Weber Shandwick Worldwide takes credit for helping the world's most populous country win its bid to stage the 2008 Olympic Summer Games in Beijing. SVP Mike Holtzman says
that the agency will work with China's leaders throughout the next seven years to increase media access and prepare China for the onslaught of Western commercialization and social
change that invariably accompanies the games. Holtzman projects that the Beijing games signal "the bellwether of a flood of Chinese clients" for Western PR agencies.
First Union and Wachovia are moving ahead with merger plans, and the combined financial giant will likely retain the Wachovia name. Evidently, First Union officials are
anxious to forsake the FU acronym - and the reputation that goes with it - in favor of a more innocuous brand name.
Golin/Harris launches TrustWorks, a research-based measurement tool designed to help clients develop and manage stakeholder relations. The tool helps determine how well a
corporate communications program is shaping stakeholder perceptions related to the company's integrity, competence, affinity, commitment, and leadership.
John Jordan, former SVP at Porter Novelli, joins The Aker Partners' London office as a consulting partner and director of its technology practice. Akers has asked Jordan
to start a new health tech practice -- he successfully launched Porter Novelli's largest tech practice group.
