According to the September issue of Washingtonian magazine, the District might not be a fashion center of the world (yet), but that doesn’t mean that Washingtonians aren’t trying their hardest to ascend the global sartorial pecking order. Leading the effort to recognize those D.C. residents who buck the city’s convention for donning conventionally conservative attire is the magazine’s annual list of best dressed locals.

The Washingtonian describes communicators on the 2011 list of honorees as follows:

National Strategies (NSI) and k-global, the D.C.-based partner companies that are part of the Interpoint Group, announced they have added a combined 33 new clients during the past five months. K-global, a PR firm launched in 2010, added to both its integrated communications and grassroots client rosters. NSI, a strategic consulting firm that assists clients with government procurement, legislative and regulatory processes, expanded its growth within each of its practice areas,

Hellerman Baretz Communications has been named by Bulldog Reporter's "Stars of PR" awards as the top boutique PR agency of the year with a specialty practice. The recognition comes on the heels of HBC, which has offices in DC and NYC, being named earlier this year one of PRWeek's top-five boutique PR agencies and as a Holmes Report Silver Sabre Award finalist for professional services firms.

Mike August has been named the 2011 recipient of the DC Ad Club’s Silver Medal Award. The presentation to August, principal at August Lang & Husak, will be made Sept. 21 during an Advertising Week DC luncheon at the Marriott Wardman Park.

IABC/DC Metro’s 2011 Silver Inkwell Awards program is now open. Whether internal or external, agency, corporate, or government practitioner, showcase your mastery of the principles and practice of business communications and shine with a Silver Inkwell award.

VMS, the 30-year-old media monitoring company which was a dominant player in the PR services sector for years is expected to go out of business today, according to company sources reports O’Dwyer’s.

LightSquared appointed Terry Neal as senior vice president of public relations and communications ... Williams Whittle Associates adds Caitlin McCarthy as account director .

Suzanne Smith, COO of SmithGifford, received nationwide publicity following the earthquake. According to a report we received from the agency, Suzy was getting

Clean Air Partners, a public-private partnership chartered by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG) and the Baltimore Metropolitan Council, welcomes new leadership with managing director, Scott St. Onge and newly elected Board of Directors’ chair Honorable Leta Mach and vice chair Mahlon (Lon) Anderson.

In a national TV and radio campaign breaking this month for the Army National Guard, soldiers reflect on memorable domestic missions, often performed in their own communities. Created by LM&O Advertising of Arlington,  the “Defining Moments” campaign

This year's agenda for Advertising Week DC 2011, set for September 19-23, at various venues throughout the D.C. area, includes industry experts and innovators from mcgarrybowen, Mullen, MDC Partners, Gotham, Arnold, Ogilvy 360 and Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal & Partners. The panels and presenters represent top brands

Washington Women in Public Relations, the leading professional organization advancing women in the communications industry, has opened its official call for nominations for the 2011 Washington PR Woman of the Year. The award will be presented Nov. 15, from 12:00 to 2:00 p.m. at the Capital Hilton.

Virginia Commonwealth University, the Richmond school of 32,000 that became last year’s Cinderella story in the NCAA basketball tournament, is looking for agency help to burnish its image nationally and boost enrollment, reports odwyerpr.com.

TIME has released its list of the 50 best websites of the year and the list includes “scrappy newcomers and established players that make the Web so useful, entertaining and just plain indispensable.”  You can check out the list

Pepco Holdings Inc., named Laura L. Monica as the company's vice president, corporate communications. Previously, she was senior vice president, corporate communications and external affairs, at American Water,

The following appeared on www.dcrtv.com: Scott McCabe, the "crime and punishment" reporter for the Washington Examiner, was robbed on the Metro Monday evening. At about 8:30 PM at the Brookland station,

The National Aquarium in Baltimore selected NavigationArts to revitalize its web presence ... Fixation Marketing secured a spot on the BtoB magazine Top Agency list and also won the award for Best Marketing Email in the Web Marketing Association's Internet Advertising Competition ... and Shawn Hileman joined Producers, a Baltimore film/video/audio and post-production facility.

