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| Beth Wilson |
Memphis-based Caissa Public Strategy and Wilson Public Relations merge to form the largest and most comprehensive public relations agency in the city. Caissa Public Strategy provides strategic counsel, public affairs, public school services and crisis management capabilities, while Wilson PR is known for its expertise in media relations and strategic communications. Wilson PR founder Beth Wilson will come on board as a partner and board member at Caissa, in addition to leading the combined firm’s newly formed public relations division as president of Wilson PR. She serves alongside Adrian Bond, president of Caissa K-12 (the agency’s education division); Caissa Public Strategy president and co-founder Paige Walkup; and Caissa CEO and co-founder Brian Stephens. “This merger allows us to expand the scope of services we offer and maximize client impact, putting Memphis on the map alongside companies in larger metropolitan areas – while maintaining an intimate and familiar relationship with the challenges and opportunities of the local community,” said Stephens.
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| Christine Baratta |
Global Situation Room launches Situation Room Studios, a new division that will develop policy shows with the backing of companies, foundations and organizations. Situation Room Studios will be led by Christine Baratta, who joined GSR in April from Bloomberg. Intended to allow the firm to significantly expand its output, the launch also follows hire of RJ Bee, who has run the podcast company Osiris Media. The next production from Situation Room Studios will be Press Advance with Johanna Maska, which will be hosted by GSR chief executive officer Johanna Maska. “In our experience, the podcasts that often make the most news and reach the largest audiences are not being made by news outlets,” said GSR founder and president Brett Bruen. “Instead, it’s those that tell the most authentic stories and uplift trusted voices that unearth new insights while truly beginning to drive conversations forward.”
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West Wing Writers, which specializes in strategic communications, messaging and speechwriting, is now owned by its employees, through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan. “Every employee here contributes to the successful work we do with our clients—and now every employee will share in that success,” said Jeff Shesol, one of the firm’s founders and executive directors. Kate Childs Graham, who rejoined the firm last year after serving as director of speechwriting for Vice President Kamala Harris, and Annie Farber, a seasoned communications strategist, join Shesol, Jonas Kieffer, Vinca LaFleur, Paul Orzulak and Ben Yarrow as executive directors. The firm, with nearly 50 writers and communications professionals, has also unveiled a new website and logo.
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| Lisa Vetrone |
Scenario Communications, which has offices in Los Angeles, Nashville and New York, launches a digital marketing division. Led by account director Lisa Vetrone, the new division will provide a range of services to clients, including omnichannel social media marketing and management, paid social media advertising, content creation and creative direction, and influencer relations. Prior to joining Scenario, Vetrone oversaw the social media and creative departments at Colangelo PR.
Stagwell launches NewVoices.ai, an independent AI-powered sales agent that can book appointments, drive conversions, resolve questions and handle customer concerns... Cision acquires search intelligence platform Trajaan... The McRae Agency, a Scottsdale, AZ-firm t, celebrates its 30th anniversary.
energi PR, an independent shop based in Montréal and Toronto, marks its 35th anniversary. It is the Canadian affiliate of DC-headquartered GHMC (Global Health Marketing & Communications)... Barabino & Partners and Community, which are part of Italy’s Excellera Advisory Group, snag top positions in the MergerLinks rankings in the PR Consultants in EMEA category... Honeyjar, an “AI co-pilot” that will leverage brand context, goals and campaign history into a collaborative workspace providing communications & PR pros with assistance across the end-to-end execution of communications, announces a $2M pre-seed fundraise and the launch of its Early Access waitlist.
The Communications Group, a Little Rock-based shop releases its first Public Affairs Marketing Trends Report... The Worldcom Public Relations Group votes Paris-based firm SEITOSEI•ACTIFIN into its global partnership... PRNEWS, a European PR-tech firm, relocates its U.S. headquarters to downtown Miami.
af&co., a San Francisco-based hospitality marketing and PR agency founded by Andrew Freeman, is marking its 20th anniversary... Notified launches Syndicated Articles... Crosby Marketing Communications selects four students from Anne Arundel Community College for its marketing scholars program.
KCSA Strategic Communications launches the KCSA AI Lab, which will develop proprietary AI systems to expand what strategic communications can achieve for PR and IR clients... Clipbook, a vertical AI platform for strategic communications and public affairs, closes a $3.3 million seed round co-led by Mark Cuban, Commonweal Ventures and Carpenter Capital... VizSense, a Boston-based AI influencer marketing agency, teams up with holographic storytelling company Geminai, to launch what they say is the next frontier in brand experiences: interactive holograms powered by AI.
