CA's recent restructuring of its communications function has enabled the company to more effectively support overall PR and business goals.

VP of Makovsky & Company

NEW YORK: WellPoint named Ricochet Public Relations as its AOR after working with the New York agency for two years.

When the economy stumbles, PR is typically one of the first places that skittish companies make cuts. But as PR agencies work to gain the confidence of C-suite executives, those PR pros with MBAs are better positioned to make a compelling case for preserving the marketing budget during lean times.

Now that corporations are embracing content creation and social media, PR pros are sometimes surprised to find their job descriptions look quite similar to that of journalists (albeit with obvious caveats regarding objectivity and impartiality).

When Whole Foods' CEO John Mackey was caught using the screen name Rahodeb to post anonymous comments about his company and its competitors, the executive took a break from Whole Foods' The CEO's Blog.

In April, PRWeek's Nicole Zerillo reported that Bear Stearns' failure to communicate its liquidity situation hastened its downfall. The Wall Street Journal recently reported on a similar issue, and provded a detailed account of how fears and rumors ultimately led to the bank's downfall.

LOS ANGELES: PR pros who report directly to the C-suite are more likely to have more resources than those who don't, according to new survey results from The Strategic Public Relations Center at the University of Southern California (USC).

VP of human resources, Rx Mosaic Health

This year, PRWeek will visit eight cities where an industry close to that respective region will be discussed. For each event, leading PR pros from a variety of firms, companies, and other organizations will gather in a roundtable discussion about the issues affecting them and their peers. Keith O'Brien and Alexandra Bruell were in Boston to discuss digital PR.