NC ECODEV ENTITY SEEKS PR

AdvantageWest, the economic development commission for the 23 western counties of North Carolina, has called for PR proposals through Aug. 9.

KP Communications of Asheville, N.C., is the incumbent.

The region covers 10,000 square miles in the Blue Ridge Mountains and about one million citizens. Key businesses there include Smiths Aerospace (GE Aircraft), Cobia Boats, Volvo and Google, which is planning a $600M server farm.

AW, which handles tourism, business and agricultural outreach, wants proposals to get media placements, manage media relations, and provide other strategy and outreach for the organization. The entity plans to hire either an agency or individual for the effort.

Download the RFP at odwyrpr.com.

ARIZONA TAPS TOURISM FIRM AMID UPROAR

Arizona tourism officials have tapped Phoenix-based HMA PR to highlight the "vitality" of travel in the state amid a lingering uproar over a new immigration law.

HMA beat out two finalists from a response pool of nearly two dozen firms in an RFP process for the $100K pact.

The firm will be working with the Governor’s Tourism and Economic Development Task Force, said Abbie Fink, VP and general manager at HMA.

“We are tasked with promoting the economic vitality of Arizona’s tourism industry,” she told O’Dwyer’s.

Arizona Dept. of Tourism communications manager Kiva Couchon said HMA is one of the PR vendors registered for the state and they were selected based on that, in addition to their proposal.

A national push is aimed to burnish Arizona tourism's image, which has suffered from boycotts and protests after Gov. Jan Brewer signed into law strict new measures to identify and deport illegal immigrants in the state.

A federal judge struck down parts of the law late last month leaving a climate of uncertainty.

A state task force including tourism officials last month recommended hiring a PR firm and allocated $280K to tackle the issue in markets like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, Chicago, New York and Washington, D.C.

Tourism, which has been affected by the backlash, is a key pillar of Arizona’s economy representing 37M million visitors and an $18 billion impact in 2008.

OGILVY TO REVAMP CAPITOL SITE

Ogilvy PR Worldwide has won a competitive process for a mid-six-figure pact to revamp the web presence of the Architect of the Capitol, the caretaker for the U.S. Capitol complex, from the eponymous building and Congressional offices to the U.S. Botanic Garden.

Ogilvy picked up the $476K award - to stretch to October 2011 with the Office of Congressional and External Relations - to guide the overhaul of AOC.gov following an RFP process started in April.

Ellen Birek, manager of external relations for Ogilvy in D.C., confirmed that the WPP-owned agency has been awarded the assignment but declined further comment until the contract is signed.

The AOC has overseen the Capitol complex for more than 200 years and wanted its history leveraged in the re-design. The website gets more than 3M visitors a year and is working on developing panaromic images, videos and 3-D models to add to its online presence.

BP TAPS U.S. PRESS CHIEF

BP is replacing ex-Brunswick Group director and former Dick Cheney press secretary Anne Womack-Kolton after bringing her in-house from Brunswick two months ago.

Womack-Kolton is being replaced by 12-year BP veteran Scott Dean, who worked the company's Texas refinery blast and has headed U.S. media operations since July.

The move comes as BP has made significant progress in sealing off the leaking Gulf well.

Womack-Kolton joined APCO Worldwide as a VP at the close of the Bush administration in 2008 and was assistant press secretary at the White House, press secretary to Cheney during the 2004 campaign, and served as director of public affairs at the Dept. of Energy during the second Bush administration from 2005-07.

She was plucked out of the Texas Attorney General's office in 2000 to work as a press assistant on the Bush/Cheney campaign.

RIDGE SPEAKS FOR SHALE

The firm of former Pennsylvania Governor and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge is promoting the development of natural gas from the Marcellus Shale formation in the Keystone State.

Ridge Policy Group is working the legislative beat for the Marcellus Shale Coalition, a group that includes producers and equipment suppliers such as Hunt Oil, Chesapeake Energy, Phillips Production, Marathon Oil, Allis-Chalmers and Schlumberger.

TRANSOCEAN WORK BUOYS FD EARNINGS

FTI Consulting, which owns PR agency FD, posted a nearly 12% increase in its strategic communications business during the second quarter to $49.8M as project work led by its Transocean account and new retainer clients buoyed earnings in the segment.

