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Wachsman opens an office in Los Angeles to join its outposts in New York, Dublin and Singapore. The Los Angeles office is led by Ally Norton, who was previously director of communications at SpinLab Communications, leading consumer and corporate communications for such businesses as Pandora, Beatport and Create Music Group. "As perhaps the first consultancy to launch NFTs with the metaverse, we have a deep understanding of where this industry is headed," said Wachsman founder and CEO David Wachman. "Wachsman's opening in Los Angeles is a reflection of its newest frontier: entertainment."
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Hill+Knowlton Strategies launches a commerce practice, which is focused on helping brands succeed in omnichannel retail. The practice, which the firm says is a response to increased client demand, will provide specialist commerce expertise across H+K's London sector teams, consulting across existing clients and new business briefs. It will work with clients across bricks and mortar, eCommerce, apps, B2B, D2C, eRetailers and marketplaces. A key ambition will be to capitalize on technological innovations such as Web 3.0 and the metaverse. "Our team has the perfect mix of skills to meet the changing needs of brands in this space," said Charlie Hopcraft, managing director of H+K London's technology, entertainment and commerce practices.
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Tusk Strategies puts Jackie Zupsic in charge of Los Angeles operations. The EVP will spearhead the effort and serve as head of the new office, which will create and execute strategies in all areas of public affairs, including public policy and advocacy, public relations, digital media, thought leadership ideation and event creation, trade association management, restructuring and M&A support and crisis communications. "Establishing a formal presence in California is a natural next step in our growth as a firm," said Tusk co-CEO Matt Yale.
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Travel Weekly has added a Communications/PR category to its newly re-launched Magellan Awards, which are now accepting entries. The awards will honor design, marketing and services in the following segments: airlines and airports, cruise lines, ground transportation, hospitality, online travel services, travel destinations, travel advisors and tour operators. In determining winners, entries do not compete with one another but are judged against a standard of excellence developed over the history of Travel Weekly. The early-bird deadline for submission is May 13. "Resilience in our industry has led to so much innovation, and the Magellan Awards look to reflect that this year," said Travel Weekly senior vice president of marketing, Mary Pat Sullivan.
Precision Strategies, an integrated strategy and marketing agency with offices in Washington and New York, acquires Firehouse Strategies, a DC-based public affairs firm... AVENIR GLOBAL acquires London-based Thinks Insight & Strategy... Good Company, which bills itself as a “cultural engineering firm,” is launched by DJ Hardy, a veteran of Johannesburg-based communications consultancy arxna and M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment and Casey Stickles, who has worked at 5WPR, Rubenstein and MWW.
PSC (Princeton Strategic Communications) acquires Nonprofit Partners... CG Life launches 24/364, a cultural brand platform intended to drive awareness, connection and action aimed at keeping rare disease at the forefront of the health and social conversation... Interluxe Group, which focuses on brand experiences and in-person activations; Quinn, a strategic communications agency; and media and digital agency North & Warren are uniting under the Interluxe Group banner.
KITH, which provides corporate reputation and crisis preparation services, is now owned by CEO Stephanie Craig, who has been with the firm since 2021... The Marketing Cloud, a part of Stagwell, introduces several expansions to Agent Cloud, the platform it launched in October 2025 to simplify access to its AI tools and marketing assistants.... Notified launches its AI Press Release Optimizer.
V2 Communications launches its AI Visibility Solution and Earned Media at Scale, two service offerings designed to help companies increase visibility and credibility in generative search... The Public Relations Global Network brings on Greenough Communications as its Boston member agency... DBC is relaunching The DBC Industry Calendar as a free site to help communicators more easily discover relevant events and awards in the cluttered event landscape driven by the growth of webinars and online events. 
PAN releases new original research showing that a significant share of B2B citations surfaced by ChatGPT are inaccurate, misattributed or entirely fabricated, introducing a new credibility risk for brands... REQ, which has offices in DC and San Diego, opens in Phoenix... Notified introduces Market Intelligence, an addition to its all-in-one IR Hub, which gives IR teams a more streamlined way to prepare for earnings calls.
