEIN TALKS TO DISNEY ABOUT MOVIE

The Jeffrey Modell Foundation has picked Rubenstein Assocs. to "broker an understanding" with Walt Disney Co. about immunodeficiency disease, Howard Rubenstein told this NL.

Disney's Touchstone Pictures unit released "Bubble Boy" earlier this month. The comedy depicts a cross-country romp by an actor (Jimmy Gyllenhaal) who is said to be born without immunities.

The movie is upsetting to Fred and Vicki Modell, whose son, Jeffrey, died from IMD at age 15.

They sent a letter written by 10-year-old IMD sufferer Scott McGuire, to Disney CEO Michael Eisner.

McGuire wrote he is sad many people are going to the movies and laughing about a serious disease.

Ironically, McGuire received the Disney Millennium Award at Walt Disney World last year.

RA, according to Rubenstein, is educating Disney about "this terrible disease." Disney has suggested the possibility of adding a PSA about the disease to the film. RA's Deborah Raskin, SVP, handles the Foundation's account.

RESTRUCTURED WSW IS DOWNSIZED A BIT

Weber Shandwick Worldwide will have $475 million in annual fees when it completes the integration of BSMG Worldwide on Sept. 30, according to Larry Weber, WSW founder and CEO of Interpublic's advanced marketing services group.

That's down from the $500 million figure used in Interpublic's July 10 press release announcing the creation of the world's biggest PR firm. It also falls short of the $535 million in combined 2000 fees, reported by the Council of PR Firms.

The collapse of the high-tech market has hit WSW hard. "It's not that we are losing clients, but current ones are cutting budgets by 50 to 60 percent," Weber told this NL.

He said WSW has cut 200 staffers since April. The restructured firm will have about 3,500 staffers.

Closing Silicon Valley, Detroit Offices

WSW is closing its flagship Silicon Valley office in a "real estate move" designed to cut costs, Cathy Lugbauer, WSW COO, told this NL.

"Eight to 13 staffers will relocate to either the San Francisco or San Mateo office," she said.

Weber Group opened its Palo Alto office in 1992. Its University Ave. address put it down the street from Stanford University, the mother lode of high-tech R&D. The firm's website boasts that the Palo Alto office is located at the "heart of technological innovation in Silicon Valley."

Lugbauer described Palo Alto as a "ghost town," and said WSW has been laying off workers in the Valley as late as mid-August.

Marc Bien, who was EVP for Bay Area operations, departed the firm about a month ago. He was succeeded by Lee Caraher, who was CEO of WSW's Red Whistle Communications unit.

WSW also closed its Detroit office.

EDELMAN GETS SHARE OF $4M SMOG ACCT.

The Bureau of Automotive Repair of the California Dept. of Consumer Affairs has named Glass Mc-Clure, ad agency, and Edelman PR Worldwide for the state's public awareness campaign to help motorists whose vehicles have failed smog-inspection tests.

Jami Warner, executive VP/GM of Edelman's Sacramento office, heads the account.

Spending for the one-year contract, with two one-year renewal options, is estimated at $4 million.

The account was handled by Hill and Knowlton and Runyon Saltzman & Einhorn.

NUKE INDUSTRY ADDS EX-NEVADA GOV.

Former Nevada Governor Robert List has signed on with the Nuclear Energy Institute, the industry's lobbying arm, to promote the state's Yucca Mountain for a proposed repository for nuclear waste.

"He will be engaging public officials locally in Nevada, and possibly beyond, on the Yucca Mountain issue," Melanie White, a spokesperson for NEI, told this NL.

List will promote potential benefits of the waste repository to the state through speeches and lobbying of government officials, White added.

List, a Republican governor from 1979 to 1983, told the Las Vegas Review Journal that it appeared likely Nevada would be chosen to store the nation's nuclear waste, that the repository would be found scientifically safe, and that transportation concerns will be adequately addressed.

He was criticized for joining the nuclear industry by state Democratic officials who oppose the Yucca Mountain site, including its current governor, Bob Miller, according to the Journal.

The U.S. government has spent two decades and $7 billion analyzing the suitability of the Yucca Mountain site for nuclear waste storage.

NEI says Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham is expected to decide by the end of this year whether to recommend the site to President George Bush.