That gain, the highest quarterly revenue since 2008 for FD, came despite a 3.2% overall slide in FTI's second quarter revenue to $349M as the company cited continued effects of an "unevenly recovering economy."

For its FD operations, FTI said growth in project-based work came despite a continued slow environment for discretionary corporate spending and "moribund" capital markets.

“Growth was led by a strong performance in the U.S. which has benefitted from increased project work, most notably the public affairs communications for Transocean in the Gulf of Mexico as well as development of several large retained clients,” said president and CEO Jack Dunn.

Asia-Pacific also showed strong growth in Q2, he said, as FTI announced the acquisition of FS Asia Advisory, a corporate finance and turnaround company with $35M in revenue last year.

NETGEAR SWITCHES TO ATOMIC

Atomic PR has notched a competitive pitch to earn the agency-of-record slot for Netgear, a San Jose manufacturer of networking products for home and business. Sterling Communications had the account.

San Francisco-headquartered Atomic takes command of strategic planning, positioning, messaging, media/analyst relations, social media, video, events and blog design.

Judy Hoffmann, Netgear's senior director of worldwide marketing communications, praised Atomic for providing "strong strategic perspectives and concrete communications plans for advancing Netgear's brand and business."

Netgear earned $24M in the first-half on $407M revenues. That compares to a loss of $7M on $291M year ago period sales. Netgear markets its output via 27K retailers and 36K value-added resellers.

WYCLEF FOR PRESIDENT

Euro RSCG Worldwide PR is handling media for hip hop artist Wyclef Jean, who plans to run for the presidency of Haiti.

Jean stepped down Aug. 5 as chairman of Yele Haiti, the non-profit group that he founded in 2005 to improve living conditions in Haiti. Yele Haiti has raised more than $9M in emergency funds to help Haiti recover from the devastating earthquake.

Jean serves as ambassador-at-large for Haiti. The three-time Grammy Award winner will run against his uncle, Raymond Joseph, former ambassador to the U.S., in the election set for Nov. 28.

Jean was born in Haiti and moved to the U.S. when he was nine years ago. He must overcome Haitian constitutional requirements that a presidential candidate must have lived in the country for five consecutive years before the election.

WEBER SHANDWICK PITCHES CANADA

Weber Shandwick is gearing up a media campaign to bolster Canadian tourism as the federal government revamps the Canadian Tourism Commission following a drop-off in visitors.

CTC’s Global Tourism Watch released last month shows China as the sole targeted market to send more people to Canada last year. Tourism from the U.S. was down nine percent in 2009.

The CTC has used up its $26M “special funding” for the Vancouver Olympics staged earlier this year, and Ottawa has decided to pare $6M from CTC’s budget to around $70M next year, according to a July 17 report in The Globe and Mail.

That cut will reduce CTC's headcount by 25 percent.

As CTC scales back consumer advertising and trade development activities in the U.S., Weber Shandwick is to use PR to promote Canada's brand and increase the desire to visit there.

It plans special events and media outreach to generate awareness of the Canadian tourism experience, according to its agreement with CTC.

SIEMENS SNAGS OBAMA AIDE

Camille Johnston, director of communications for Michelle Obama, is stepping down for the VP/corporate affairs slot at Siemens Corp. as the U.S. subsidiary of the German electronics giant moves its base of operations from New York to D.C.

Johnston, who is also a special assistant to President Obama, is the former senior VP of communications for the Los Angeles Dodgers and VP of corporate comms. for Rodale.

She takes up the Siemens post on Sept. 7.

She was communications director for Tipper Gore during and after the 2000 presidential campaign after working on the two successful Clinton-Gore presidential bids.

Johnston later held similar posts for Labor Secretary Robert Reich and Education Secretary Richard Riley.

Eric Spiegel, Siemens’ CEO, said in a statement that the company's technologies “can move the national agenda forward” in noting the move to D.C. and the hire of Johnston “to help us position Siemens more broadly in this country.”

Siemens’ U.S. operations totaled $21.3 billion in 2009.

SNAGIT MARKETER TAPS RACEPOINT

TechSmith, the marketers of screen capture software like Snagit and Jing, has tapped Racepoint Group after an RFP process.