As organizations continue to seek to improve efficiencies, communicators are increasingly asked about their impact on the overall organization. While outcomes are critical for driving this discussion, public affairs and consumer teams often have a more difficult time understanding who their key audiences are, how to monitor their impact, identify opportunities to engage with constituents and influence or change their perception – all while translating their findings back to business goals and objectives. On Wednesday, Aug. 17 at 1 p.m., join BurrellesLuce and Natasha Fogel, Strategy One's executive vice president for global measurement and analytics, for a free 60-minute informative webinar during which you will learn:

Howard Paster, who was a key advisor to Bill and Hillary Clinton, helped revive Hill & Knowlton as a global public relations force during the 1990s, and went on to lead all of WPP’s PR holdings, has died at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. Paster, who was 66, had encephalitis caused by a brain tumor, according to The Holmes Report.

WTOP Radio 103.5 FM, the number-one radio station in the DC area and top-billing station in the country, announced that it is growing its web presence at WTOP.com to rival its broadcast success and provide additional news services to its various audiences.

Advertising Week DC, set for Sept. 19-23, celebrates the best of the advertising, marketing, and media community with a week dedicated to networking, professional development and education. This year you will learn more from industry experts and innovators. With four days of content, including two days of concurrent sessions, Advertising Week DC is

DC-based JESS3, a creative interactive agency that specializes in social media and data visualization, reports a major expansion that, it said, will make it one of the largest agencies run by “digital natives.” 

"Our expansion marks a pivotal moment for the entire industry," said JESS3 president and co-founder Leslie Bradshaw. "We are now one of the largest agencies run by digital natives. We don't retrofit digital and social into our client work, our operations or our management style. Our new offices add heft to this promise."

You know influencer marketing—but are you overlooking your biggest influencer of all?  Your boss is an influencer too, says Rebekah King, customer communications manager at Kelley Blue Book.

Maryland is searching for an agency to study PR and advertising for its healthcare exchange set up under the federal healthcare reform law, reports O’Dwyer's.

According to a story by Greg Hazley, the state issued an RFP on Aug. 5 to study and make recommendations for how the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange should conduct its outreach communications. Proposals are due Aug. 26.

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Every year, Ad 2 DC, the young professionals of the DC Ad Club, puts together a pro-bono campaign for a selected non-profit; the entire project takes about nine months. Through the combined talents of our members, a mock-agency is put in place that works towards creating successful, long-lasting branded communications for the selected client... and Ad 2 DC is looking to fill those roles. Why get involved?

Gannett adds Mitch Gelman as vice president/product at Gannett Digital ... Abt Associates adds social marketing and health communication expert Carol Schechter ... American University reports that Dr. Teresa Flannery, currently executive director of communication and marketing, will become the university's first vice president of communication ... and, 

DC-based American Petroleum Institute is searching for a new agency to handle creative, media and public affairs as it readies an advocacy campaign, according to executives familiar with the matter, reports Ad Age magazine.  According to the Ad Age story, API, which is the oil industry's largest trade group, is planning to spend up to $20 million on the campaign, executives said. Wendy Hagen, a DC-based consultant who had worked on a review for the America's Natural Gas Alliance in 2009, is said to be handling the search.

Kemp Goldberg Partners has announced the official launch of its public affairs practice and a new office at 2025 M Street NW, Suite 800. "Our public affairs purview takes us wherever our clients require advocacy, reputation management and stakeholder engagement, including inside the Beltway, state and local campaigns and on the web," stated Derek LaVallee, director of public relations and public affairs at Kemp Goldberg Partners and a former staff member at the White House and in the Office of the Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon in the Clinton/Gore Administration.

By Luba Vangelova, principal at Catalyst Communications

Public relations professionals of all ages and stripes gathered to learn from their colleagues at the WWPR Executive Communicators Committee’s Summer Idea Swap held Aug. 3 at Hager Sharp. The panelists – Cecilia Sepp, consultant and writer, CS Association Services; Markette Smith, DC on Heels blogger and founder of m Read More »

After celebrating 13 years as co-founding partner of communications agency GYMR, Pattie Yu has launched The Yu Crew, LLC. The minority-owned, woman-owned communications consultancy focuses on Yu’s expertise in building alliances and partnerships with various constituencies including patient advocacy groups, health societies, special populations, universities, federal agencies, foundations, and corporations.