GOLIN/HARRIS CUTS 19

Golin/Harris International has cut another 19 staffers, according to Keith Burton, general manager of the company's flagship Chicago office.

Fifteen of those (11 in Chicago and four in New York) were part of the firm's CrossMedia design, Internet and video production unit.

Burton said the firm will maintain the CrossMedia brand in seven offices.

DaimlerChrysler, Sony, McDonald's, Cisco and others have used CrossMedia's services.

G/HI also cut three "front line" corporate jobs in finance, information technology and marketing.

A researcher was also let go.

FORD MOTOR UNITES BRITISH BRANDS

Ford Motor has consolidated its British premium brands within its Premier Automotive Group, which is based in Irvine, Calif.

The Aston Martin Jaguar Land Rover North America group officially kicked off on Sept. 1.

Simon Sproule is VP-communications and marketing services for that organization. He had handled PR duties for Jaguar in Mahwah, N.J. AMJLR does not have an agency of record.

Nike Communications has been working for Jaguar since last November, and Coyne Communications handles Land Rover. WPP Group's Prism unit has conducted various motor sports projects. Aston Martin does not have a PR firm, added Sproule.

Ford's Lincoln Mercury and Volvo brands will move into PAG's Irvine facilities this month.

PAG plans to establish an east coast operations headquarters for AMJLR in Mahwah by mid-2002.

EXCITE@HOME DROPS TEXT 100

Excite@home, the troubled broadband and Internet services provider, has dropped Text 100, bringing its PR in house, according to Londonne Corder, senior PR manager for the company.

Text 100 landed the account in July 2000.

"We were with Excite for quite some time and went through a lot with them," Ryan Donovan, GM of Text 100's San Francisco office, told this NL.

Donovan said the split was amicable and due to Excite's financial problems. The company faces the loss of a major venture capital investor and delisting from Nasdaq.

AT&T holds a 23 percent stake in Excite and provided $80 million in funding earlier in the year, along with a $50 million infusion from the venture firm Promethean Asset Management.

PAM asked for its investment back from Excite last week, causing Excite's stock to tumble to a low of 39 cents. It traded as high as $18.56 during the past year.

Text 100 was one of the three PR firms selected by IBM earlier this month.

PAINE PROMOTES CASUAL BUSINESSWEAR

Dockers and Slates will bring its Style@Work Tour to New York on Sept. 4 and 5 to promote casual businesswear.

According to Paine PR, which is handling PR for the two brands, casual businesswear is now worn by 66% of U.S. workers everyday and 80% of workers at least one day a week.

The 53-foot tour truck will be parked in front of the Grace Building, opposite Bryant Park, on 6th ave. and 43rd st. The custom-made truck has dressing rooms and a runway.

Stylists from Glamour magazine will offer casual businesswear tips, recommendations and free head-to-toe wardrobe makeovers, according to Paine PR spokeswoman, Tanya Kovilaritch.

FOSBURG, MS&L VETERAN, DIES AT 85

Helen Fosburg, a 20-year PR veteran who retired from Manning, Selvage & Lee in 1985 as a senior VP, died Aug. 23. She was 85.

Known as Molly, Fosburgh joined MS&L in 1965, working in media relations for accounts in the mining industry, among others.

She served as a spokesperson for the Copper Strike Information Bureau in the late 1960s during a copper producers strike and also handled communications for exhibitors at the 1965 World's Fair.

Burson-Marsteller, Golin/Harris Int'l and Jasculca/Terman are finalists in a review being conducted by Donald Trump's real estate team in Chicago.

The New York developer plans to build a skyscraper on a site currently occupied by the Chicago Sun-Times building.

OMNICOM SEEKS PRODUCT PLACEMENTS

Omnicom Group's media buying unit, OMD, is negotiating a deal with Viacom's UPN that could result in show sponsorships, special cross-promotions and product placements for six of its clients, according to Dow Jones.

The news service report said OMD is asking for "a little extra" for buying an estimated $30 million of TV time on UPN during the coming season.

DJ said the deal is expected to involve McDonald's, Cingular Wireless, Gillette, Sony's PlayStation, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance and Vivendi Universal's Universal Pictures.

Endeavor Agency, a Hollywood talent agency that UPN hired several months ago to help promote its fall shows, has approached Omnicom executives about the ad agency's clients gaining access to UPN programs, according to DJ.

