The Ad Council, along with the USDA Forest Service and the National Association of State Foresters, launched a new series of public service advertisements featuring Smokey Bear designed to provide critical information to Americans about wildfire prevention. The PSAs were distributed prior to the July 4th holiday.

AMADC held its inaugural Power on the Potomac Networking event on June 28 at the stunning House of Sweden on the Georgetown waterfront honoring 2011 Marketing Hall of Fame award winner Seth Goldman, president and TeaEO of Honest Tea.

More than 160 area marketers gathered

 When many communications professionals think of distributing video online, the first thought is place it on YouTube. And, for some, that’s it - their videos live or die on YouTube. The reality is that there are an exploding number of outlets for video – going well beyond the Web and, now, including mobile – that can help your videos (and messages) reach key audiences. Join Capitol Communicator on July 21 for a seminar at the National Press Club that will give you insights into getting more exposure for your organization’s messages from experts.

The Advertising Council hired Environics Communications to develop and implement a social media program to support its “Lead-Free Kids” PSA campaign ...DCI Group added Beneva Schulte and Kevin McLaughlin as VPs ... The Borenstein Group promoted Taryn Johnson and added Corey Jones ... Read More »

Maryland is searching for an agency to develop a campaign targeting influencers and anti-smoking groups about youth cigar smoking, which is on the rise despite declines in cigarette smoking, reports Jack O’Dwyer’s Newsletter.

According to the O’Dwyer’s report, Maryland’s Department of Health issued an RFP for a healthcare communications campaign, funded by

The PRSA National Capital Chapter held its second program for PR agency heads as part of its Senior Leadership Hall of Fame Series on June 21 in the new headquarters of Hager Sharp. More than 30 people attended, including previous presidents of PRSA-NCC and members of its Hall of Fame.

GolinHarris unveiled a significant restructuring of its agency model, following a year-long planning process designed to help the Interpublic agency deal with the dramatic changes affecting the global PR industry, reports The Holmes Report.

According to the report, the agency, which has an office in the DC area,

Sage Communications adds three new accounts ... Van Eperen & Company has been awarded a contract to support an HHS campaign for its Indian Health Service, Office of Public Health Support ... Weitzman selected by The Kahan Center for Pain Management as its agency of record ... Paul Palmieri, president and CEO of Millennial Media, was recognized as the Executive of the Year in the Media and Entertainment category at the American Business Awards ... and Socialize was named overall winner at Friday's Disruptathon held at USA Today's headquarters in McLean.

The coming of the end of the world, which was supposed to take place on May 21, proved to be good news for WTOP radio.  DCRTV, quoting from Tom Taylor's Monday TRI radio biz newsletter, raised the question of whether the local radio ratings leader got an increase in listeners from the “end of the world.”

McLean-based Gannett said it would eliminate 700 jobs nationwide in its Community Publishing division, laying off three percent of its employees at newspapers such as The Courier-Journal of Louisville, The Cincinnati Enquirer and The Indianapolis Star, reports the New York Times. Gannett’s flagship paper, USA Today, just went through a round of cuts last summer and will not be affected by the layoffs, continued the Times story.

Metro has launched a PR campaign and website to raise awareness of its efforts to improve the aging transit system. The website, www.metroforward.com, features a video of Richard Sarles, Metro’s general manager, discussing the upcoming improvement campaign.

According to Metro, “The Metro Forward improvement program is

Ketchum announced that Nick Ragone has been appointed director of the agency's D.C. office. Ragone was formerly an associate director in New York and head of that office's corporate, issues and crisis, and media relations teams. He now takes on day-to-day oversight of the 120-person D.C. office, where he will also be responsible for

RP3 Agency received a silver Effie Award at the 43rd Annual North American Effie Awards in New York for its work with Washington Area Women’s Foundation. The Effie Awards were initiated in 1968 to acknowledge effectiveness in marketing communications, and have become the preeminent symbol of success in the industry, celebrating creative thinking and ideas that work.

Design Army was honored with two National ADDY Awards at the American Advertising Federation national conference earlier this month.