The company, based in Okemos, Mich., had worked with Buzzago and Split Rock PR in the past.

Global PR manager Amy Hagerstrom said eight proposals were considered for the North American PR account.

An RFP issued in April called for tech firms with “mature media relationships” to handle a variety of tasks like media/analyst relations and social media support.

TechSmith had revenues of $35M last year.

AOL LOSES $1B IN Q2

AOL last week reported a $1.1B net loss on $584M second-quarter revenues due to a $1.4B “goodwill impairment charge” connected with its divestiture of Bebo.

CEO Tim Armstrong sees better days ahead and is “pleased with this quarter's internal and external trends.”

During the quarter, AOL reported a 27 percent slide in advertising revenues to $297M and a 27 percent drop in subscription sales to $260M.

The company counted 112M unique visitors per-month, according to Media Metrix 360.

Armstrong has reorganized AOL’s content business into a collection of “super networks,” re-launched MapQuest and nearly doubled the number of “Patch” local sites to 83 cities.

AOL is trading at $22.40

RUSSELL SUCCEEDS RENSE AT AD

Margaret Russell is taking over for Paige Rense as editor-in-chief at Architectural Digest.

The New York Times has lauded Rense as the “archduchess of decorating.”

Rense, 81, joined Conde Nast’s AD in 1970, guiding its growth in circulation from 50K to 850K.

Russell, 52, began her career at Glamour. She was at Elle Décor for two decades, rising to the editor-in-chief of brand content post.

NEWS CORP. HALVES CAREY’S PAY

News Corporation has cut the salary of Chase Carey in half to $4M and increased the amount of bonus comp tied to performance available to the president/deputy chairman of the media combine.

Under the revamped bonus scheme, two-thirds of executive bonuses are to be based on the company’s financial and operating performance. Bonus targets were formerly budgeted.

Carey has the opportunity to haul in a maximum $20M in bonus comp for fiscal `11, according to News Corp.’s 8-K filed Aug. 2 with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In the event that Carey is terminated prior to June 30 `11, he will receive a lump sum payment of $21.2M. Carey returned to News Corp in June 2009 to succeed Peter Chernin. He had been running DirectTV.

News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch is eligible to receive a maximum bonus of $25M. His son, James, eyes a potential $12M windfall. The younger Murdoch heads European and Asian operations.

KALMBACH DISCOVERS DISCOVER

Kalmbach Publishing Co. has acquired Discover Media, home of Discover and its website.

KPC publishes specialty titles such as Astronomy, Cabin Life, Model Railroader, Trains, Birder's World, and Bead & Button.

Discover puts out 10 issues a year and has a circulation of 700,000. Its website boasts two million visitors a month. Revenues are in the $14M range.

KPC is based in Waukesha, Wis., while Discover's 20-member staff is in New York.

AD AGE UPS TRIO

Advertising Age has named Abbey Klaassen editor, a promotion from the executive editor slot. She joined the Crain Communications publication in 2005. She was digital editor before taking the EE post in December.

Judann Pollack, managing editor, is now executive editor. The 25-year AA vet reported from New York and Chicago. She also was managing editor of Ad Age International.

Ken Wheaton, assistant managing editor, was elevated to managing editor. In a 10-year stint, Wheaton has been copy editor, features editor and most recently in charge of the “Viewpoint” section and blogs.

HARMAN NOTCHES NEWSWEEK

Sidney Harman, founder of audio giant Harman International Industries, has purchased Newsweek from the Washington Post Co.

The 92-year-old mogul topped bids from OpenGate Capital, Avenue Capital Group and Fred Drasner, former co-publisher of the New York Daily News.

Harman, who is married to California Democratic Rep. Jane Harman, promised to keep the majority of Newsweek’s 325 staffers.

Don Graham, CEO of WPC, called Harman “someone who feels as strongly as we do about the importance of quality journalism.” Harman, in turn, referred to Newsweek as “a national treasure.”

Terms of the transactions were not disclosed. The Post, however, noted that the resulting gain or loss would not be material to its financial position. Newsweek lost about $30M in 2009.

With the sale to Harman, Newsweek editor Jon Meacham is exiting. In an e-mail to staffers, he wrote his 15 years at Newsweek and the Post Co. were “a privilege beyond measure.” He believes the journalism that Newsweek does “matters to the country and to the world, perhaps now more than ever.”