Advertisers Want To Be In The Show

Mark Stroman, a marketing executive at Endeavor, told DJ that advertisers most fear that their commercials will be zapped. As a result, they want to Abe in the show.

DJ said "marketers struggling to combat ad clutter and the threat from commercial-skipping devices such as TiVo are less enamored with the traditional 30-second ads. Product placement on TV shows is one of the biggest trends on Madison avenue."

State Farm, which has bought airtime on UPN for the first time, is negotiating a product placement within "The Hughleys," a sitcom about an African-American suburban family.

Another deal in the works, according to DJ, calls for McDonald's to also be scripted into that show.

Cingular, an Atlanta wireless provider, is developing a cross-promotion deal with UPN involving "Girlfriends," a sitcom featuring African-American women.

DJ said the promotion will enable viewers to explain why their girlfriend is the best in the world. The winner is expected to have a walk-on role on the show. Cingular is also angling to get its products placed on the show.

A spokeswoman at Sony PlayStation told DJ the video-gamemaker will team up with UPN's sci-fi drama "Roswell" in an undetermined cross-promotional deal. Gillette will run outdoor billboards promoting UPN's new Star Trek show, "Enterprise."

A spokesman for Universal Studios said the movie company will sponsor UPN's movie night on Fridays, among other shows.

TV NEWSFEED WILL TARGET WOMEN

Can do Woman Media Networks, New York, will produce and distribute a weekly TV newsfeed, using video news releases and B-roll packages targeted to women.

David Post, chairman/executive producer/executive editor of CDW, said the newsfeed, which is called "Can do Woman News," will cover lifestyle trends, new products and services of interest to women, women's health, women's issues, as well as celebrity event coverage.

He said Can do Woman will use the news packages it produces and accept B-roll packages from PR firms and corporations that it finds appropriate for the newsfeed.

Each week's newsfeed will be introduced by Katlean de Monchy, a trends translator, who is CDW's "Nextpert."

The feeds will be sent every Thursday to the 40+ TV stations that currently work with CDW on a regular basis on its branded satellite media tours for the targeted stations' weekend news.

It will also be sent to other TV stations for weekday and weekend news over the CBS newsfeed, as well as other network newsfeeds, and to nationally syndicated entertainment programs.

CDW's offices are located at 213 W. 35th st., 10001. Post can be reached at 212/244-1444, ext 18.

PLACEMENT TIPS ____________________

Inc magazine, Boston, has unveiled these new editorial sections and departments in the September issue:

Incubator, a front-of-the-book-section about new technologies, products, services and business models changing the entrepreneurial landscape.

Departments include: "60-Second Business Plan," "Hot Type," "Main Street," and "Growth Markets."

The Whole New Business Catalogue, an expanded management section spotlighting the best practices of growth companies.

Departments include: "Best of the Net," "The Main Event," "Capital Finance," "E-Strategies," "Cultures" and Norm Brodsky's "Street Smarts."

The Inc Life, a lifestyle section focusing on how business ownership impacts the life of entrepreneurs.

Departments in the section include "Fit," "Returns," "Road Trip," "A Space of One's Own," and "My Secret Life."

George Gendron is editor-in-chief.

WRITER QUESTIONS RAINES APPOINTMENT

Robert Samuelson, who writes for The Washington Post, believes the promotion of Howell Raines from editorial page editor of The New York Times to executive editor, where he will oversee the paper's news staff, will "compromise the Times' ability to act and appear fair-minded."

"Every editor and reporter holds private views; the difference is that Raines' opinions are now highly public. His page took stands on dozens of local, national and international issues. It was pro-choice, pro-gun control and pro-campaign finance 'reform.'

"Many critics already believe that the news columns of the Times are animated-and distorted-by the same values as its editorials," said Samuelson.

(Media news continued on next page)

BLACK JOURNALISTS SEEK CORP. SPONSORS

The National Assn. of Black Journalists, which is trying to get back on solid financial footing, will continue to seek financial sponsorship of its events, which include sessions and major meal functions at the group's annual convention.

Members of the nation's largest organization of journalists of color also voted at the annual meeting, which was held last month in Orlando, to end all restrictions on seeking financing from makers of alcoholic beverages.

Several members object to having corporate sponsors on the grounds that media-company sponsorships themselves present a conflict of interest because part of the group's mission is to serve as a watchdog on those companies' news coverage.

