A memorial service was held last week for Fritz Roland, who died earlier in the month. According to his obit in The Washington Post, Roland was a “long time pillar of the Washington film community … (and) The list of Fritz's accomplishments is long, varied and lustrous."

Ad 2 DC will host FutAd: Direct Connections, sponsored by Rocket Fuel Inc., a Feb. 16 event with networking, food, and a panel discussion highlighting the future of marketing, communications and advertising. The Boston University Center for Digital Imaging Arts’ Georgetown Campus (CDIA – Georgetown) will host the event, which runs from 6:30 – 9 p.m., where an expert panel will analyze the DNA of a modern-day brand experience.

SmithGifford launched a campaign featuring TV, print, radio, online and outdoor, as well as a robust social media campaign to promote this year’s Washington Auto Show, which opens to the public today.  SmithGifford created a tagline of “750,000 square feet of pure car love” that is used in all campaign elements.

"Potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars are missing" from the local chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Science, reported Bruce Leshan of 9News Now, and the organization has voted to proceed with filing criminal charges against its former treasurer after it found the money missing.

“Just about everybody is familiar with the Emmys -- they're among the most prestigious awards in television,” Leshan reported

The Maryland Transportation Authority will once again seek bids for its toll facilities ad campaign, but an agency spokeswoman said a timeline for issuing the requests has not been set, stated a report in the Baltimore Business Journal.

The transportation authority originally hoped to award the $2.3 million contract to Pulsar Advertising, a D.C. firm. But ...

Washington Women in Public Relations (WWPR) announced its 2012 board of directors to serve its over 300-member organization during its annual meeting at the National Press Club. The 2012 slate is as follows:

Vocus has released its annual State of the Media Report. The report is a study of key media industry trends for 2012 and is compiled by the Vocus Media Research Team. Titled “Evolving and Merging”, the report finds the industry in a state of rapid transformation as forward-thinking media outlets experiment with new, digitally-enabled models of delivering content.  

H&R Block announced that Brian Hart has been named director of government relations in the company’s D.C. office. Hart was most recently a vice president, group manager for Ketchum Public Affairs ... Ogilvy PR reports that Jeff Chertack moved from DC to the firm's Brussels office ... and, The Ad Agency is promoting the upcoming Chinese New Year parade.

From February 13-17, DC will host its first-ever Social Media Week, a week-long festival featuring independently curated (and mostly free) speakers, panels, workshops, events, and parties all across the district celebrating tech and social media in the Nation's Capital. After opening registration just one week ago, SMWWDC already showcases 46 events and nearly 1,000 registrants.

Fifty-six of the ad industry’s most acclaimed professionals from around the world – including Pum Lefebure of Design Army in DC - have been selected to judge the 37th annual One Show, One Show Design and One Show Interactive Awards. Produced by The One Club, the renowned international creative awards are held during Creative Week, May 7-13, in NYC.

The DC Chapter of the American Marketing Association (AMADC) reports establishing an educational partnership with R2integrated. R2i will assist AMADC with the execution of its growing “How To” marketing education series, providing critical content support, expertise, and leading guest speakers to the region’s marketing professionals.

Employees at Susan Davis International walked away better cooks and team players after a cook-off at CulinAerie. Chef judge Amander Weave Page said the winning team’s (pictured above) Salmon En Papillotee with Herbed Goat Cheese Risotto won for its taste,

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Google is focusing on the importance of protecting personal information in an unusual marketing campaign for a company that has been blasted for its own online privacy lapses and practices, according to an AP report.  The ads will appear in dozens of U.S. newspapers including The New York Times, USA Today, and The Wall Street Journal; and magazines, including Time and the New Yorker. Google Inc. also will splash its message across billboards within the subways of New York and Washington, as well as various websites,

Miles Media has been selected by Destination DC to lead the organization’s efforts to redesign Washington.org. In addition, the official tourism and marketing office for the nation’s capital, asked Miles, which is based in Sarasota, FL, to develop a new mobile site, oversee

Metro's media team added Caroline Lukas and Philip Stewart ... Widmeyer Communications added Nebyat Ejigu as senior producer and project manager in its digital and creative team ... Crosby Marketing Communications announced that Kerry McHugh joined the firm as an integration manager ... Linda Roth Associates added Gabriela Torres as administrative assistant.