CONDE NAST MOVES TO ‘GROUND ZERO’

Conde Nast plans to relocate from its swanky corporate headquarters at 4 Times Square to the site of the former World Trade Center, according to the online New York Times.

The publisher of Vanity Fair, Cosmopolitan, Esquire, Vogue, Bon Appetit, GQ, Details, Self, Glamour, Golf Digest and New Yorker would anchor the $3.2B building now under construction.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey owns the planned 1,776 ft. building that was once dubbed Freedom Tower. It will open as 1 World Trade Center.

Conde Nast sent a memo to employees last week, saying it is in “active negotiations” concerning the move. A final decision is “months away.”

Conde Nast’s corporate shift would be a dramatic boost for the economy of Lower Manhattan, which is struggling to replace jobs lost in the financial sector.

The move also would bring “instant credibility” to the new WTC site, according to developer Carl Weisbrod.

(Media news continued on next page)

MILITARY PA REVOKES EMBED CREDENTIALS

Pentagon public affairs has revoked the credentials of reporter Michael Hastings to embed with the U.S. military in Afghanistan, the writer said Aug. 4.

Hastings is the journalist who penned Rolling Stone’s bombshell piece that led to the resignation of Gen. Stanley McChrystal in June.

“The embed had already been approved for September,” Hastings said on his Twitter feed. “Now it has been disapproved.”

The Associated Press quoted a Pentagon spokesman who said Hastings had been denied permission to report alongside troops in Afghanistan.

“It is a choice made between units and individual reporters, and a key element of an embed is having trust that the individuals are going to abide by the ground rules,” said the spokesman, Col. David Lapan. “So in that instance the command in Afghanistan decided there wasn’t the trust requisite and denied this request.”

The Army Inspector General is investigating the Rolling Stone piece and Hastings said he has refused to cooperate with that probe.

Salon’s Glen Greenwald recalled the testimony of Pentagon public affairs chief-nominee Douglas Wilson last year when he said the tenor of a journalist's reporting would not affect embed requests.

“I don’t believe in any system that rates reporters based on a perception that their reporting is positive or negative,” Wilson said. “In my view, we should never be a party to efforts to place so-called friendly reporters into embeds, while blocking so-called unfriendly reporters.”

Says Greenwald: “But as this Hastings episode demonstrates, the embed process is still being used primarily as a means of propagandizing the public about the war. “

PENTAGON ORDERS ‘EYES OFF’ WIKILEAKS

The Pentagon has ordered soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen not to access the WikiLeaks website that contains the 77,000 documents that were leaked to the New York Times, The Guardian and Der Spiegel.

An e-mail message from the Navy’s Judge Advocate General Corps warns sailors not to “access the WikiLeaks website to view or download the publicized classified information.”

Doing so “would introduce potentially classified information on unclassified information.”

The Washington Times’ Rowan Scarborough obtained that e-mail, which says "rumor that the information is no longer classified since it resides in the public domain."

The Marine Corps message warns those accessing the WikiLeaks documents "willingly commited a security violation."

The Pentagon has asked WikiLeaks to return the documents.

ikiLeaks, meanwhile, told the Associated Press that it will continue to publish more secret files from governments around the world despite U.S. demands to cancel plans to release classified military documents.

GRIFFIN REPLACES MOORE AT TIME INC.

Time Warner has named Jack Griffin CEO of Time Inc., succeeding Ann Moore who is stepping down after 32 years at the publishing giant.

Moore, 60, has agreed to remain through a transition period for the ex-president of Meredith Corp.’s national media group. The 58-year-old Griffin resigned that post last week.

Griffin joins Time at the end of September. He is expected to expand marketing efforts in a bid to reduce exposure to ad sales. That's the policy he forged at Meredith.

Prior to Meredith, Griffin was at Parade, a division of Advance Publications, from 1999 to 2003, where he became its president.

Jeff Bewkes, CEO of TW, calls Griffin an "exceptional executive who knows how to expand the reach and relevance of strong publishing brands and he will be a champion of our high quality journalism." He credits Moore for advice on Griffin.

Time Inc. publishes 22 magazines including Time, Sports Illustrated, Money, Fortune, Southern Living, Sunset and People. Its website attracts more than 50M unique visitors a month.