A primary corporate sponsor of this year's convention was the South African Tourism Board. Ford Motor Co. sponsored a panel on business coverage, and Aetna U.S. Healthcare and Pharmacia sponsored a panel on trends in African-American Women's Health.

Tangie Newborn, the new executive director, said the NABJ uses the money from corporate sponsors to underwrite the association and its programs.

The members also voted to create a finance advisory committee to work with the NABJ board and staff in the management and financial planning of the organization.

Condace L. Pressley, who is assistant program director for WSB radio in Atlanta, was elected the next president of NABJ.

PEOPLE ______________________

These staffers at The Los Angeles Times will retire between Aug. 24 and Dec. 31: Bob Berger, op-ed page editor; Marlene Cimons, staff writer; Earl Gustkey, staff writer; Priscilla Hansen, staff writer; Jim Mann, columnist; Bob Rector, opinion page editor, Valley editions; Bob Rosenblatt, staff writer; Marvin Seid, editorial writer; Doug Shuit, staff writer; Robert Smaus, garden editor, and Candace Wedlan, staff writer.

Terry Jackson was named editor-in-chief of Auto World.

American Media, which publishes the year-old monthly magazine, recently moved the editorial offices to Boca Raton, Fla.

Jackson, who had been a TV critic and auto columnist for The Miami Herald, replaces William Jeans, who was editing the magazine from his home in Mississippi.

Ben Stein has joined TheStreet.com to cover issues and trends of the financial and political worlds. His column will run each Wednesday. Stein, who has been a syndicated writer for financial and political publications for the last 20 years, is host of a daily game show, "Stein's Money," on cable TV.

SOME PAPERS TO SKIP FASHION SHOWS

Among newspapers not sending reporters to cover the spring collections in New York, which begin Sept. 8, are The Houston Chronicle, The Times-Picayune of New Orleans and The San Francisco Chronicle.

Declining ad revenues are preventing some out-of-town editors from coming to the shows, according to Cathy Horyn, who writes the "Front Row" column for The New York Times.

Linda Griffin, fashion editor of the Houston Chronicle, which recently dropped its weekly eight-page fashion section, told Horyn it will be the first time in more than a decade she will not be at the New York shows. Griffin stopped covering shows in Europe two years ago.

Fern Mallis, executive director of 7th on Sixth, which runs the shows in Bryant Park, does not believe their absence will impact coverage.

According to registration figures, 16 of the top 20 daily U.S. newspapers are sending reporters, and attendance has increased in all categories, notably among websites.

ONLINE NEWS AUDIENCE GROWS

Jupiter Media Metrix, a research firm that measures online use, said the audience for online news and information websites grew 14.7% from July 2000 to July 2001.

The increase was slightly higher than overall web traffic growth, which was 12.3%.

Analysts believe that new media news consumers, who tend to be younger than the audiences for traditional media, are increasingly going in search of old media online, according to The New York Times.

The top 10 news sites for the July to July period, as measured by Jupiter, were:

News Site - Monthly visitors, 6-month average

1. MSNBC.com - 10.7 million
2. CNN.com - 9.5
3. NYTimes.com - 4.8
4. ABCnews.com - 3.9
5. USAToday.com - 3.3
6. WashingtonPost.com - 3.1
7. Time.com - 2.0
8. LATimes.com - 1.9
9. FoxNews.com - 1.4
10. WSJ.com - 1.4

PUBLICIST: 'I'M GOING TO LIE ANYWAY.'

Cindy Adams ended her column in The New York Post with this item:

"So this journalist asks this PR person, 'What's the truth of that rumor about your client? I'm getting questions from my editors and I have to get back to them. I need an answer.'

"Says the PR person: `What's the difference? I mean it doesn't matter. I'm going to lie anyway.'"

AMA CAMPAIGNS VS. DRUG CO. GIFTS

The American Medical Assn., headquartered in Chicago, has begun a PR campaign to inform doctors it is unethical to accept gifts worth more than $100.

The AMA is contributing about $400,000 to the $1 million effort, but most of the balance comes from payments between $50,000 and $100,000 from nine major drug companies.

The AMA says it makes sense to involve the industry in a campaign that is also designed to inform drug makers about what is considered unethical behavior. Critics are questioning that logic.

