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October 11, 1999 Issue of PRWeek

Shandwick inks deal for dollars 80m Cassidy acquisition

WASHINGTON, DC: Shandwick last week consummated its expected acquisition of Cassidy Companies International, a deal valued at between dollars 70 and dollars 80 million (PRWeek, September 27).

Diet-pill vendor plays - Web offense with ABC

SAN DIEGO: Fearing what it believes will be a negative report on its product by ABC’s 20/20, the maker of a controversial weight-loss supplement has launched an ...

GCI lands dollars 3.3m healthcare outfit

CHICAGO: The GCI Group, rather quiet on the domestic- acquisition front during the summer, has roared into autumn like a lion - or rather, a dragon.

PRSA newspaper ad evokes mixed response by pros

WASHINGTON, DC: When the PRSA’s largest chapter wanted to hype the induction of 50 pros into its Hall of Fame, the organization chose a distinctly non-PRish way ...

Students: win dollars 5k and a career path

NEW YORK: Attention all students. PRWeek is giving away a grand prize of dollars 5,000 and a paid internship at a leading agency in its quest to ...

NEWS BRIEFS

NEW YORK: The Rowland Company has expanded its counseling capabilities through the hiring of Susan Bishopric and Norman Begun as EVPs. Bishopric, an expert in consumer lifestyle ...

EMC debuts site for holiday press release postings

IRVINE, CA: HolidayShoppingnews.com, a site designed to help PR pros land placements in holiday gift guides, has been launched by Electronic Media Communications.

Pro wrapped up in Abernathy scandal

ATLANTA: A former PR consultant for Ralph David Abernathy III, the former state Senator whose father headed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference following Martin Luther King Jr.’s ...

Democrats roll out women’s effort

WASHINGTON, DC: PR will be wielded early and often by Democratic strategists eager to seize the women’s vote in the 2000 election.

MS&L forms new California top job

LOS ANGELES: Reflecting the growing importance of West Coast operations to the firm’s bottom line, Manning, Selvage & Lee has created a new post, chief executive of ...

NY boutique spins - Internet division

NEW YORK: Consumer boutique firm Clifford PR has become the latest agency to jump on the Internet bandwagon, forming a separate Internet division last week.

Shandwick juices financial practice

NEW YORK: Shandwick has reinvigorated its New York financial practice by adding the head of the firm’s Thailand office and hiring two other upper-level execs.

ProMarc scores dot-com business

WASHINGTON, DC: Spacedisk.com has handed its PR business, worth dollars 35,000 per month in fees, to The ProMarc Agency.

Three top consultants on Hillary Clinton’s short list

NEW YORK: Hillary Clinton has yet to declare her candidacy for the vacant New York Senate seat, but that hasn’t stopped the NY and DC PR communities ...

FitzGerald ceases work for biggest client Newbridge

CAMBRIDGE, MA: FitzGerald Communications has ended its year-long, dollars 1 million relationship with its largest client, Newbridge Networks.

MWW hired for dollars 100k AIDS national conference in LA

LOS ANGELES: The Los Angeles City AIDS Coordinator has hired The MWW Group to provide media relations for its National Conference on Women and HIV/AIDS, a dollars ...

Middleberg wins Britannica online

CHICAGO: Encyclopaedia Britannica has made its long-awaited choice of PR agency, selecting Middleberg + Associates to re-launch its web site.

MediaMap online for pros launches

CAMBRIDGE, MA: MediaMap last week unveiled MediaMap Online, a new service that will allow PR pros to manage their media contacts more accurately and efficiently.

LatAm editors want attention of US pros

NEW YORK: PR pros are missing out on the opportunity to connect with Latin American newspaper editors, according to a new survey conducted by Bittner.com and the ...

Global institute launches profile boost

NEW YORK: The Global Public Affairs Institute (GPAI) is attempting to bolster its public profile, setting up its first-ever fundraising entity and announcing a series of events.

Incepta acquires Image PR for dollars 5m

SINGAPORE: Global giant Incepta has boosted its presence in Southeast Asia with the acquisition of Image PR.

Microsoft recruits gov PR head in UK

LONDON: Microsoft is on the verge of recruiting its first UK government relations head.

Cobra win completes hi-tech hi-five for H&K

CHICAGO: Cobra Electronics, a dollars 100 million-plus player in the consumer electronics industry, has tabbed Hill & Knowlton as its PR agency of record.

Edelman takes on new Apple leader

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA: Edelman’s Silicon Valley branch has snapped up Oracle pro Bob Berger to head up the Apple account.

Extended trading calls for better IR communications

BOSTON: As extended trading hours loom on the horizon, IR professionals need to take a hard look at their methods of communicating with investors.

CAMBRIDGE, MA: Allaire, a web application platform provider, has tapped FitzGerald Communications for an integrated communications program. FitzGerald won the business over Copithorne & Bellows, Beaupre & Co, ...

PR gets tougher as politicos chase Net

WASHINGTON, DC: As political candidates and their PR consultants are forced to keep pace with the rise of the Internet, it will be harder and more expensive ...

Food market web site favors Franco

ANN ARBOR, MI: WebLight Productions has enlisted the services of Detroit-based Franco Public Relations to launch FoodHunter.net, a new online marketplace for the food service industry.

Online beauty store adds to Lippe’s fashion roster

NEW YORK: BeautyBuys.com, a fashion web site, has signed beauty and fashion PR specialist Lippe Taylor to a three-year deal worth dollars 1 million.