Tom Harty, meanwhile, has been named president of Meredith Corp.’s national media group, succeeding Griffin.

He presides over woman’s magazines such as Ladies Home Journal, Better Homes and Gardens and Family Circle plus brand licensing, integrated marketing and a book business.

Harty joined Meredith in 2004 as VP in the magazine operation. Prior to that, he was senior VP at Golf Digest and worked at TV Guide and Reader’s Digest.

EFFRON EXITS THE WEEK

Eric Effron, executive editor of The Week, is joining Thomson Reuters’ professional news center as law editor.

Effron leaves The Week, a news and opinion aggregator after a seven-year stint. Earlier, he spent more than a decade as Legal Times in Washington, D.C. Effron also served as an editor at Brill's Content.

Stephen Adler, senior VP & editorial director at Thomson Reuters’ professional division, promises "more terrific additions" to staff after Effron joins after Labor Day.

BP: MEDIA HELP WANTED

BP is on the hunt for a director of media relations with "a sense of urgency and resilience" and experience in politics or crisis for its newly established Gulf Coast Restoration Communications Division, according to a posting on the BP website.

The “help wanted” posting appeared as BP is replacing ex-Brunswick Group director and former Dick Cheney press secretary Anne Womack-Kolton after bringing her in-house from Brunswick two months ago.

The media relations position advertised will serve as the chief spokesperson for the Gulf Coast Restoration Organization within BP.

Ten-plus years of experience are required. Apply online at bp.com.

OMC CREATES NEW OVERSEAS PR ROLE

Omnicom has created a new corporate communications position for Asia-Pacific, Africa and the Middle East as the advertising and PR conglomerate seeks to bolster its profile and eyes those regions for growth.

The company has tapped Clara So, director and head of corporate comms., Asia-Pacific, for Lufthansa for the new director-level position. She started Aug. 2 and is based in Singapore.

Tim Love, OMC group vice chairman and CEO of the region the company designates as APIMA, said the appointment “represents Omnicom’s determination to further strengthen its profile, visibility and reputation, as well as foster its internal and external relations throughout the region.”

So was with Lufthansa for 15 years after working on the agency side at The PR Company Ltd. in Hong Kong. Her online profile lists language capabilities including English, Mandarin, Cantonese, German and basic Japanese.

N.C. PORTS GET PR HELP

Capstrat has picked up a six-figure pact with the North Carolina State Port Authority as it looks to hone its PR after facing organized opposition to building a $2.2 billion, 600-acre international port in the state.

Lewis Advertising was the incumbent for the Authority handling its marketing communications contract, which has been slightly increased to $375K a year and could stretch three years. The account covers image and promotional work that includes PR, digital and advertising.

The Authority’s push for the new trade hub near Southport, N.C., has been met with an organized anti-port PR push dubbed “No Port Southport,” which has parlayed its opposition into criticism over the new PR contract.

Container shipping was up 28% in North Carolina ports during the first quarter of the Authority’s fiscal 2010, after steady drops amid the global recession.

Karen Fox, VP of communications for the Authority who was promoted in January, was recently reassigned to the Authority’s business and economic development team, according to the Star-News of Wilmington.

RFPs: The City of Castle Pines North, Colo., is seeking pitches through Aug. 20 to produce the city’s PR and community outreach efforts. ...Kauai, Hawaii, water utility is reviewing its PR and public education account through Sept. 8. All RFPs can be downloaded at odwyerpr.com/rfps.

BRIEFS: The Sarpy County, Nebraska, governing body approved a $40K pact with Heartland Marketing Communications on Aug. 3 to handle PR, media and marketing for its new $26M minor league baseball park, home to the AAA Royals affiliate of Major League Baseball’s Kansas City Royals. The PR plans were scaled back from initial proposals topping $100K as costs of the project swelled from estimates of $20M to top $26M. Heartland beat out Carroll Communications and URPR.

UBM PR DIVISION UP 7.4% IN FIRST HALF

United Business Media, the U.K. publishing and events company that owns PR Newswire, said first-half revenue was essentially flat, falling 0.2% to 434.3M pounds (about $690M based on current exchange rates) compared with 2009.