At issue are the myriad freebies, ranging from pens and notepads to free dinners and trips, that some drug companies offer doctors. Ethicists say the gifts could encourage doctors to prescribe medications that may not be in patients' best interests.

AMA's decade-old policy suggests a limit of about $100 on such gifts and says they should not include personal expenses for doctors attending conferences.

Dr. Randolph Smoak, the AMA's immediate past president, said the campaign was prompted in part by concern that many younger doctors may be unaware of the policy.

Jackie Cottrell, spokeswoman for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, a trade group for most of the nation's brand-name prescription drug makers, supports the policy, but believes it is appropriate to educate physicians about new treatments.

The AMA has started mailing informational material to doctors, which includes a list of the drug-company sponsors. The campaign also includes a new website (ama-assn.org) which lists the guidelines.

Critics, who support limiting pharmaceutical industry influence, have questioned the funding source for the campaign, and say it could backfire by influencing doctors to favor the nine companies that are participating.

One critic likened the controversy to the AMA's botched 1997 deal with Sunbeam Corp., in which the Association was forced to abandon an agreement to endorse Sunbeam products after an outcry from members and ethicists.

WM. WRIGLEY DEFERS DECISION ON PR

Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. has "deferred until the end of September" its decision to hire either Edelman PR Worldwide or Golin/Harris International as its first-ever corporate PR firm, according to Christopher Perille, corporate communications director at the Chicago-based company.

Wrigley, despite the lack of an agency, received a monster hit in the Aug. 28th New York Times, which referred to the gum maker as "the famously secretive company."

The company scored the lead in the Times business section with an article extolling its aggressive moves into healthcare and the mint category made by CEO Bill Wrigley, the 35-year-old executive who took command of the company after the death of his father in 1999.

He did not talk to the Times. In fact, his only interview since becoming CEO has been with Forbes.

Ron Waters, Wrigley's CFO, provided the Times some quotes.

The Times noted that investors don't get a lot of information about Wrigley. It quoted various analysts who praised Wrigley Co.'s market share, no debt and return on investment.

Perille said the company "liked" the Times article."

STOP NUKE PROMO, SAYS ACTIVIST GROUP

An anti-nuclear group called on Connecticut's State Office of Tourism, in Hartford, to stop promotion of an educational center at the Millstone nuclear plant.

The center provides information about nuclear power and its benefits. The group, the Connecticut Coalition Against Millstone, asked the tourism office to remove promotional materials for the Millstone Discovery Center or to attach "fact sheets" that identify what the group says are the dangers of nuclear power, according to The Associated Press.

The Coalition says the literature violates standards of the Office of Tourism, which bars materials that are commercially oriented or include political content.

"This promotion is a sinister PR gimmick," Joseph Besade, a Coalition member, said in a prepared statement.

Barbara Cieplak, marketing director of the COT, said the demand was a first.

She said the matter will most likely be taken up by the Connecticut Tourism Council at its next scheduled meeting on Sept. 11.

Peter Hyde, a spokesman for Millstone, said the criticism would not affect the center. "I don't think the Coalition is going to do anything useful by making this kind of allegation or attempt to remove us from tourism funding."

PR URGES GERMAN WORKERS TO GO HOME

The Stuttgart Region Economic Development Corp. has named San Jose, Calif.-based Carter Israel Advertising & PR to handle PR efforts aimed at filling more than 4,000 vacant high-tech jobs in the Stuttgart region of Germany.

Rachel Peres said a quintet of skywriting airplanes will fly in formation over New York. The planes will skywrite "Time to Move...Back to Germany" and the URL: www.move-back.com.

Planes will also tow banners with a similar message over Los Angeles beaches.

Peres said the high-tech Gold Rush of the 1990s lured thousands of German IT workers and engineers to the U.S., promising pre-IPO options, early retirement, and H1-B visas for foreign workers.

"Now that layoffs and a waning economy threaten these dreams-as well as work visas-Stuttgart's Economic Development Corp. wants to capitalize on a golden opportunity to lure talented ex-patriots and Americans alike to Germany to meet demand in Stuttgart's flourishing technical market," said Peres.