The Art Directors Club of Metropolitan Washington held its 62nd annual show earlier this month. Nineteen firms submitted 59 print pieces and 26 web/interactive entries into the awards competition – and four gold medals and nine silver medals were presented. Design Army won three Gold and Viget Labs won one.

Stanton Communications moved its Baltimore office to 300 E. Lombard Street near the Inner Harbor. The firm also announced it has added a number of new client accounts ... Weiss PR Associates, Inc. added four new accounts ... and, SPIN adds Sarah Bernero, graphic designer, and Jillian Koller, account associate.

How organizations use public service announcements to present their key messages - from traditional broadcast distribution to out-of-home and internet – was discussed during a DC seminar conducted by West Glen Communications.
Attendees ran the gamut from communications agency executives to representatives from area non-profits.

Read More »

The Washington Post provided an in-depth look inside WTOP radio's “glass-enclosed nerve center". The radio station has been DC’s radio ratings leader for years and also is the biggest revenue-generating radio station in the country.

The station, which has more than 100 reporters, editors and producers, has the DC-area’s biggest radio newsroom

WB&A Market Research is presenting the findings of their study of DC and Baltimore area consumers - “Understanding the Mindset of Consumers in the Washington, DC and Baltimore Markets—Exploring their Attitudes, Values, and Lifestyles and How They’ve Changed over 10 Years” - in a free webinar on Wednesday, June 22, from 1- 2 p.m.

By Chris Ourand

Baltimore was the place last week to witness marketing campaigns that rocked in 2010. The American Marketing Association’s Marketing Excellence Awards of the Baltimore chapter featured winners in multiple categories, many of which used a mix of traditional and contemporary techniques.

The federal government plans to close or consolidate about 500 of its Web sites in the coming months and is scrapping plans for any new ones as part of a campaign to cut government overlap, reports The Washington Post.

According to the Post piece, “In a video announcing the plans, President Obama notes — with a slight smirk — that the government’s Web portfolio includes sites devoted to desert tortoises, polar animals and a quintet of U.S. Forest Service rangers who play the fiddle.”

SmithGifford has been appointed agency of record by Washington Gas for the creation and execution of a corporate reputation campaign. SmithGifford is a top-ten, award-winning, full-service ad agency in the Washington region and was selected over seven competing firms.

“After conducting a comprehensive agency review, we selected SmithGifford because of their creativity and deep understanding of our business,” said Eric Grant, vice president of corporate relations for Washington Gas

Embracing the opportunity to play a larger role in the local marketing community through Capitol Communicator, Washington, D.C.'s premier group of communications professionals, RP3 Agency has taken a substantial role in the online network and is developing a program to engage its multiple and diverse audiences.

By Laura Bynum

In today’s Digital Age, almost every public relations professional wants to see their client or organization’s story placed with journalists at prestigious and influential media outlets, as well as in prominent new online media outlets.

The PRSA-NCC Professional Development seminar on June 8 held at the Navy Memorial provided
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AMADC will honor Seth Goldman, president and TeaEO of Honest Tea, on June 28, as its 2011 Marketing Hall of Fame Award Winner. Goldman co-founded HonestTea in 1998 with Professor Barry Nalebuff of the Yale School of Management

WestGlen Communications has conducted a new public service announcement (PSA) survey with public service directors across the country. The key finding is that many respondents indicated that the availability of airtime for PSAs will remain steady for the balance of 2011.

Warschawski adds AtSite to its client roster ... DC PR pro Jonelle Birney Sullivan has been named general manager of the new San Francisco office of Environics Communications ... PRR adds two to DC staff.

O’Keyla Smith and Laura Chwirut have joined MDB Communications, a DC-based advertising and marketing communications firm.

Steve Goodwin has joined Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life as vice president for marketing and communications, a newly created senior-level position.

Ketchum adds four senior strategists to its D.C.-based North American Public Affairs practice. The hires include Katie Conover, senior vice president; Joe Wagner, vice president and group manager; Brian Hart, vice president, group manager and senior media strategist; and, Matthew Simmons, vice president and account supervisor.