But revenue at its distribution and monitoring division, which is PRN, rose 7.4 percent during the period to 91.2M ($145M) in 2010. Its MultiVu broadcast and digital PR operation was up 18.3% to 10.4M pounds during the period, buoyed by growth in multimedia news releases.

“Connecting an audience and a message is a crucial skill that our PR Newswire business has developed and we think that’s going to serve us well,” David Levin, CEO of UBM, said in a webcast announcing first half revenues on July 30. He noted the company’s efforts to move PRN revenue “beyond the wire” before adding: “PR Newswire is going to go through some very interesting times and we’re very excited by them.”

Profit overall at UBM was down 5.2 percent over the first half of 2009 to 45.4M.

U.S. press releases, monitoring and distribution make up nearly three-quarters of the 91.2M in revenue for that division of UBM. Broken down by sector, UBM said earnings releases represented about 7.7% of traffic and 16% of revenue for the first half, slightly up from last year, while policy-related releases were 16% and 9.2% respectively, and new product launches, tradeshows and surveys were 26% of both revenue and volume.

The company said it will continue to focus on getting customers on a subscription rather than transaction basis.

Acquisitions in the PR sector during the first half totaled 6.2M pounds, including the 4.5M pounds PR Newswire paid to acquire monitoring company dna13 in April via its CNW venture in Canada. Other acquisitions during the half were webcast provider Corporate360 (900K pounds), PRN Brazil ($1.2M plus earn-outs) and PRN Argentina, a modest $40K investment to take over the 10% of that venture it didn’t already own.

About one-fourth of UBM revenues come from PR Newswire, while live events represent half of the company’s business.

FENTON 'RENEWS' CSR FOCUS WITH PRN HIRE

Susan McPherson, who headed CSR services at PR Newswire, has moved to Fenton Communications in New York as a senior VP, one of two hires in the space.

The firm said it intends to spark its CSR efforts in hiring the 15-year PRN veteran.

“Susan’s arrival signals our renewed focus on the socially responsible business space and behavior change campaigns,” said chief strategy officer Lisa Witter.

At PRN, McPherson ran the company's Engage CSR conference and led development of new services geared toward that sector. She was promoted to the CSR post in January and previously led PRN's events division as VP.

Fenton has also added Kasia Reterska from Edelman's CSR practice.

CORBETT NOMINATED AS PRSA CHAIR-ELECT

The PRSA nominating committee headed by 2008 chair Jeff Julin, nominated Gerard Corbett of the Redphlag PR firm, San Bruno, Calif., as chair-elect.

Philip Tate, of Luquire George Andrews, ad/PR firm, Charlotte, N.C., who sought chair-elect, was nominated to serve again as treasurer.

If elected, he would be the first treasurer to serve two terms in a row. Treasurers traditionally move up to chair-elect.

Kathy Barbour of Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Fla., was unopposed for secretary.

For the second year in a row, the nominating committee skipped over an African-American who sought to join the board.

Regina Lewis of The Potter's House of Dallas, who sought to be director-at-large, lost out to Susan Walton, associate professor of communications, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.

Other nominations were:

Director, East Central District
Stephen D. Iseman, Ph.D., professor, Ohio Northern University, Ada, Ohio.

Director, Mid-Atlantic District
Steven Lewis Grant, senior manager, public relations, National Education Association, Washington, D.C.

Director, Midwest District
Debra D. Peterson, manager, external communications and community relations, CenturyLink, Overland Park, Kan.

Director, Northeast District
Kirk Hazlett, assistant professor, communication, Curry College, Belmont, Mass.

Director, Sunshine District
Geri Ann Evans, president, Evans PR Group, Longwood, Fla.

Director, Tri-State District
Joseph D. Cohen, group vice president, MWW, East Rutherford, N.J.

Director, Western District
Marisa Vallbona, president, CIM Incorporated, La Jolla, Calif.

Assembly Delegate-at-Large
Michael A. Brown, Sr., associate, strategic communications, Booz Allen Hamilton, Norfolk, Va.

Joyce A. Lofstrom, senior manager, corporate communications, HIMSS, Chicago, Ill.

International Assembly Delegate-at-Large
Anthony Bradley, director, Bradley O'Mahoney Public Relations Limited in the United Kingdom.