Hispanic TV demands Spanish tongues

LOS ANGELES: A survey of Spanish-language television news stations in the US has found that placement of stories is almost entirely dependent on providing information and video ...

MS&L-DC director to prowl for firms

WASHINGTON, DC: Manning, Selvage & Lee has expanded the duties of DC office managing director Joe Gleason, placing him in charge of an acquisition-minded public affairs growth ...

Home loan web site hires Wilson McHenry

SAN FRANCISCO: The home loan e-tailer formerly known as HomeShark, iOwn.com, has tapped Wilson McHenry as its new PR agency of record.

Incentive group launches dollars 1.4m profile-boost effort

WESTFIELD, NJ: The Incentive Federation has launched a two-year, potentially dollars 1.2 to dollars 1.4 million PR campaign to raise the industry’s profile with customers.

Colle & McVoy on acquisitions hunt

BLOOMINGTON, MN: As it seeks to become an even larger force on the Twin Cities communications landscape, Colle & McVoy Marketing Communications is on the hunt for ...

Weber EVP departs to create own independent consultant shop

CAMBRIDGE, MA: Weber Group EVP and Eastern region general manager Phil Greenough is leaving the agency after nearly four years to become an independent communications consultant.

D&B grabs health and hi-tech work

SAN FRANCISCO: Deen & Black’s (D&B) six-month-old San Francisco office has picked up two clients: the San Ramon Regional Medical Center and Modem Media-Poppe Tyson.

Sell & Spin: A History of Advertising

NEW YORK: Advertising, PR’s overrated sibling, takes center stage in a new History Channel special debuting on Friday.

Delta promotes three to fill big gap left by retired chief

ATLANTA: Delta Air Lines has realigned its corporate communications staff in the wake of last month’s retirement of Bill Berry, a 34-year Delta veteran who was the ...

With two legislative hires, MWW grows lobbying skill

WASHINGTON, DC: The MWW Group has added legislative affairs vets Edward Braman and Christine LaPaille to the staff of its DC office.

COMMENT: Editorial - Does PR need any added celebrity?

Last week’s news that Creative Artists Agency (CAA) acquired an estimated 40% stake in PR firm Shepardson Stern & Kaminsky (SS+K) set off alarms. Some were thrilled ...

COMMENT: The Big Pitch - Has Kathie Lee responded effectively to allegations about using sweatshops?

BISHOFF SOLOMON COMMUNICATIONS, BOSTON

ANALYSIS: Global PR - How will globalization affect the industry? - Globalization: it sounds great in theory, but what about making it work? John Frank discusses what PR’s heavy hitters had to say on the issue at the recent ICO conference in Switz

Globalization has become a mantra repeated regularly by heavy hitters in the PR game. These days, even mid-sized and smaller firms are reaching across national boundaries, joining ...

THINKPIECE: Do hi-tech PR professionals have the ability to affect the regulation of the computer industry?

In addition to the Microsoft antitrust trial that hogged the headlines for nearly a year, government officials are keeping a close eye on a number of other ...

INSIDE THE BELTWAY: It may be hard to believe, but sometimes a statement from a politician is just a statement

An old joke popped into my head this week as at least three news stories reminded us that in Washington, at least, things are never - ...

Minority PR: How three black pros broke racial barriers - The power of PR - Think of PR pioneers. Edward Bernays and Arthur Page come to mind. But not all industry visionaries were white. Steve Lilienthal chronicles the professional lives of three men who

In 1964, The New York Times reported that Ruder-Finn had established an on-the-job PR training program for college graduates. One trainee was a ’Negro,’ although the paper ...

ANALYSIS: Profile - Sitrick: the PR godfather with a typewriter Tough as a trial lawyer, the CEO of Sitrick & Company takes no prisoners when it comes to winning journalists to his clients’ agendas. Adam Leyland has a face-to-face with this

It’s not the Armani suits or the art-filled offices in Century City, LA, that single out Michael Sitrick as a sharp shooter. It’s the deep-voiced, sub-machine-gun-like patter ...

ANALYSIS: Weekly Web Watch - Net strategic service puts the community back into dot-com

Dublin, Ireland is not the first location you’d think of to place an Internet services company if it’s global clients you’re after. But the consultancy NUA (www.nua.ie) ...

MEDIA: Power Lunch: CNBC’s midday business dim sum - CNBC goes head-to-head with other daytime business shows, but manages to stand out by having a softer, quirkier edge. Claire Atkinson gives you a taste of how to pitch

If CNBC’s Power Lunch were a midday meal it would have to be Chinese.

MEDIA WATCH: Health of HMOs ignored as right-to-sue law passes

The phrase ’California is where America’s future begins’ may strike fear into Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) across the country.

Are you the PR Student of the Year? - Are you the best PR student in the USA? Enter our fabulous contest, and you could win dollars 5,000 and a paid internship - not to mention the kudos of being the first-ever PRWeek Student of the Year

Imagine it. Your name up in lights.

MARKET FOCUS MINNEAPOLIS: Two’s a crowd in Twin Cities - Heated competition from advertising agencies and two PR giants plus the presence of renegade governor Jesse Ventura make Minneapolis an energetic market. John Frank reports

Ad agencies long ago realized they could grab extra fee income by starting PR operations that would serve their ad customers. But in the Minneapolis/St. Paul market, ...