PR OPINION/ITEMS

Breaking up is hard to do. Applied Communications issues a two-page press release to herald the fact that it lost the Oracle Corp. account, which was one of its biggest. The usual route for PR firms, of course, is to bury such bad news. That is not the style of Applied CEO Alan Kelly who used the release to trumpet the many accomplishments that Applied had engineered for Oracle. Both he and Oracle senior VP-corporate marketing Paul Burrin had nothing but high praise for each other in the release. "Our relationship with Oracle has been one of the most successful client-agency partnerships in the technology business," said Kelly. Applied "has helped make Internet-based computing an industry standard and positioned Oracle as the leading database and e-business software provider." Burrin noted that Applied "has been a valuable partner over the past eight years." Applied's "market-focused approach and competitive expertise has served us well as we've carved out, created and defended new market opportunities with great success." The release notes that Applied "helped fuel Oracle's growth from a $1.2 billion database software provider in 1993 to an $11 billion e-business giant today. That sounds pretty good. If Applied was doing such a whale of a job, why did it get the boot? We asked Burrin. He said Oracle moved the account in-house because it Awanted more skin in the game." Burrin is integrating PR with other communications functions, and dropping Applied will give him greater flexibility. Oracle wants PR to be more "web-centric." Cost considerations were also a factor. Applied expects to wind down its Oracle work during the next three months.

Sports Ilustrated's outing of Little League World Series pitching star Danny Almonte provides a valuable lesson for PR people. Never lie. The media will ferret out the truth. A Dominican Republic official said last week that Almonte is 14, not 12 years old. That makes him two years over the age limit for the Series. Almonte's father had vouched that his son was 12. New York City officials, which feted Almonte's Bronx baseball team as if they won the series, and the media, which fawned over the team as the "Baby Bombers," also have egg on their faces. New York Times columnist John Tierney noted on Aug. 31 that the city gave a "hero's parade to a kid who looks more and more like the most famous fraud in the history of youth sports. The key to the city has been presented by our mayor to a Little Leaguer who may be almost old enough to use the key to a car." Tierney continued: "The rest of Americans are always happy to see New York humiliated, and this time they have special reason to celebrate." He chided the media for the "wildly disproportionate coverage given by the national press to the New York team-if indeed the players actually lived in New York." Almonte's team was beaten by one from Florida, which wound up losing the Series to a team from Japan.

Good news in dot-com land? Challenger Gray & Christmas reports that layoffs at dot-com companies fell to a 12-month low in August. Nearly 5,000 dot-commers got canned compared to 8,700 in July. John Challenger, CEO of the company, put the "good news" in perspective. In a release, he noted that: "The decline in job cuts may not necessarily be an indication of an imminent turnaround. It is more likely that dot-com firms are running out of employees to cut." So far, 88,000 workers at dot-com companies were fired this year, which is more than double the amount in 2000....Flooz.com, the one-time Internet high-flyer, is among those that went belly-up. The online currency company made its mark via an $8 million ad campaign featuring Whoopie Goldberg as its spokesperson. PR21 had handled the Flooz account.

Kurt Stocker will be inducted into the Arthur W. Page Society's Hall of Fame at the Society's annual conference in San Diego on Sept. 24.

Stocker, who has his own consulting firm, is also an associate professor in the Northwestern University Medill school of journalism's integrated marketing communications program.

Earlier in his career, he was chief corporate relations officer for Continental Bank Corp.; senior VP of corporate communications for United Airlines, and senior VP of Hill and Knowlton/Chicago. Stocker becomes the 16th member of the Hall.

WPP Group CEO Martin Sorrell is among speechmakers at the Society's conference that carries the weighty theme of "Manage for Tomorrow: Intangibles and Corporate Value Proposition." He will talk about globalization.

Veteran PR counselor E. Bruce Harrison will moderate a panel on social issues.

Other speakers include Leon Panetta, former President Clinton's chief of staff, who will discuss the economy and tax legislation; Wall Street Journal technology columnist Karen Swisher, and Lou Thompson, president of the National Investor Relations Institute.

PR legends Denny Griswold and Pat Jackson are to be honored at the conference. The Society credits Griswold, founder of PR News, with helping to give PR an identity by honoring many of its leaders. Jackson was a "great figure in PR." He helped shape the profession. The Society notes that Jackson's firm, Jackson, Jackson & Wagner, "never revealed its client list except to say that they ranged from starving non-profits to international Fortune 50 companies.
--Kevin McCauley