WPP GRABS ANIMAL HEALTH AGENCY

WPP's grey healthcare group has acquired Kansas City-based advertising and PR firm Geoff Howe Marketing Communications, a specialist for animal health and nutrition clients.

WPP noted that the agency, which also has offices in New York, London and Prague and includes 150 staffers, is based in the global corridor for animal health and makes ghg the leading animal health agency globally. Clients include Hill's Pet Nutrition, Schering Plough and Samsung while billings hit $140M 2008.

DUKE GETS NEW COMMS. CHIEF

Ginny Mackin, the former corporate communications chief at Wachovia through its merger with Wells Fargo during the height of the financial crisis in 2009, has been tapped as the top communications official at Duke Energy in Charlotte, starting Aug. 18.

Mackin, who had stayed on at Wells Fargo to lead the company's community bank communications in the east, takes the title of senior VP and chief communications officer at Duke and takes over for Cathy Roche, who retired July 1 in the same title amid a company-wide buyout offer.

Mackin was previously with Bank of America for 13 years. Roche, a former reporter who joined Duke in 1983 and left for other energy sector posts before returning in 2000, said she will start her own firm.

Mark Craft, VP of executive communications at Duke, left in May for a similar role at Wellpoint.

TEXAS AWARDS ALT ENERGY PR PACT

Austin public affairs firm Apogee Campaigns has picked up a $175K pact to handle PR and social media for a new alternative energy division of Texas' oil and gas oversight agency, the Texas Railroad Commission.

Apogee is headed by Mike Chapman, a former Capitol Hill aide and lobbyist, and Bill Leake, a former VP of marketing at LeapfrogWireless.

The 119-year-old commission issued an RFP in May to create blog content, organize media events and build a social media community of current and potential propane vehicle users. The commission created an alternative energy unit in October after landing a $12.6 million "Clean Cities" grant from the U.S. Dept. of Energy.

While Texas is the No. 1. crude oil producing state in the U.S., it also leads in natural gas and wind power.

MDC GETS RELEVANT

MDC Partners has acquired a majority stake in Relvent, a New York City-based experiential marketing outfit.

Headed by Tony Berger, Relevant has handled work for Nike, Conde Nast, Diageo, Victoria's Secret and Heineken. The firm says it develops “engaging and immersive brand experiences and initiatives” and positions a brand into a targeted consumer's lifestyle.

MDC CEO Miles Nadal credits Berger and his team for developing interactions that "create not just customers but brand ambassadors."

MDC acquired Team Enterprises, another experiential marketer in March. It also added PR firms Allison & Partners and Sloane & Co. earlier this year.

LONGTIME NBA PR CHIEF STEPS DOWN

Longtime NBA communications chief Brian McIntyre, who has overseen PR for every major league event since 1982, is stepping down after 32 years.

Tim Frank, VP of basketball communications, has been promoted to McIntyre's senior VP, basketball communications, post, with oversight of the NBA, WNBA and NBA Development League communications.

McIntyre will continue as a senior communications advisor to Commissioner David Stern.

The Code of PR Society of America proclaims its dedication to a "democratic society." But in such a society candidates for office present themselves to fellow members and/or the public and press for questioning.

In the topsy-turvy world of the Society, the candidates literally disappear.
Bios and statements of beliefs of all those nominated for office last week were removed from the Society website even though they still can be challenged until Sept. 16.

Members who might want a closer look at the beliefs of chair-elect candidate Gerry Corbett or treasurer

We asked Corbett and Tate to call us for an interview or better yet, come to New York and face members and the press in open session. That would constitute PRSA living up to the "A" in its title.

Corbett replied to a questionnaire sent him by three Fellows of PRS* in June but his answers showed a profound lack of understanding of the Assembly.

"Up to the Assembly" Is Not an Answer

He answered seven of the questions with, "Up to the Assembly" including whether APR should be required for national office; whether Assembly transcripts should be published; whether a PDF of the members' list should be provided; whether more PR pros should be hired at h.q.; whether chapter-only members should be considered, and if most h.q. operations should be shifted out-of-town.

PRS* lawyers have lectured Assembly delegates that they must never, ever try to tell the board what to do.

The Assembly can only elect board and officers, set dues, and make bylaw changes.