Because communication-related events have, in many instances, morphed into week-long activities and because Capitol Communicator covers and promotes many of these events and much more throughout the year, Capitol Communicator dubbed 2012 as CCYEAR. CCYEAR serves as Capitol Communicator's marketing campaign for 2012 referring to the communications community taking notice that Capitol Communicator is the place to go year-round for news of weekly events such as Adweek DC and Baltimore Read More »

Eight years ago, Jake and Pum Lefebure launched Design Army from their kitchen table; now the 12-person team has a studio on H Street NE, reports this week’s Washington Post magazine, which has a feature highlighting some of the equipment that helps them capture their creative vision on film.

Google regularly makes creative use of its homepage art that it has patented as “Doodles.” Today’s logo, however, is the Internet company’s most powerful visual statement ever, reports Michael Cavna in The Washington Post.

According to Cavna, where the brightly colored letters spelling “Google” normally appear, today the iconic logo is almost entirely blocked out and blacked out to protest proposed congressional legislation involving Internet regulation.

According to DCRTV, CBS Radio's new all-newser WNEW is delaying its launch from Jan. 19 to next Monday, Jan. 23, but the news operation “is already up-and-running, with its newly-hired staff performing 24-hours daily of news programming - for in-house use only

The Independent Public Relations Alliance (IPRA) kicked off the new year with its first Speaker Luncheon of 2012, entitled “Indie Brand Check”. The Jan. 5 event featured guest speaker Amanda Miller Littlejohn of Mopwater PR who presented a step-by-step guide

Capitol Communicator has partnered with WB&A Market Research to survey the communications community in the greater DC and Baltimore markets. The "State of the Communications Industry" data collected from this survey will be published quarterly and should provide communications professionals with valuable insights about the state of the job market. We need your participation

Washington D.C.'s Design Army reports it has completed a promotional campaign for The One Club's annual One Show 2012 competition: ONEderful. The One Show, hosted by the One Club in NYC in May, is the premiere global advertising award show that sets the industry standard for creative advertising in print, television, radio, outdoor, innovative marketing, integrated branding and branded content

The pending launch of WNEW all-news radio in DC is continuing to send ripples through the local broadcast community. DCRTV stated that it heard “a rumbling that new CBS news talker WNEW will be getting weather forecasts from DC's CBS TV affiliate, Gannett-owned Channel 9/WUSA, which features Topper Shutt and Howard Bernstein.”  In addition,

By Debbie Friez, BurrellesLuce

Communication needs to be guided by transparency, advised Bill Murray, chief of media relations for the International Monetary Fund (IMF), at the National Capital Chapter of the Public Relations Society of Am Read More »

Bill Trumbull, “who regaled Washington’s radio audiences for two decades as co-host of an easy-going and top-rated afternoon program”, died of respiratory failure Jan. 10 at Prince William Hospital in Manassas, reports Paul Farhi in The Washington Post.

The District of Columbia Office of Motion Picture and Television Development named Rosemary Reed as its January 2012 Filmmaker of the Month.  Founded in 1987 and celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2012, her communications and television production company - Double R Productions - has served clients as varied as

TMG Custom Media tapped Matthew ("Matt") Petersen to serve as president. Petersen, who will report to co-CEOs Jane Ottenberg and Richard Creighton, will lead TMG as it continues to help clients grow through custom content programs ... SevenTwenty Strategies kicked off the New Year with the announcement of several new positions and promotions at the firm’s D.C. headquarters ... and, Maureen Ryan joined URAC as director of communications/public relations.

Whether you dream of becoming a filmmaker, photographer, animator, graphic and web designer, or web developer, Boston University’s CDIA campus in Georgetown can help you get ready for your future. Full-time Spring classes begin Jan. 23; Part-time Spring classes begin Jan. 24.

The PRSA Foundation announced the creation of the Ofield Dukes Scholarship for Excellence in Public Relations. The 79-year-old Dukes, who died Dec. 7, was an honorary trustee of the Foundation and a widely recognized leader in the public relations profession.

The 2012 IABC Gold Quill Awards competition is underway.  For more than 40 years, the Gold Quill Awards program has rigorously tested and rewarded all aspects of the work of business communicators. Distinguish yourself and the work of your team by becoming part of the international best practices