PR Updates From Around the World for the Week of January 26

By Serena Ehrlich, Director of Social, Evolving Media

There were quite a few changes in the PR industry last week – below are just a handful of these updates and changes.  To learn more about each news item, simply click the hyperlink.

Atlanta
George Goodwin, one of Atlanta’s leading journalists and public relations executives, passed away peacefully Wednesday morning at his home with his family by his side. Article

Boston
Matter Communications has been named a silver winner in the 2014 PR Agency of the Year category, Best in Biz Awards, an independent business awards program judged by members of the press and industry analysts. Article

Pan Communications added a clutch of new clients during 4Q of 2014, helping power record growth at the firm. The new assignments included Black Duck Software; Dragonfly Data Factory; SAP’sFieldGlass; Sharalike; Targit, the maker of Decision Suite; and, Trinity Partners. Article

Charlotte
Sheraton Greensboro at Four Seasons has tapped marketing agency Bouvier Kelly to lead a public relations campaign to increase its exposure. Article

DC
Ogilvy Public Relations has hired longtime Capitol Hill aide Dan Scandling as SVP for corporate and public affairs. Article

Nahigian Strategies has promoted Danielle Hagen to SVP of communications.  Article

Brunswick Group has appointed Michael Krempasky as head of its digital practice. Article

Alpaytac has expanded its Washington, D.C. office by hiring public affairs and media relations specialist  Justin Wilson. Article

GMMB has promoted Allison Thomas and Christine Glunz to SVP. Article

Los Angeles
Herbalife has hired Marcus Reese in the role of VP for state and local government affairs. Article

Mobile game producer SGN has hired Josh Brooks as SVP of brand strategy and marketing. Article

Blaze announced the addition of the new brand rove to its roster. Article

SKDKnickerbocker announced the hiring of Bill Burton and the opening of a new California office. Article

Miami
Fish Consulting announced it has added Lynette McKee, CFE, as a business development consultant.  Article

Uproar PR announced that 2014 was a year of rapid growth for the company. Article

Edelman announced two new hires in its Mexico DF office: Sergio Sanchez, vice president of strategic planning, and Eduardo Cisneros, creative vice president. Article

The Hispanic Public Relations Association (HPRA) Miami chapter announced its newest members for the 2015 board of directors. Article

Sachs Media Group has opened a South Florida office, bringing on Amy Rosen as VP of South Florida operations and lead of the Boca Raton location. Article

Minneapolis
Anoka, Minn.-based Pineapple RM announced it has promoted Cassie Roman to assistant account executive. Article

The Integer Group has appointed Bryce McTavish as Senior Vice President, Director of Business Development out of Integer’s Des Moines office. Article

Nashville
Infiniti Americas has named Aileen Clarke as its West region communications manager. Article

The Arkansas chapter of the Public Relations Society of America has appointed Brandi Hinkle public information manager at the Arkansas Department of Human Services, as its president for 2015. Article

Newport Beach
Opus Bank has named Brett Villaume as SVP and director of investor relations. Article

New York
Investor relations and strategic corporate communications firm MBS Value Partners has brought on Margaret Mager as MD. Article

Syracuse University‘s Newhouse communications school has launched a Masters in Digital Media program, called Communications@Syracuse. It will include custom courses such as multimedia storytelling, social media, and digital communications systems, as well as specialized tracks in advertising, PR, and journalism innovation. Article

JPR Group has hired Jeff Witchel as creative director. Article

Gutenberg Communications announced that it has been selected by the U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC) to be its communications partner for the U.S.-India Business Summit. Article

FischTank Marketing and PR announced its one-year anniversary since its inception. Article

Supergoop! has retained BrandLink Communications as the public relations agency of record. Article

Jay Strongwater has retained BrandLink Communications as the public relations agency of record. Article

Allison+Partners announced the addition of Tom Smith as managing director of corporate reputation. Article

McCann Worldgroup and its Chairman and CEO, Harris Diamond, have been recognized in Advertising Age’s 2015 Agency A-List special issue honoring the nation’s best advertising and marketing firms. Article

Catherine Walsh has resigned her role as chief communications officer at Coty Inc. Article

Burson-Marsteller has been named agency of record for HotelPlanner.com. Article

The Seeds of Africa Foundation has retained Momentum Communications Group, which will provide media relations services to increase awareness of the organization’s mission and programs. Article