Similar bodies at the legal, medical and accounting professions tell their boards what to do. Their meetings are run by their own elected officers.

An attempt to give the Assembly the same power in 2006 was defeated. The reason is that national blocked any communication of it to members for five months. It had been proposed in April.

The Committee to Promote Democracy in PRSA (new name) is similarly blocked from communicating with members. It can't get use of the 21,000-member e-mail list or any mention of its aims in the online or printed PR Tactics.

It can't even e-mail the 300 or so Assembly delegates because PRSA national refuses to compile such a list. A national vote is possible on this via individual votes at each chapter after members get all the facts, positive and negative on APR. There are two months until the Oct. 16 Assembly, plenty of time to do this.

Have Free Elections Now

If Corbett is refusing to answer questions now when he is just a candidate, think of how unavailable he would be as legal chair.

Recent chairs including 2010 chair Gary McCormick have just appeared before a half dozen or so of the 110 chapters and almost never a major one.

Reformers should run interested members against Corbett and the other reclusive candidates.

Bylaws about APR, 60-day notices for amendments, etc., should be shelved since PRS* leaders regularly break all sorts of rules, codes and promises.

At least five major Robert's Rules are ignored including its main one: proxy votes are forbidden in a deliberative body.

PRS* does the exact opposite of what its code says including:

• "Advance the free flow of accurate and truthful information…in a democratic society."

• “Be honest and accurate in all communications.”

• “Reveal all information needed for responsible decision making.”

• “Deal fairly with clients, employers, competitors, peers, vendors, the media and the general public.” (Notice “the media” and “public” are last on this list).

• "Preserve the free flow of unprejudiced information…"

Cronyism, Hypocrisy Mar Nominations

The candidates of the Jeff Julin nomcom show cronyism, racial discrimination and increased influence of academics.

Candidates pledged their devotion to "diversity" but the nomcom rejected the sole African-American seeking to join the board-Regina Lewis of The Potter's House non-denominational church of Dallas.

Director-at-large instead went to Prof. Susan Walton of Brigham Young University, whose 32,955 students includes 165 blacks.

Lewis Responded to Questions

Lewis was one of the six of 19 candidates who responded to questions of three Fellows in June.

She favors removing any requirement for board/officer except being a paid up member; audiocasting the Assembly; publishing Assembly transcripts; converting the printed Tactics and Strategist to PDFs; adding PR pros to h.q. staff, and restoring the single list of chapter presidents.

She would make a good reform candidate.

Examples of cronyism are the nominations of Tate to succeed himself as treasurer, a first for an officer position, and National Education Assn.'s Steve Grant taking a second straight two-year term and bouncing sole Mid-Atlantic candidate Linda Burkley of Harrisburg, Pa.

PRS* founders had ruled that "directors many not succeed themselves."

Gail Liebl of blue chip Travelers, seeking treasurer, was offloaded from the board so Tate could stay in a holding pattern. Another corporate person, Debra DeCourcy of Fifth Third Bancorp., was ditched in favor of Prof. Stephen Iseman of Ohio Northern University, Student Society advisor.

Still another educator will be on the board-Prof. Kirk Hazlett of Curry College, a 2,000-student school in Mass.

Some business members recoil at the prospect of four academics on the board.

Our view of academics is that they are the least in touch with the realities of PR, dealing with 18-22 year-olds and other academics. They are the most likely to "play politics," i.e., refuse to stick their necks out on anything.

When academics dominate, as in the Institute for PR, reality takes flight.

We have been trying, without success, to interest IPR CEO Bob Grupp in new evidence and opinions on PR's No. 1 success story, J&J's handling of the Tylenol crisis in 1982.

Prof. Tony Jaques of Australia has punched holes in the Tylenol myths. The biggest include J&J's marketing of a flawed product (capsules) after seven murders had been committed using them, which led to yet another murder. In each instance, J&J offered a paltry $100,000 for information when it should have offered at least $10 million.

Scott Bartz, a nine-year employee of J&J, is convinced the poisonings took place within J&J and has written a book detailing his charges.

The IPR, which says it shows the "science beneath PR," is silent so far. Ray Jordan of J&J is on its board.

Real scientists, given even a particle of new evidence on something in their fields, descend like locusts on whatever had turned up.

--Jack O'Dwyer