The DC Ad Club is accepting nominations for the 2012 Silver Medal Award.  The award honors a member of the DC ad community who has made outstanding contributions to advertising and who has been active in furthering the industry’s standards, creative excellence and responsibility in areas of social concern.

dcrtv.com reports an interesting shift in the DC radio ratings. The "first week" of April radio ratings for the DC market (full-day, age 6+) shows WAMU in first place, WIHT in second and WTOP, the long-running ratings leader, in third ... In Baltimore, the rating (age 12+) show WWIN-FM in first place, WERQ in second, and WLIF in third place.

Bob Garfield has joined GeniusRocket, a curated crowdsourcing and video advertising content agency, as Critic at Large. In this role, he will serve as the chief consultant providing qualitative feedback and assessment of the creative direction for GeniusRocket’s crowdsourced ad projects.

Heather Rosenker joins the General Motors communications staff as director of public policy and government relations communications, replacing Greg Martin who becomes executive director, communications strategy and news operations ... Shonali Burke joined MSL/DC as VP/Digital, shuttering her successful consulting business to do so ... The Consumer Specialty Products Association adds Lynne R. Harris, M.A., APR, as VP/Communications where she will be responsible for leading CSPA’s external and member communications programs ... and, Pum Lefebure of DC's Design Army has been elected to the Board of Directors of the One Club in New York.

By Jennifer Edgerly, SpeakerBox Communications

Here’s a quick recap of the Mid-Atlantic Marketing Summit panel on the "Current State of Marketing". The moderator was Paul Sherman, publisher, Potomac Tech Wire; and the panel included Jason Jue, chief marketing officer, Vocus;  Read More »

 By Jennifer Edgerly, SpeakerBox Communications

Is Mobile Marketing really worth it? We're about to find out as I recap the "Mobile Marketing: Beyond the Hype" panel from the Mid-Atlantic Marketing Summit. Read More »

By Jennifer Edgerly, SpeakerBox Communications

Curious to know what the next big thing is in marketing and communications? Then keep reading for a recap of the Inbound Marketing: Pulling with Content panel discussion at the Mid-Atlantic Marketing Summit. The moderator for this panel was &l Read More »

By Ali Robinson, SpeakerBox Communications

The rapid rate of change in the media industry has not only changed the way people consume information but it has also changed how we in the PR industry do our jobs.  This panel at the Mid-Atlantic Marketing Summit, led by Priya Ramesh, director of social media at CRT/tanaka, featured Lisa Throckmorton (EVP at SpeakerBox Communications), Evan Weisel (principal and co-founder of Welz & Weisel), Shana Glickfield (partner at Beek Read More »

By Marc Hausman, president and CEO of Strategic Communications Group

It was an important day for the Washington, DC region’s communications community. More than 300 corporate marketers, social media practitioners, public relations reps and digital experts Read More »

By Eileen Kessler, founder and president of OmniStudio, Inc.

Last week’s Mid-Atlantic Marketing Summit was a constant current of creative ideas and interesting conversations. The event, held at Gannett/USA Today’s headquarters, featured smart commentary and presentations on the latest trends in technology Read More »

By Katie Hanusik, SpeakerBox Communications

The morning program at Friday’s Mid-Atlantic Marketing Summit included a short session dedicated to B2B Marketing. Panelists included: Moderator Bob London, London Ink; Erin Bush, social media editor at Neustar; Charles Gold Read More »

By Ali Robinson, SpeakerBox Communications

The media industry is changing at a break-neck pace. How do we keep up? Where is it headed? How does it affect advertising?

Find out the answers to these questions and more as I recap The Changing Media Landscape panel from the Read More »

The popular syndicated quiz show “Jeopardy!” has named names of those participating in its annual Power Players Week in DC, reports The Washington Post. According to the Post piece, the participants – a list “thick with media types” - will be playing for charities of their choosing. The list includes

Marketing money is still “sitting on the sidelines” was the consensus of a number of marketers who attended a closed-door Capitol Communicator meeting this week. There was a sense among attendees that “everyone’s playing it safe” and that there needs to be proven ROI before a marketing effort is undertaken – even short-term campaigns.

Weber Shandwick has been named PR agency of record by DC-based Reading Is Fundamental, the largest children's literacy nonprofit organization in the United States, following a competitive pitch ... Crosby Marketing Communications adds Lee Gatchel as digital creative director ... and, IMRE expands to the West Coast with an office in Los Angeles.

WTOP radio billed a record $64 million in ad revenue last year, reports dcrtv.com, making it the top-billing radio station in the nation for the second straight year.