The Pollack PR Marketing Group has been selected by ESI Ergonomic Solutions to lead its integrated public relations and national brand marketing efforts. Article

Lippe Taylor has hired Abby Garner as VP of content. Article

Porter Novelli has ended its lengthy search for a global consumer practice leader, hiring Christina Cea to rejoin the firm. Article

Stu Loeser & Co. has expanded to Connecticut with an office in Stamford. The firm has hired Andrew Doba as part of the move. Article

Nancy J. Friedman Public Relations has added The Williamsburg Hotel in Brooklyn, New York, and the Hotel Commonwealth in Boston to its client roster. Article

Philadelphia
Public relations and social media agency Slice Communications  has reached separate agreements to work with three new companies: BLOCS (Business Leaders Organized for Catholic Schools), Philadelphia Society of Human Resource Management (PSHRM) and Bookbinder Specialties. Article

Phoenix
Zion & Zion has continued to add to the ranks of its senior talent by welcoming public relations professional Teri Morris. Article

Amendola Communications today announced it has been selected as the public relations agency of record for Sentrian. Article

San Francisco
Edelman has named Kelly Schwager as GM for its Silicon Valley office. Article

Energous Corporation announced it has named Edelman as its communications marketing agency of record. Article

Seattle
Waggener Edstrom has moved to bolster its digital capabilities, inking a new partnership with digital marketing agency Garrigan Lyman Group (GLG). Article

Silicon Valley
Edelman has named Kelly Schwager as general manager for its Silicon Valley office in the U.S. Western Region. Article

Citrix announced that Robson Grieve is joining its executive team as senior vice president of marketing. Article

Hong Kong
Hoffman will develop and execute integrated marketing communications campaigns based on actionable market insights for Waters. Article

QD Vision, Inc. has brought in Text100 to handle its Greater China communications. Article

Rally has launched Socio 3.0 to bring full suite of social marketing cloud services to its clients. Article

Frankfurt
int/ext Communications has strengthened its leadership team and broadened its shareholder base by appointing Michael Felber a new shareholder and Partner. Article

London
Next 15 is to raise £4.3m by selling new shares, in order to fund three acquisitions in the UK over the next six months. Article

UK infrastructure group Balfour Beatty has shifted financial PR duties to Tulchan Communications as it attempts to turn around its troubled UK construction business. Article

UK satellite communications company Inmarsat has handed global corporate PR duties to Instinctif Partners. Article

Brands2Life has launched Brands2Life Global, an enhanced global communications capability aimed at supporting clients on the global stage. Article

North America’s Deseret Digital Media (DDM) has selected Cxense solutions, including the Cxense Data Management Platform (DMP) to increase reader engagement and conversion on its premier sites. Article

Finn Partners has been awarded global PR lead agency duties for Xchanging‘s technology business unit following a competitive RFP process. Article

MHP Communications has hired employee engagement specialist Gillian Tong as an MD and head of internal communications. Article

Lewis PR has been appointed to deliver PR services for London-based startup Laundrapp. Article

Scandinavian digital firm Nordic.Agency has announced pan-Nordic affiliate venture with Ogilvy Public Relations.  Article

Good Relations has appointed Anna Terrell as consumer director. Article

H+K Strategies, London (H+K) has grown its technology team with the hire of Chris Gibbs as an associate director. In addition, Rachel Magson, Neil Thomas and Joe McNamara have also been appointed to the technology team as account managers. Article

Tangerine has strengthened its B2B senior team by hiring Sally Martin as senior account director. Article

Specialist today has merged its operations into Omnicom sibling FleishmanHillard’s FH ContentWorks as one of the lead content studios in EMEA. Article

Tonic Life founders Scott Clark and Oliver Parsons have unveiled a new marketing services group, nine months after announcing their departure from Huntsworth Health. Article

London-based Liberty Communications announced that it has been selected by Donky to support the launch of the company into the UK and U.S. market and grow brand awareness. Article

Paris
MMGY Global announced that European travel marketing specialist, Chris Pomeroy, has assumed the role of Director Global Strategies and Client Services and will open MMGY’s first European office in Madrid. Article

Sydney
Carolina Bajaj has stepped down from her role as deputy MD at Weber Shandwick India, just seven months after joining the firm. Article

PR agency Porter Novelli has announced it has hired Edelman New York’s senior vice president Rhys Ryan to head up its corporate communications practice in the role of managing partner in Australia. Article

Sesame Workshop in India has appointed Avian Media as their public relations agency.  Article

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