Tiffany Barnes, Public Relations Manager, Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden
As the public relations manager for the Cincinnati Zoo, Tiffany Barnes secured more than 15,000 media placements in outlets such as the Associated Press, Good Morning America, National Geographic magazine, The Today Show, CBS This Morning, USA Today, CNN, World News Tonight, and Nightline. Barnes plans, manages and executes a strategic PR program for one of the oldest and most recognized zoos in the country. She is a one-person public relations machine who has helped the zoo attract more than 1.4 million visitors over the past year—the highest in the zoo’s 140-year history.
Barnes manages major press events, and assists in planning and implementing social media strategies on platforms such as Facebook (130,000 likes), Twitter (24,000 followers), YouTube (11 million views) and various influencer blogs. Barnes has led several PR campaigns including #giraffebirth, in which the zoo was the first in the country to live tweet the birth of a giraffe. The campaign was so successful that #giraffebirth trended ahead of Vice President Biden on Twitter the day after the VP debate.