The National Capital Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA-NCC) has announced its call for entries for the 44th annual Thoth Awards. The awards are named after Thoth (pronounced “tot”), an Egyptian god of wisdom who was a mediator and scribe and is credited as the inventor of communications and writing. In the spirit of Thoth, PRSA-NCC honors the most outstanding and strategic public relations programs and components developed and produced in the D.C. area.

The Baltimore ad community celebrated its top creative last night at the 38th Annual ADDY Awards Show. More than 100 awards were presented to 30 agencies/companies for work done in 2011.  Top honors included Best of Show to planit for its Gilgal/Yarden Wines multimedia campaign

Crosby Marketing Communications adds Peter Gladstone as VP/director of integration management ... Drescher Films worked with WETA Learning Media to create a series of internet and broadcast spots for the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center ... Principal/owner Jeff Swartz and salespeople from Virginia Beach-based Powerhouse Advertising have joined the Mac Mannes sales team ... and, The Ad Agency created a website for Beasley Real Estate.

Ten DC-area agencies and a student who won Gold and Silver ADDY Awards at the DC Ad Club’s 2012 ADDY® Awards went on to win additional awards at the next level of competition. The DC Ad Club is represented with seven Gold ADDY® Award and 19 Silver ADDY® Awards at the AAF District Two level.

WTOP Radio won six Edward R. Murrow regional awards including Newscast, News Series, Use of Sound, Sports Reporting, Documentary, and Writing. WTOP’s six regional submissions now will compete at the national level to earn National Edward R. Murrow Award wins.

FilmFest DC kicks off this week and runs through April 22.  Next Wednesday, April 18, the festival features a remarkable documentary, An Article of Hope, at 6:30p.m. at the Landmark E Street Cinema, which took seven years to make and which was produced and directed by local filmmaker Dan Cohen, with Tom Hanks among the executive producers.  Cohen will be a special guest of the festival conducting a question-and-answer session after the film. 

David Hunke, president and publisher of USA TODAY, has been named chairman of USA TODAY. He will serve as chairman until the end of September when he will retire from Gannett ... WUSA-TV’s JC Hayward announced that she has breast cancer and “vowed to wage the battle of her life, both on and off the air” ... Longtime DC radio personality Olivia Fox has been released from a hospital, reports dcrtv.com, after a successful kidney transplant ... DCRTV also reports that Bill Stabler, a DC-area radio news veteran, has died ... and, CBS News legend Mike Wallace Read More »

On April 24, from 1 - 2 pm, Capitol Communicator and WB&A Market Research will present a free webinar exploring how DC- and Baltimore-area consumers feel about the economic downturn that began in 2008, their perceptions of who was responsible and what they feel should be done moving forward. We'll also share the latest results of a long-running consumer sentiment study - the Optimism Index.

IMRE hires Jeff Smokler to lead its healthcare practice ... Widmeyer Communications adds Julia Gotwald as account executive, Christina Saull as senior account manager and Brad Rizza as senior account executive. Diaceutics appointed Mark Reis as senior vice president of business development and marketing. Star Scientific appointed Talhia T. Tuck as vice president for communications

By Debbie Friez, BurrellesLuce

Even successful executives need help finding their way to achieving more, and a business coach works with them to find the solution(s) for themselves. This was part of the discussion at the April 10 National Capital Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America’s pan Read More »

The 38th Annual AAF Baltimore ADDY Awards gala is set for Thursday, April 12, at the Sheraton Hotel in Towson. Last year, tickets sold out prior to the show.

The evening’s agenda features cocktails from 6:30-7:30, dinner from 7:30-8:00, and the award presentations from 8:00-9:00.

ASGK Public Strategies added Eileen Marcus as managing director and David Wade as principal ... West Wing Writers added Jonas Kieffer, director of speechwriting at the U.S. Department of Transportation, as principal. Jonas served as chief speechwriter to Secretary Ray LaHood ... Delucchi Plus and Blue Bug Digital appointed David Menda director of digital strategy ... and David Poulos wins book prize.

MRB Films and the Mayor's Office in Philadelphia partnered to play an April Fool’s joke designed to raise awareness of the issue of distracted walking.  MRB Films conceptualized and executed the ambient campaign, which included a faux press conference introducing the E-Lane, a dedicated sidewalk space exclusively for pedestrians who wish to use electronic devices while walking.

The Public Relations Society of America National Capital Chapter unveiled its completely redesigned website that highlights chapter and industry news, and serves as an interactive forum for current and prospective members of the country's largest PRSA chapter